Jessica St-Pierre adores her at-home coffee nook.supplied
While a quick jaunt to the corner coffee shop is a morning delight, for the days you want to have your cup at home there’s no reason why you need to sacrifice that cozy café feeling. Enter: the home coffee station, an area of your kitchen dedicated to your morning routine.
“Since the pandemic, people want to be able to do a very nice coffee like you’d find in a coffee shop, [but] at home,” explains Jessica St-Pierre, a buyer in the coffee division of Tanguay, a furniture and home decor retailer based in Quebec. There has been an increase in investment for home coffee machines, grinders, milk frothers, coffee beans and more, she says. “People had to stay at home, so they’ve invested to have a better experience at home.”
Here’s how to create your own coffee station.
Decide on the best machine for you
Your coffee station begins with deciding how involved you want to be. St-Pierre explains that there are a few types of coffee makers on the market: fully automatic, semi-automatic and manual. Automatic machines do everything at the touch of a button – from grinding the beans and extracting the coffee to steaming milk. Manual machines look like the type in a café that need to be controlled by a barista, but result in a truly custom cuppa.
St-Pierre says about 80 per cent of Tanguay clients opt for a fully automatic machine. “Most people like to just press play and the latte makes itself,” she says, adding that it’s ideal for people who want to do other things while the coffee is being made, like preparing breakfast. The other 20 per cent of clients go for a manual or semi-automatic machine because they want to get a bit more technical. “Take your time to choose. And go to the store and discuss your dynamic at home in order to choose the best machine for you that will last you many years.”
St-Pierre making a latte.supplied
Create some ambience with light and pops of colour
To take your coffee station from a corner of your counter to a full at-home café, St-Pierre recommends a few small, but impactful additions. A small table lamp can “bring a warmer ambience,” she says. “In the morning, everything is just a little darker outside. Being able to turn on the lamp really elevates the space.”
St-Pierre’s own at-home coffee station features a table lamp, which she says is her favourite part of the setup. Something tiny like Tanguay’s Dome LED Table Lamp will make a big impact despite its small footprint. She also recommends adding a small potted plant if there’s space and enough light for more visual appeal.
Another vibe-lifting addition St-Pierre suggests is a mug display. On top of being functional, St-Pierre says that showing off your favourite mugs provides a welcome pop of colour that will boost your mood in the morning. Brands like Not Neutral create high-quality, heavy mugs that look great on a counter, she says.
A mug display is not only functional, but adds a welcome pop of colour.supplied
Add items that’ll make it a full-service breakfast nook
Another way to elevate your coffee corner is by adding the other items you use in the morning to make breakfast – like a toaster and butter plate. “I like that everything is in one place for breakfast,” she says, adding that it also means easier setup and cleanup. “My kids know to go there to make their toast and hot chocolate by themselves each morning.” St-Pierre recommends toasters from the Italian brand Smeg, which come in a variety of colours to match whatever aesthetic your corner has.
Make it functional, of course
Aside from a beautiful space to relax and get ready for the day, a coffee corner should also be efficient. To make everything run smoothly in the morning, St-Pierre recommends including a nearby garbage to discard coffee grounds and finished coffee pods.
Another upgrade to transform the area into a more functional space includes adding a bar sink – that way you don’t need to go across the kitchen to get water for your coffee. “If you can start from scratch [when creating your coffee nook], an extra sink goes a long way,” St-Pierre says. If you have space to play with, the options are limitless: from sidebars to installing a small wine fridge so the space transforms to a bar on evenings and weekends.
Design your at-home coffee nook at www.tanguay.ca. And take part in Tanguay’s Excitement of the Win a Million Dollars Sale. From February 23–May 3, every $100 spent gives you a chance to become a finalist to win one million dollars. The earlier you shop, the better your chances of winning: there will be one finalist each week for 10 weeks.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Tanguay Furniture. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.