Can you see any major changes to what has been dubbed my coffee bar? (The previous owners left behind this rolling kitchen cart, and I am happily using it.)
Here’s a hint: Look at the coffee makers.
I am so crunched for space. Especially since I can’t use my lower kitchen cabinets. (Remember, there is a rope tied across the now empty cabinets because there was a rat problem and there’s poison under there.)
So I bit the bullet and downsized. The big Keurig I had here previously I bought from QVC for myself for Christmas last year. I ended up giving it to my youngest daughter when she came earlier this week. She has more use for a big coffee maker than I do.
I shopped and shopped online, looking for the best deal. After I saw Elaine’s pretty little mini Keurig, I was besotted. I wanted a red one of course. Found this at Macy’s. They arrived yesterday. This morning I used the Keurig. Great cup of coffee!
This little Cuisinart was just $30. So with free shipping, I came out pretty good! And it came in red as well. Yea!
These fit the space much better. And it’s only me here. So I don’t need big coffee makers. Judy is about my only visitor. And she doesn’t drink coffee.
When you have small spaces, you have to work with it. Scale down if you can. Make better use of what space you have.
The mugs that work best with the mini Keurig happened to already be on the shelf above the stove. So that worked out well.
I want you to know that I have moved the TV in the living room away from the mantel. I will be showing that in a few days. You guys rock when it comes to suggestions!
It’s always a challenge to make small spaces work but you thought this through and came up with a great solution! Perfect for you…and it looks beautiful, which is important, too!
Can you brew Coca Cola in either of those??
Judy
I imagine we can try, Judy!
Brenda
I love this little spot in your kitchen. I just have a regular coffee pot…and no Official spot(well a corner)…but I do like how it all fits together in my kitchen; especially since I don’t have much counter space!
Ugh! I feel for you with the rats and the lower cupboards not getting to be used. Hopefully, that will all get fixed soon.
~Pat
I don’t know if I can bear to ever put anything down in those cabinets again… Just the thought.
Brenda
That little cart makes the perfect spot for the coffee bar. And I’m loving that red lamp on top of it. I loved the time you talked about having lights all over the house. I agree w/you on that, they make the house so cozy, especially in fall and winter. How’s Abi today?
Didn’t get sick all night, which is when she typically does. But then she hasn’t been outside all night either. She hasn’t been out since we got home and she gobbled up gravel. She’s not happy about it. I have some pills they’re having me give her. But for once in the last two weeks I woke up to no diarrhea. Thank goodness!
Brenda
That’s great news about Abi. They sure can worry us to death.
I keep my big coffee maker in the laundry room, for company, and a little one on the counter. I had my under sink cupboard roped off because of rat poison for a couple of months, too! The cart looks so cute and welcoming as a coffee station.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who’s had to do this with the cabinets!
Brenda
Brenda, I love your use of red in your kitchen. I am nuts for anything red! Glad to see Abi had a better night. Have a great day. ♥
Thanks, Martha Ellen. Red just makes me want to sing. But no one would want to hear me sing, I’m afraid…
Brenda
I just love your coffee bar and the red kurig wow ~ truly a show stopper. Wish I lived closed, I would love to stop by for a cup ~ have a great day
And I would love to have you, Marianne!
Brenda
I love the red! I adopted the coffee bar idea – it is so convenient to have the coffee making supplies in the dining room – it saves space in our tiny kitchen!
Having things in one place make it easier and quicker to get what you need to get going. And makes more sense in my book!
Brenda
What a nice color coordinated coffee bar! Hubby and I have our own coffee pots.. he likes weaker coffee than I do as I add creamer to mine. He has a 4 mug pot, Cuisinart.. and I have a one mug pot. I’ve interested in the Keurig idea, but I’m in love with the French Roast beans we grind from Costco. So, I have to stick with the regular drip. Make sure when you kill the rats that you close up the holes where they are getting in. We had a devil of a time with mice.. then we remodeled the kitchen and ripped it all out and found all these holes! Since we plugged them all up, no more mice. Good luck! ((hugs)), Teresa
I think the holes have been closed up in the kitchen. Judy’s wonderful husband, John took hammer and wood and nails and got in there one day to work on it. I haven’t heard them cavorting around since. But I still keep the poison down there for now. Filthy vermin.
