I don’t know
about you, one of my favorite parts about the weather turning cooler is
getting to drink hot cocoa! After two years of enjoying a little hot
cocoa station in our last house, we took a year off from doing one last
year because we didn’t have a good spot for one here in our new house.
We actually really missed it so we were quite happy that this year we
now have a sideboard in our kitchen that makes for the perfect spot to
set it up. At this point it’s pretty basic, but I think it will be fun
to add in some holiday touches once we get a little closer to
Christmas. For now though, with the cooler weather arriving it’s nice
having it all set up. This is actually my first winter of being a
coffee drinker (I know, I know – that’s pretty shocking!) but I have
been making myself a mocha every single morning (and maybe another one
each afternoon…)! In fact, I am a little embarrassed just how many
cups of cocoa or mocha by the four of us that have been made in just
the week or so that we’ve had it set up…

One
of the questions we get asked quite a bit is what do we fill the jars
with. One of the jars on the top of the sideboard has chocolate chips
and one has chocolate chunks. We generally sprinkle those onto the
whipped cream. Then we keep rolled wafers and a sugar bowl (that’s for
the coffee, not the cocoa). In the jars below there are mini chocolate
chips, marshmallows (we only had large ones leftover from the last time
we made s’mores when we first set this up last week, however we have
since switched them out for mini marshmallows that work better) and
then of course the cocoa mix!

And
on this side we have decaf coffee pods in the smaller chalkboard
canister, regular coffee pods in the larger one and then hazelnut ones
in the owl canister (which was the girls pick!) Then we keep straws
which make for good stirrers and spoons in the little gold vase. Our
fridge is pretty much within arms reach of the sideboard and we have
coffee creamer and whipped cream in there. When we have people over we
put those out too, but for our day to day we obviously just keep those
in the refrigerator.
 

Top of Sideboard (left to right):
The pitcher with leaves (leaves are from yard) – Target
Antlers – World Market
Crackled Planter – Birch Lane, spheres in planter – can’t remember, have had them for forever
Mason Jars with Metal Lids – White Home Collection several years ago (Wilton, NH)
Sugar Bowl – World Market
Hot Chocolate Cups and Saucers – L.A. Burdick (anniversary gift years ago) 
Chalkboard Canisters with Copper Tops – Target
Metallic Cup (was a candle but now that it’s done we use it as sort of a vase) – Target
Straws – Michael’s
Owl Canister – Target

Middle Row (left to right):
Bowls – Mikasa
Three little jars – World Market
Saucers – Pottery Barn
Microwave – Target
Cup Holder – World Market
Cups – Mikasa

Bottom Row (left to right):
Wood Box – HomeGoods
Plates – Mikasa
Bowls – Pottery Barn, Emma Collection
White Dinner Plates – Pottery Barn, Emma Collection
Gray Salad Plates –  IKEA

Along with hot cocoa one of my other favorite things about the cooler weather arriving is getting to use the fireplace! 

Full Source List for Family Room: 

Mantel Color- Winter’s Gate in Semi-Gloss by Benjamin Moore
Wall Color- Horizon in Eggshell by Benjamin Moore
Trim Color – Simply White in Semi-Gloss by Benjamin Moore
Door Color – Mopboard Black in Semi-Gloss by Benjamin Moore
Counter Height Stools – Target
Menu Chalkboard – Dear Lillie (for sale in our shop coming very soon!)
Flush Mount – Lowe’s
Pendants – These were a hand-me-down from my mom and they worked perfectly in here (originally from Bellacor)
Circular Mirror – gift from my sister, Dana (from Antique Farmhouse)
Three-Tiered Display Piece with buckets – gift from my mom (from Mothology)
Table – Pier 1 years ago and has since been painted in French Linen from Lady Butterbug
X Back Dining Chairs – IKEA
Slipcovered Dining Chairs – IKEA
Oversized Chalkboard – made by me, you can read more about it here
X Sideboard – made by me, you can read more about it here
Wreath – Birch Lane
Antlers – World Market
Sectional – IKEA
Rug – HomeGoods
Lamp – Joss and Main
Pillows – Birch Lane, Joss and Main
Plaid Throw – HomeGoods
Slipcovered Wingback Chairs – Savvy Home and Garden
Script Chairs – TJMaxx
Painted French Cabinet – makeover here
TV Console – Antique shop in Camden, SC about 8 years ago
Frames above chairs – tutorial here
Striped Roman Shade in Window above Sink – made by me, you can read more about it here.
Drapery Panels – IKEA Ritva Panels
Drapery Rods – Lowe’s
Sconces – RH Baby and Child
Mirror – gift from my mom (Restoration Hardware)
Rocking Horse – gift from my mom (from RH Baby and Child)
Urns on Fireplace – Seasons in Williamsburg (years ago on clearance)

 Have a Happy Halloween and a FABULOUS weekend!

