How do I upgrade my coffee station on a budget?

If you’re a coffee lover like me, you probably already have a spot on your counter where the blessings happen. Maybe it isn’t exactly Instagram or Pinterest worthy yet, and that’s probably why you’re here. Good news: you don’t need a kitchen makeover, just a few small upgrades. Whatever brought you to this article, you’re here now, and this is your coffee station checklist. Use it to improve the station you have or to build your very first one.

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A little tip that has saved me more times than I like to admit. If you can’t buy it twice, wait until you can. Even if it’s for $7.99, wait to buy or better yet, check on Facebook Marketplace or the nearest thrift stores in your area. Use some vinegar or soak in bleach and that those bottles are jars are as good as new. Shopping second-hand is a budget saver, especially when you can find most things for under $3.

Your coffee station checklist

You can upgrade your coffee station for under $100, not counting the label maker, and you can make a real difference with as little as $50. A walk through the dollar store (Dollar Tree or Dollarama) is the best place to start.

Coffee (or tea, or hot chocolate). It goes without saying, but you need whatever you collect that has that beautiful caffeine in it. Start there.
Containers with lids. Glass or plastic jars for coffee, sugar, tea bags and stir sticks. Pick shapes that look alike so the whole row reads as one set.
Easy pull-out storage. Small drawers, a mini dresser or little bins for pods, sugar packets and tea bags. They hide the clutter and stop it from spreading.
Something to add height. A small shelf, tray or riser so everything isn’t flat on the counter. Height makes a station look styled.
A mat or tray underneath. It defines the space and catches drips and spills.
Labels. The last step, and the one that makes it all look finished. More on that next.

Once the basics are in place, labels are what take it from tidy to polished.

Tell me in the comments, what is your favourite brand of coffee, I’m always looking for new ones to try.

Some ideas for what to label: every coffee and tea container, your sweeteners and creamers, your stir sticks, and your spice blends (more on those below). Print the date on anything you mix yourself.

The label maker that makes it look finished

I went to art school, and I learned calligraphy before I learned how to draw. At the time that felt backwards and a little annoying, but it means I do my labels by hand. Not everyone has that, though, and handwritten labels are cute right up until your handwriting isn’t. A label maker fixes that.

I don’t use one myself often (although when I get into my perfectionist mode, it saves me hours). Get an inkless thermal label printer that works with both iOS and Android. Yes, both even if you only have one phone right now. You never know what Jesus has in store and I make it a habit of planning for everything, just in case.

What’s actually on my coffee station

Mine isn’t fancy. It’s a working station, which means it has to hold up on a normal morning.

My Keurig and my Nespresso, because I like having both options
My coffee, in containers I picked up at the dollar store years ago when I was first renovating my coffee corner
My spices, including the fall blends I mention in this post
My teas: my favourites from PC, David’s Tea, and a random collection of teas I couldn’t resist making personal blends.

That last one is the real reason I needed a system. A pile of tea boxes and unlabelled jars is a coffee corner. Matching containers with clear labels is a coffee station. I love making everything I can from scratch. If I was any good with a needle and thread – I would be making my own clothing (my mother has tried to get me to learn every bit she could)

Fall spice blends for your coffee station

Since we’re doing fall drinks, I’m sharing 12 blends you can make at home in a few minutes: pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice, gingerbread, chai, speculaas, mulling spice, mixed spice, lebkuchen, eggnog, sweet potato pie spice, Mexican hot chocolate and cinnamon roll spice. They’re perfect stirred into coffee, lattes, hot chocolate, oatmeal and baking. Mix a jar, label it, and your station is ready for the season. The full blend cards are further down.

Prefer to skip the mixing? I make these by hand too. I can ship you the blends on their own, or in their jars, ready for you to label.

Click here for the complete 12 Spice Blends

A Pinch of Scripture

A labelled jar, a tidy tray and a calm morning have more to do with peace than you’d think.

Let all things be done decently and in order. — 1 Corinthians 14:40

I’m a neat and tidy person, a little OCD about it. Pretty, neat and proper (sharing a room with my sisters growing up was challenging to say the least). So this verse speaks right to my soul. Even when it’s time for me to say my prayers, I make sure the space I’m in is neat first. I’m inviting Jesus into that space, and I want it presentable for Him. If He were standing right in front of me, I don’t want to be one of those people saying, “Oh, sorry for the mess.” Let’s keep it real shall we… Here’s my take: if you have to say sorry for the mess, you’re not really sorry, because you could have cleaned it. It’s better to clean because you want to than to leave things lying around for unsuspecting company.

And every time I’m tempted to leave a mess, I think of the parable of the ten virgins.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. — Matthew 25:13

Nobody knows what time He’s coming. Only the Father does. So I always want to be prepared, and for me, prepared starts in the little places, like the counter where my coffee station sits.

So set up your station, label your jars, and enjoy that first quiet cup. But remember Jesus, before coffee.

Stay faithful, stay seasoned, and stay loyal.

With love and fire,

V.S. Beals

Servant. Disciple. Woman of the Word.