Brenda
Your coffee bar is fabulous! I love that blue and white lamp with the red shade and I’m sure coffee tastes better brewed in red:-)
I do believe it does taste better brewed in red and drank in a red mug, Betsy!
Brenda
I really like your new arrangement.. You know, now, that I’m going to have to get a red Keurig.. I’ve started drinking coffee.. I found it in the single serving size (Folger’s) and I can make it as strong as I want to.. My daughter goes to 7-11 for her coffee.. Maybe if I’d get her a Keurig, she’d find a flavor of coffee that she likes and use less gas. We’ll see.
You say you have a small house but it seems like you have much more room to arrange than I do.. My house is small too. I guess it just the way the rooms in the two houses are arranged..
I hope Abi will continue to be okay.. I hope you can get the problem fixed with the stones and the rats..
I hope the three of you are all cozy and comfy today..
Hugs, Charlotte
How much square footage do you have? I have 1010. But the house is laid out pretty well. I have found mice have been in my linen closet, such as it is, when I first moved in. So my towels and washrags are on a table!
Brenda
I love your coffee makers in red! I’ve always wanted to get daring and get Kitchen Aid mixer in teal or pink!! We have the Keurig 1 cup here and I ended up putting it in a cabinet because we always go through a pot of coffee, sometimes twice a day. Although I have a lot of counter space all around the kitchen, The area next to the sink where I keep the coffee things is too small for the Kuerig and to have a coffee bar. I would love it! Lucky you for having the owners leave you that cart!
XO,
Jane
Jane, I’ve had coffee bars made out of various pieces of furniture. When in Texas, for awhile I had it on a red sideboard I ordered and had put together from JC Penneys. Loved that thing. So if you could find a space somewhere in the kitchen or dining room or even the living room, you could use a piece of furniture and have one. And in winter a cocoa bar too!
Brenda
A lovely space for your coffee !I liked the red colour is so hopeful and happy ! You made a place like jewellery !
Have a nice lovely moments with a hot cup of coffee !
Olympia
I surely will. I wouldn’t begin to have room on my small kitchen counters for this.
Brenda
I am just loving that red coffee maker. I have slowly starting to turn my kitchen into a white and red colour theme. If your ears are ringing, it is because I mentioned you in my post today….candles in a muffin tray, I just had to copy the idea!
Well, copy away. I’m sure I found them in some magazine somewhere at some point. Coming right over!
Brenda
Love the new arrangement and very smart of you to think about what your actual needs are!
Well, I’m not crazy about excess. Whether it be in my house, or it be a house bigger than I actually need.
Brenda
Keurig makes a plain K-cup dispenser that you can put your own coffee inside. I still like a few specialty coffees and I grind it and put it in that. I have seen them in catalogues and in the specialty stores. So enjoy your blog.
Yes, I have one of those to use. Glad they make those.
Brenda
Your little coffee station is so charming and that red is such a cheerful color. Our house is on the small side as well, and our kitchen is so small, it’s like an afterthought. I will have to post about it sometime. So glad to hear that little Abi is doing better!
I wish my kitchen was big enough for some sort of island, but it isn’t. So, you work with what you have.
Brenda
Red always gets my vote! Love the petite little Keurig and the coffee pot. The cart looks great in your kitchen. Hope both you and Abi are doing better. I’ve never heard of a dog that eats rocks it’s a definitely a first for my ears. Hope you get it all figured out and that you are feeling better soon.
After posting that about Abi, lots of people have said their dog eats rocks. So surprised me!
Brenda
You have such a cute kitchen – all the red is so cute with the white. (ps – don’t you hate when you post on your blog and something is spelled wrong or you just don’t like it? – I just had to fix some on my post – thanks for reading about my sofa, even though it wasn’t very well written)
I thought it was fine, Holly. I didn’t see a thing wrong with your post. The focus was on the sofa, where it was supposed to be.
Brenda
Your coffee bar is so cute, Brenda! I really like the red & white — so cheerful and you are all ready for Christmas!
Glad your pup is doing better.
