I’m telling you guys, it’s really the simple things in life. The simple things can make all the difference.

I’m a coffee girl. Love coffee in the morning. The last chore I knock out every night is setting up my coffee maker to brew a pot at 6:45am. It’s my little alarm clock. I love laying in bed and hearing the grinder start up. Knowing that when I walk downstairs there will be a hot pot of coffee waiting for me = heaven! Simple, little things make me happy!

As you guys know, at some point this kitchen is going to be renovated. It’s going to take time to plan and save for the job, so in the meantime, I’m making those most of this little kitchen. And always finding new ways to make life a little easier, more organized and super efficient in this small space.

Here’s my little space in the kitchen designated as a coffee / wine bar area…

Before move-in, my painter removed all of the cabinet doors and shelving for a good sanding and painting. The shelving and the mechanics that keep the shelving up are odd and very old. It wasn’t easy to adjust the bottom shelves. This cabinet over the coffee bar…

The bottom shelf in this cabinet was not working for me. No matter what height it was set at, my mugs and coffee bean container weren’t jiving. So I made some little changes and it made all the difference…

I removed the bottom shelf altogether and added a wide grid stacking shelf, like this, that I’ve been keeping in the garage for future use. Just so happened it worked in here!…

With my mugs sorted out, I needed a better container for coffee beans. I had been using something similar to this…

But when I poured the coffee beans into the grinder, they usually came fumbling out, landing on the counter or floor. It was a small annoyance, but one nonetheless that I wanted to nip.

Then I discovered this beauty…

I found it at The Container Store. It’s a slanted plastic jar with a popping lid that keeps the beans super fresh. Just pop the button…

It releases the lid…

I grabbed this little scoop that fits perfectly inside too…

No more beans scattering all over the counter and floor…

Love it! And it fits perfectly inside the cabinet next to the mugs…

I purchased the large container and it easily holds about 2 pounds of coffee beans…with room for the scoop inside.

Happy girl over here!…

 

Now, if you know me you know that one project leads to another which leads to another. And so on and so on. Soooooo, guess what I’ve been scheming up in my little crazy mind? I’m going to turn this under utilized coat closet…

…into a wine bar / butler’s pantry. You can see that I’ve already started stocking away some vino in here. Oh, and then there’s these 2 cases of wine that arrived yesterday…

This coat closet, as you can see, is right outside the kitchen. We don’t really use this closet for jackets. And with the small amount of space in my kitchen, I’m going to make use of every little inch to extend the life in here until the money is saved to renovate….

How am I going to do this on a budget? My 9 year old’s closet is going to be re-done (you’ll see it soon…but I have 2 hint words for you = Martha Stewart! Eeek!). With his Elfa closet coming down, I’m having that system re-cut to fit in this space. The beauty of Elfa is that you can repurpose it easily by going back to The Container Store for a cut. So I’m sure I’ll use various pieces of his closet in his brother and sister’s closets too.

But mainly in here – my new “wine cellar”. And Charlie approves. He’s already scheming along with me!…

*Don’t worry about his tail. Poor guy got it slammed in the front door a few weeks ago. Thankfully no break and all is well. Just dealing with hair re-growth.

Have a great weekend guys!