A Simple Thanksgiving Table Setting
The Chair Switcharoo

Project Source List

30 thoughts on “Time For A Coffee/Hot Cocoa Station and a Fire in the Fireplace

  1. sie haben soooo schön dekoriert!!! ich mag dei holzplatte vom sideboard, die tafel darüber, die große schüssel vom sideboard, ihr schaukelpferd…eigentlich mal ich alles!!!!! der kamin ist auch super, ich hätte auch gern einen, aber der war beim hausbau leider nicht geplant, schade!!! und wir mögen auch gern kakao in dieser jahreszeit!!! danke für die wunderschönen bilder und inspirationen, einen schönen freitag wünscht angie aus deutschland

  2. Love your hot cocoa station! Also loved seeing, "Lola's Verse" on the chalkboard… Great idea to keep it up in plain view for her – not to mention the whole fam :)! I am often inspired by my kid's memory verses… funny how that works!

  3. What is your Mocha recipe? Mochas are my favorite but I haven't tried making them myself. Your whole room is so warm and cozy!!!

    1. Thanks! I just make a cup of hazelnut coffee and add a scoop or two of cocoa, a little bit of cream, and then I top it with some whipped cream.

  4. I love your blog and find it very inspiring and have purchased many of your items! However, I could really relate to your blog much more when you seemed to be representative of the "average" homeowner. What I mean is before you were sharing links to items that I love in your home and would want to buy before I clicked on it and realized it took me to a wreath that costs $179. I mean really who can afford this!?! I'm not trying to be rude or disrespectful – it's just very disappointing! I have seen these changes happening slowly over the last year or so and I do realize that you buy or "receive" items all across the $$ board as well as build your own pieces because you don't want to spend $1,000s on a piece. I just felt like as a long time follower I wanted you to know how I and maybe some other followers may be feeling. 🙂

    1. Thank you for your kind words and for being honest with your feedback. We truly appreciate and value your opinion. We are not trying to have our blog fit into any kind of category as far as a certain type of home whether it be "average" "lower end" "higher end" etc, we are just sharing the things we are working on in our space and the things that we use to decorate it. Over the last year we moved into what we hope will be our home for many years to come and are trying to decorate it in a way that feels a bit more "grown up". We have many many many items in our home from places like IKEA and Target as well as from consignment shops and other inexpensive places, and as you mentioned we have built quite a few pieces of furniture in our home to save money (two tables, a sideboard, a rolling cart, a bench, an ottoman, etc.) but as we are getting older we also are enjoying adding a handful of quality type pieces (like our bed and dresser) and accessories that we hope will be timeless well-built pieces we will have for years and years to come. We certainly cannot afford to fill our house with pieces like that at this point but when we have the opportunity to work with different sponsors and add a handful of pieces like that to our home we are quite grateful for that. One thing we often get e-mails about is that people enjoy seeing how we mix some pieces that are a bit more expensive with lots of inexpensive finds from places like Target and IKEA. We also certainly understand that each family may have a different opinion on what is considered too much to spend on something just like we all have different opinions on what looks good.

  5. You are making me want a coffee/cocoa station so badly, I just have no idea where I would put it. I've loved your previous cocoa stations before, and this one is no exception! Can't wait to see how you decorate it for the holidays. Don't feel so embarrassed about not being a coffee drinker, I myself just stared about a year and a half ago, before that you couldn't get me any where near one, now I might need two in one day 😉

  6. Great drink station and idea. This is great for guest who can help themselves at anytime. Lovely room and like how you note where you got each piece. Lovely home!

  7. Beautiful home! My 2 cents on comment above…I personally have not seen much of a shift in this blog as I have with some others that have turned me off. You've always had lovely taste and seem to make everything/anything beautiful. I do have a question though on the fireplace…It looks gorgeous. Do you put a screen in front at all? My husband is a total nervous nellie and won't let me even just have a screen in front. He wants one of those special ones that are installed…which i'm not really a fan of. So we've done nothing and never lit a fire which seems such a shame.

    1. Thank you so much, Amy! We don't put a screen on this one at all because it's a gas fireplace. If it were a real wood burning one I think we would. We have a wood burning one in the other room but we haven't used that one yet.

  8. Love love love your house, it is so gorgeous! Can't stop looking at this blog since I found it! We are thinking of buying and extending a little cottage in Ireland where I am from and I am just wondering what the size of your kitchen/dining/family area is? Even a rough idea! Would love to have a similar layout ourselves, but I'm not a very good judge of how much furniture fits in a space :/ Your house looks spacious and airy, but cosy too – the perfect combination! I would be ever so grateful if you could get back to me 🙂

    1. Thank you!!! Here are our dimensions for this are:

      Living room – 162” wide
      Dinging Room – 150” wide
      Kitchen – 124” wide
      Fireplace to peninsula – 300” long

  9. If I missed this, I apologize in advance- the chalkboard…..I LOVE it. Must have it.
    Did you make this one? If you purchased it would you mind sharing the link?? TIA♥

  10. I love this! i love your blog. so happy I stumbled across it. I was wondering, is this coffee station your design or did you purchase it? its gorg.

  11. What are the dimensions of the coffee station table? I am trying to have someone make me something similar.

    1. Hi there! You can find the dimensions in the link to the tutorial we used above! The only difference is that we made ours a few inches taller.

Comments are closed.