10 coffee-bar ideas to make your kitchen fit for a barista
Bar carts, built-in cabinets and clever storage solutions will give your small space a “brewtiful” upgrade.
A fresh cup of coffee never goes out of style, but kitchens cluttered with coffee pods, syrups and mugs certainly do. Streamline your morning routine by setting up any one of these coffee-bar ideas.
It is as simple as it sounds: Carve out a space in your home (a cabinet, countertop, pantry or bar cart), and fill it with everything you need to fix up the ultimate morning brew, afternoon pick-me-up or after-hours nightcap. Even if you are short on space, these easy DIYs will show you clever ways to make room for a coffee station in a small kitchen.
Most of these coffee bars also make great statement pieces, no matter if your space embraces a modern, classic or farmhouse aesthetic. You can customize your coffee bar to fit your household’s taste buds, mixing in hot-cocoa pouches, tea bags and other drinks for everyone else to sip on.
Day-to-night drinks cart. Keep the drinks — caffeinated or otherwise — going from morning to night. This day-to-night cart is big enough to store the ingredients and accessories for morning brews, nightcaps and everything in between.
Closet coffee bar. Turn a spare closet into a stylish coffee bar by covering the wall with a bold temporary wallpaper and dotting the shelves with decorative accents.
Built-in coffee bar. Built-in cabinets offer unlimited opportunities: Display coffee mugs on shelves, stick syrups and shelf-stable creamers in the interior cabinet doors and place your machines on the counter.
Modern farmhouse coffee bar. Bring out the farmhouse aesthetic with galvanized metal storage bins, weathered tobacco baskets and pops of eucalyptus.
Refreshed antique coffee bar. For a true trash-to-treasure DIY, coat an antique buffet with a glossy finish to give it a more modern feel. Cover any imperfections with baskets, jars and an assortment of monochromatic mugs.
Well-stocked coffee cabinet. Work with what you have already got by transforming a slim cabinet into a makeshift coffee station. Stash all the basics on the shelves, starting with your most-used items on the bottom.
Modern coffee bar. Use geometric prints, faux greenery and sleek canisters to help your coffee bar fit in with your home’s modern look and feel.
Mobile coffee cart. Roll a bar cart from room to room to keep the coffee, tea and hot cocoa flowing. To make drinks party-ready, brew them ahead of time and stick them in pitchers right before the guests arrive.
Minimalist coffee cart. For a more uniform look, keep everything — coffee maker, sugar bowl and mugs — in the same color. Then dress up the coffee station with faux flowers and a framed sign.
Repurposed bar cart. Keep the coffee maker and other essentials on the top shelf and fragile items on the lower shelf to lessen the impact.
4 BEST AUTOMATIC DRIP COFFEE MAKERS
From picks under $30 to coffee makers with a grinder built right in, there are tons of trendy ways to brew coffee at home, from espresso makers to cold-brew makers to single-serve brewers and French presses, but coffee drinkers know that an automatic drip coffee maker is a classic type of coffee maker for a reason: It can brew strong, full-flavored coffee in great quantities.
But not all coffee makers are created equal. That is why we put over 30 drip coffee makers to the test in the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances Lab and brewed more than 400 cups of coffee.
When shopping for a drip coffee maker, there are many styles to consider, including those with a glass carafe, a thermal carafe or even a built-in grinder. Of the many models we have tested, these are the best drip coffee machines to buy in 2021:
Best Overall Coffee Maker: Braun BrewSense Drip Coffee Maker. The welldesigned Braun BrewSense came closer to the gold standard for water brewing temperature than almost any other drip coffee maker in our testing, and delivered a rich, bold, hot cup of coffee. The machine has settings to program the coffee to brew ahead of time, and you can adjust the brew strength and the temperature of the warming plate.
Best Single-Serve Coffee Maker: Keurig K-Elite Coffee Maker. Not only did this pick brew the best-tasting coffee in under 1 1/2 minutes, but the control panel has simple, intuitive buttons and five drink sizes for regular, strong or iced brews. Its 75-ounce water reservoir (about nine cups of coffee) means you will not have to keep refilling the machine. You can also program the time it turns on in the morning.
Best Coffee Maker With Grinder: Cuisinart Burr Grind & Brew Automatic Coffeemaker. For the freshest-tasting cup of coffee, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew grinds the beans immediately before brewing, or use preground coffee, if that is what you have on hand. This coffee maker features a burr grinder designed to grind coffee very evenly. The hopper holds up to half a pound of beans and features a sealed lid to help keep them fresh. In our tests, we liked how easy the water filter was to fill. The grinder is also relatively quiet and grinds directly into the basket and auto rinses when done to help prevent clogs.
Most Versatile Coffee Maker: Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System Auto-iQ Tea and Coffee Maker. Ninja’s new system makes a seemingly endless array of beverages. In addition to brewing coffee, tea, iced coffee and cold brew, you can select from six sizes (from single-serve to a full carafe) and control the strength of your drink. Our favorite part of this machine is the connected milk frother that lets you make creamy cappuccinos, flat whites and more.