Well, that’s one room that will look festive even if I don’t have much room for holiday decor!
Brenda
Hi Brenda~I love your cozy little kitchen and especially your new little red coffee pot…it is so cute!! I so need to get me one now…we have a big Bunn coffee pot because we love the way it brews coffee so fast but when my husband is at work it would be nice to make me just one cup of coffee instead of a whole pot of it…I feel like doing my kitchen in red now…it is such a cheerful color…I miss seeing all your polka dots on your cups and bowla from your old blog scene..wish you had that again…it was so beautiful!! Love ya! Carol
I’ll try to show more of the polka dots. I really like the taste of the Keurig cup of coffee. This morning was my first one in the mini Keurig. Tasted just the same as with the big Keurig, and fits so much better in my little kitchen. Maybe create yourself your own coffee station. He can have his Bunn and you can get yourself a mini Keurig!
Brenda
Your coffee bar is really cute and I love the red! I do hope Abi is feeling better and your ankle too!
Xo,
Charlotte
Which reminds me, I need to give her her second dose of medicine for the day. She is doing much better. And John fixed it where she can’t get back there now.
Brenda
Hi Brenda
I love the coffee bar. I am asking for one from Santa
Sorry about the rat problem.
Have the neighbors cleaned up any of their mess
Susan
Ladybug cottage
Not really. There is a bunch of opened up trash bags that got rained on and probably animals got into along the sidewalk. They don’t seem to get the message that the city is not going to pick that kind of stuff up anymore. So I guess it just sits there. Since I built the fence on that side, I thankfully can’t see the disaster of the back yard.
Brenda
I love the idea of a coffe bar and yours is really cute. I just told my husband that I want one in our next house. Love your red!
Tammy
Tammy, you can have one most anywhere. A table, a shelf. I’ve found a way to work one in wherever I live, no matter the space.
Brenda
I just love your coffee bar, Brenda. Just look at all your red mugs and that new coffee maker. Everything is so shiny and spotless. I like the addition of your blueware lamp. It adds a nice contrast to all your country/cottage touches.
Lovely post…Puts a smile on my face.
Blessings,
Carolynn
I bought that lamp at Target years ago. Added the red shade. I love to mix things up. Thanks for commenting and liking my new addition!
Brenda
Everything looks so pretty and cozy. Love those cheery cherry plates, and the blue and white lamp with the red shade is perfect there. Your Keurig coffee maker, being that pretty red, looks like it would make great coffee. Since it’s just me that occasionally drinks coffee here, I’m still using my circa 1974 electric percolator, with French caramel flavored coffee. I’m glad that Abi is feeling better. Fuzzy has been banned from being off leash in our backyard after rolling in and eating bad stuff twice in one day and me having to give him a bath twice in that same day. Dogs get some strange ideas on what is good smelling/tasting.
John and Judy fixed it where she can’t get to the gravel. So I let her out last night. She was sick again this morning. So guess she found something else to get into. I’m about to pull my hair out. Guess she’s staying in for awhile.
Brenda
Brenda- Whenever I come here I am always charmed by how warm and cozy and dear everything looks. It makes me smile all over. You do a wonderful job with your colors and it is just a fun place to visit- xo Diana
Well, with the exception of the rope across my bottom kitchen cabinets across from the coffee bar, I like how it looks. You notice I don’t take photos of the other side. Think I will though just to show you how it looks!
Brenda
Your coffee station is so cute. Love the red coffee makers, but I was wondering…why two? I have a regular drip coffee maker because I like to buy whole beans (Dunkn Donuts are my fave) and grind them fresh every morning.
Judy asked me the same thing. Well, sometimes I don’t want to pay for the K-cups, and just want some coffee in another pot. So this way, if I don’t have coffee for one, I have the other.
Brenda
I love your idea of using a rolling kitchen cart for your coffee bar…it looks great!! And I love your red kitchen! We just put in a new kitchen and the one thing I had to have was touches of red.
~Cindy
It makes it cheerful with red, doesn’t it? Makes you want to smile.
Brenda
If I lived by you I would come for a visit for the day!!!
And I would fix you a cup of coffee of your choice.
