Brew a Café Look at Home
Do you daydream about spending hours in European cafés or have a serious local coffeehouse habit? While I don't think anything will ever top the chance espresso I had in a Tuscan hill town when my friends and I were lost, I had a heavy local coffee shop habit going for awhile. I could walk right up the street from my house and get a mean Guatemalan Antigua. However, as the price seemed to rise each month, I started to take notice of how much my habit was costing each week, month and year, and had to drop the habit.
What was it about that place that was so appealing? It certainly wasn't the laptoppers who hogged up prime tables for hours, the stroller brigade blocking the paths to the counter or being expected to tip the hipsters who took my money and rarely remembered to hand me a paper cup with which to serve myself the coffee. It was a combination of yummy smells, great ambience, exposed brick, good music, coffee bean sacks, cool industrial lighting, local artists' work and more.
Here's how to cut back on your pricey coffeehouse habit and get some of the ambience at home instead.
Open your eyes to the elements of your favorite coffeehouse. I've noticed that kitchen designer Rebekah Zaveloff has posted some photos of her favorite coffeehouses from around the world on Houzz, and you can see how it inspires her work in residential kitchens.
Think beyond can lights. Part of the ambience of the coffeehouse is soft lighting and unique fixtures. In this kitchen schoolhouse-style ceiling lights, swing-arm sconces and industrial pendant lights all add to the vintage modern style.
Swipe eclectic-style inspiration. One thing I love about coffeehouses is the eclectic industrial style — salvaged pieces, zinc accents, tin-tiled ceilings, reclaimed wood, exposed brick. The open shelving, accent wall and unique island (a Tibetan altar) all give this home charming café style.
See the rest of this home
Pick café-style seating. Thonet bentwood bistro chairs are a classic choice; having two small, round tables adds to the coffeehouse feel and keeps this room open.
Marias A chairs by Tolix are another choice that adds French flair. Originally designed in 1934, these galvanized steel classics are still made in the same town in Burgundy where they were first designed. They also come in stools, as seen in some of the other photos.
Woven café chairs are a longstanding staple at cafés and restaurants in France (this is in Collioure) and have become very popular here in the States, indoors and out.
Consider a built-in banquette. A tufted banquette paired with a small café table creates a cozy spot for getting revved up in the morning here. The chalkboard adds café style.
Great banquettes for foodies
Line up a few tables for two. If you have more space, consider lining up smaller tables restaurant-style instead of having one big table.
Enjoy the view. My coffee shop has this great bar along the window so you can watch the world go by while you sip your latte. This kitchen is open to the yard in the same way, with a perch to enjoy the view.
Take it outside. Have you ever been to a café or coffeehouse that has only one or two coveted tables on a small deck, balcony or sidewalk? Scoring one feels like a major victory. Have that feeling every day by bringing the idea home. Café chairs and a small table can fit on some of the tiniest balconies.
Make the most of a corner. You don't need a lot of space to create a café nook. This designer mixed a spool tabletop, an industrial floor lamp and pendant light, and short Tolix stools to get the look in this small corner.
Create a gallery wall. One thing I love about coffeehouses is that they offer an ever-changing show of local art pieces for sale. Treat your walls like a gallery and rotate pieces around when you want to switch things up. I wonder if this office gives its owner a little bit of that laptopping-at-the-coffeehouse feeling?
Upholster with coffee bean sacks. They can add personality to any style of upholstery. Photo stylist Shannon Quimby has been doing it for years.
Check out the rest of her amazing home
Ask local coffee haunts if they'll give you their coffee bags for a DIY upholstery project.
Set up an espresso station. Stash cups, saucers, beans and sugar nearby. Perhaps even a cake stand loaded with some baked treats too.
Warning: One little espresso machine can soon lead to something that takes up serious counter space!
Display your china and food, and involve chalk when you do it. Open shelves hold a cake stand collection, well-organized dry goods and neat chalk labels here. You can apply coffeehouse organizing style out in the open and in the pantry.
Have you swiped a little coffeehouse or café style for your own home? Please share it with us in the Comments section.
