Coffee Bar Essentials We Use and Love at Home
If there’s one small space in our kitchen that I look forward to using every single day, it’s our coffee bar.
I honestly go to sleep thinking about my morning coffee more often than I’d like to admit, so having a dedicated space for our coffee is a dream.
When we renovated our kitchen, one of the best decisions we made was creating a hidden pantry. When the space was finished, we decided to carve out a dedicated spot for a coffee bar to keep everything contained and out of the main kitchen.
That said, you absolutely do not need a full pantry to create a cute and functional coffee bar at home. Here are my go-to coffee bar essentials that would look great displayed on any kitchen counter:
Designing a Coffee Bar That Works
One thing that’s made our coffee bar feel really functional is where we placed it.
We intentionally set it up below a larger upper cabinet in our pantry so we could store our coffee mugs right above the machine. It sounds simple, but having everything in one spot like mugs, coffee pods, syrups makes mornings feel so much easier.
We also used the lower drawer to hold items like extra Nespresso pods, tea bags as well as straws and accessories So everything we need is right there, without cluttering the main kitchen space.
Another thing that functions really well is the coffee bar’s proximity to our mini fridge within the pantry. We keep coffee creamer as well as other caffeine sources (I love an afternoon Bloom energy drink!) for easy access.
Again, you don’t need a pantry to make this work. The key is just choosing a spot where you have easy access to storage, room for your go-to coffee essentials (more on that below!) and some counter space.
A Coffee Machine That Fits Your Routine
We’ve had our Nespresso machine for years, and it’s still our go-to, especially for iced coffee.
It’s quick, reliable, and makes yummy iced coffees and lattes that I love starting my day with.
We also have a second-hand De’Longhi machine for hot drinks, which we now have space for, but it’s definitely not necessary.
If you’re creating your own coffee bar, I’d focus on what you’ll realistically use every day and what looks nice on your counter without being an eye sore.
That matters way more than having multiple machines or something overly fancy.
Keeping Coffee Essentials Organized Without the Clutter
We keep everything we use daily right at the coffee bar so it’s easy to grab in the morning in the chaos of getting ready for work or loading the kids for daycare dropoff. Things like sugar, syrups, spoons, and our iced coffee glasses all live in this one spot.
To keep it from feeling cluttered, we use a simple marble riser to group everything together. It’s one of those small details that makes a big difference. It helps keep things visually appealing, prevents everything from spreading across the counter, and makes the space feel more intentional without requiring any extra effort.
I love that everything has a place, which makes it really easy to reset the space quickly - which happens often in our season of life.
Keeping It Minimal But Still Cute
I didn’t want this to feel like a space I had to constantly fix or restyle.
We kept it simple with a few pieces that also look nice, like glass syrup dispensers, a fun container for brown sugar, and a couple of accents like a plant and decorative vase.
Everything has a purpose, but it still feels put together.
Where We Found Everything
Almost everything in our coffee bar setup is from Amazon, which made it very affordable. Shop our links below:
