IKEA Cart Hack: Mini Coffee Bar

Happy Saturday, Darlings!

(look closely enough and you’ll notice I’m not pouring any coffee out… We drank it all before this photo shoot! oops!)

For Christmas, Ryan and I got a new coffee maker! Yay!  We knew exactly what we were looking for- nothing fancy, just a simple coffee maker featuring a stainless steel carafe to keep the coffee warm for me (I’m a slow sipping coffee drinker) and a programmable timer for Ryan to have coffee brewed and ready for when he leaves on his super early morning fishing/hunting days.

Ryan is definitely a French press guy, and I’m obsessed with my Chemex, but for daily use on those (often rushed) early mornings before work, our go-to method of brewing coffee is a basic drip coffee maker.

We knew that we would have to find a new home for it though, because all of the ones we were looking at were too tall to fit underneath our cupboards on our kitchen counter. It was a bit of a dilemma because our darling little kitchen really doesn’t have a ton of extra space (see our before and after remodel pictures here!)! Thus, my idea:

Meet the Raskog utility cart from Ikea.

At $25, it’s a STEAL!!

You guys. Honestly. This cart can be used for SO many different things in pretty much any room in your home. I have so many friends who own this cart and they use it in a number of different ways:

1. Mini bar

2. portable hair cutting station

3. holding diaper changing supplies

4. makeup/toiletry cart for in the bathroom

5. craft/sewing supply storage cart

The possibilities are endless! For those of you who roll your eyes at the mention of IKEA, sure, you get what you pay for- it’s not the most durable or amazingly designed cart in the world, but it’s cute and cheap, and gets the job done! The available color options seem to change year to year. Mine is grey, but right now it’s available in black, sort of a burnt orange (love this color), and beige.

I’ve had mine in my kitchen since last year, and it’s just been used to hold some miscellaneous items. Not much thought went into it. But now, it’s super functional, organized, and oh so cute!

Here’s the breakdown:

Bottom shelf: Tea + accessories- Tea bags, loose leaf tea, sugar packets, etc. Also could add a jar of hot cocoa to that shelf.

Middle shelf: our lesser used coffee accessories- French press, Bonavita kettle, IngenuiTEA teapot, stove top espresso pot, grinder, etc.

Top shelf: this is where I had to get creative. Because there is some depth to the shelves (they are like a basket) it was tricky to get the coffee carafe out without having to lift or tip the coffee maker. It just didn’t quite fit right. At first I thought of making a little stand for it, but then I had a brilliant idea (ok, well not brilliant, but I was proud of myself for thinking of it) to flip the shelf upside down! So now my coffee maker just sits right at the top. You could a clear shelf liner in case of any little spills because the shelf is mesh to catch any spills.

Also how cute are these little spoons!? Swoon!

My mom made them using a little metal stamping tool kit.

Talk about such a great themed gift- we got the coffee maker, coffee bean container, coffee spoons, and some adorable (and giant!) “mom” and “dad” mugs.  I’m sure we’ll be needing those more in the next several months with baby girl’s arrival!

To complete the coffee bar, I added a few wall accessories:

This Ikea rail and hooks hold a few mugs and our coffee measuring spoon. My Hobby lobby wall basket holds the filters and this airtight container with our coffee grounds/beans- always, always stocked with Starbucks.

So far, I’m loving the set up!  Let me know if I missed any product links you want info on.

#Farmhouse #HomeDecor #kitchen