A coffee nook is the perfect way to make your guests feel cozy in your place, and to make it easier for you to make your coffee everyday during the work week. But there are things that make your coffee station a great and efficient addition to the kitchen, and things that only add extra steps and take up space on your kitchen counters that the toaster is better off occupying.
But what parts of the coffee station are essential, and which ones are you supposed to pass on? Well, the answer to these questions depends on how much space you have, what your coffee routine currently looks like, and why you want a coffee station in the first place.
image sourceIf you want more insight on how to create a great and useful coffee station at your home – one that actually helps you save time and make better coffee – keep reading.
Organize What You Have
If you’re a coffee lover, you probably already have a lot of supplies for you to organize and put together. Once you know where you’ll be setting up the station, you need to get to work putting everything in its place.
If possible, try to keep everything small off the counter – like anything that comes in various small packages. You can invest in a jewelry or makeup organizer for your kitchen counter, or use dividers in the drawers – but you’re better off leaving your espresso machine on the counter for easy access.
Where to Set It Up
Now that you know what you have, you need to start putting it where you want the coffee station to be. This means picking out a place in your kitchen just for this – and while you need to keep the coffee in an easily accessible place, you also need to keep it away from kids and pets, where everything would be easily knocked to the ground.
Kids will risk breaking the coffee mugs and hurting themselves with the hot water or broken mugs, and dogs can’t eat coffee because it’s poisonous to them. It might be a good idea to keep all your coffee beans in a drawer or cabinet around the coffee station where it’s within reach but pets can’t get to it, and to place the coffee mugs on a rack or a shelf higher than where kids can reach it.
What More You Need
Once you have everything settled, you need to think about what else you need to make your coffee experience even better. Maybe you can invest in some great flavorings and additions to your coffee that will make you forget about buying coffee outdoors.
If you’re unsure about what extras you want to buy and keep around, browse coffee roaster recipes online and see what strikes your fancy.
Some common things to add to your coffee station might include caramel and other types of syrup, new kinds of coffee, and even some extra spices.
Add Snacks to the Coffee Station
We know snacks might not be a part of making coffee, but having them around can help. How many times have you been running late to work and decided that you’ll just skip breakfast, get your coffee, and run to the office or your desk? Having snacks close by will help you not drink coffee on an empty stomach – something that can cause stomach issues in the long term – and will help you keep your stomach full.
You can keep anything from cookies to apples on your coffee station, though some things go better with coffee than others.
Add Cups and Other Essentials
The whole point of you having a coffee station is that you have a one stop solution for all your coffee needs – this means that everything you need to make coffee should be right there. Add a shelf or a rack of coffee mugs, place spoons nearby, and make sure you have enough not only for yourself but also for anyone else who might want to take your coffee station for a spin.
You might need to buy more cups if you live with other people, or wash the cups you already have often enough that one or two are always available for use, otherwise the coffee station isn’t being used enough and isn’t very useful.