Brenda
I just got a Keurig and my hubby loves it. I’m not a coffee drinker, but my guests love that coffee. Your coffee bar is the most darling space. I love the idea of going with two coffee makers. Brenda, who did your wordpress migration? I have got to get that done soon. Do you feel that you have gotten the viewers/readers back that you lost during the change?
I did it myself. If you go to Claudia’s blog, Mockingbird Hill Cottage, on her sidebar is the ebook we used. I still don’t see the Feedburner numbers all the way up. I’m still down at least a 1000, but then Feedburner is not that reliable. And anyway, since I have ads, I’d rather they visit my actual blog.
Brenda
I love your coffee bar, Brenda, and I love that you were able to replace your big Keurig with a red one. It suits your kitchen perfectly!
I think so too! Thanks, Kathy.
Brenda
I love your kitchen….so cheerful and cozy. And what do you mean Judy is your only visitor. Look how many of us stopped for coffee already!
See that coffee maker must be like the loaves and fishes story 
Well, Judy is pretty much my only non-virtual visitor. Yes, I enjoy your visits each and every day!
Brenda
Brenda, you are a GENIUS of creativity. I would NEVER have thought of putting a red shade on that lamp, and then adding that cute “bow tie” to complete the look, but I won’t forget it, because it ROCKS!
I just play around with things I have till I like the way it looks. That Target lamp came with a white shade, but that was too plain for me!
Brenda
I had no idea that you could even get a red coffee pot! Those are great! Love your coffee bar…so inviting! )
Well, I’m finding you can get a red almost anything now. The other day I was driving to PT, and a neighbor was having a red washing machine brought into her house. I was jealous…
Brenda
Brenda you rock for living in a small space, and doing it so eloquently.
We lived in our little condo for 17 years, and now we look at each other and say, how did we fit it all in? You just make it work, don’t you?
Jen
I just find a way to make it work. I know I could live in a smaller space. In fact I’d like to.
Brenda
Brenda,
I love the new coffee makers! And I adore that rolling cart!! I have been down with a terrible cold, so missed your past few posts. I hope your little doggin’ is better now. And my goodness, what an ordeal you have been through with your ankle!!! I hope the therapy will help!!!!
xo Kris
Thanks, Kris. First time I break a bone and I have to do it up big time.
Brenda
Hi Brenda,
I love your cute little coffee pots but why two? What am I missing here? I have the large Keurig and love it. It is nice to have hot water ready all day when I want a cup of something. My house is 500 sq. ft. so I have to make space for important things like a coffee pot!
Glad your little dog is doing better. It is so hard when you have jobs that need to be done and you are unable to do them. Glad John helped you. I wish I could hire a handyman for an hour to do little things for me but the ones around here only come for 1/2 day and I can’t afford that.
Hope you are feeling better and that you are able to avoid surgery.
I know it seems a little odd to have two coffee makers. But I order all my K-cups for my Keurig online. If I run out, or am running short of money to order them, I always have the other little coffee pot and can just use cheap grocery store coffee. Gotta think ahead!
Brenda
I love the idea of a coffee bar. Wish I had room for one. Red rules! I have several red appliances. Aren’t they the best?
The red appliances make me smile every time I look at them.
Brenda
I’m not a coffee drinker, but I love your red coffee makers.
Thank you, Laura. I think it tastes better in a red coffee maker! (Wink)
Brenda
Don’t ya just love it. We use ours all the time now. Never even use the big one. I feel the cost of the pods is worth it in that we really enjoy our coffee and there has to be some treats in life. Love the red and thanks for the mention.
Brenda,
Lucky girl with that fantastic cart they left! Love all the red, how did you find a red microwave? Your coffee station is such a happy place and I too load up my walls with pictures etc and it is nice to see you do too. I don’t drink coffee but I could see this as a tea and hot chocolate station too!
I have a small red vintage cart that I think needs to go in my kitchen now as my station. Thanks for the great idea!
Lynnie
Brenda I love the ‘downsize’ and how well it seems to function for you. Me and the Mr drink a pot of coffee but if was just me I would also have the little one cup guy and in red!!! You are always making things look so cute! Hugs, Linda