Coffee/Beverage Center Re-do

The lifeblood of our household revolves around the kitchen, especially the coffee/tea counter. In the mornings, this portion of the kitchen is crowded, with each family member making their favorite beverage. For my daughter, it is tea in all its forms-loose leaf, tea bags, compressed blocks that require specific water temperatures and steeping times. For the rest of us, life begins around the Nespresso machine and the numerous flavors of coffee pods.

This is a rather hectic and cluttered part of the kitchen.  The good news is that everything you need to make coffee drinks and tea is here~~mugs, teacups, flavorings, toppings, timer, etc. But it’s rather messy nearly all the time.

Large glass containers hold tea bags and Nespresso pods, which take up too much space but I haven’t come up with a better alternative.

The counter is angled between the Dacor gas range on the left and the SubZero refrigerator and freezer on the right.  Though the picture doesn’t capture the color accurately, the granite countertop is a dark green with sage marbling and flecks of cranberry.  The hand made tile backsplash is from Waterworks.

I’ve been pondering how to make this area more efficient.  So I cleared everything off the counter and started from scratch. I’m not a big fan of having lots of appliances on the counters, but in this area, the three machines (Nespresso machine, electric teapot, and milk frother) are used multiple times every day.

I found this tiered tray at my favorite garden destination, Whitfill Nursery.  They converted a small adobe home on the property as a store and offer unique garden and home items.  Painted Fox also has a very nice selection of tiered trays online.  Initially I thought it may be too wide, but it seems to be able to handle our favorite coffee cups, flavorings, tea supplies and toppings.

I have a few favorite cups, which I refer to as my “happy” cups.  For some reason they make me smile (a great way to start the day) and all of them are from Anthropologie.

We will test drive this new coffee/tea station design and see how it works.  I am pleased I have one less cluttered counter!