Could your kitchen counter space use some additional room to house all your coffee essentials? Here’s how to double up space with this easy and cool IKEA crate coffee station!
Last summer, I had picked up some small Ikea crates to make a few herb-themed planters.
Have you ever picked up an IKEA crate before? I highly recommend you put this on your list during your next IKEA run! IKEA crates are super nice quality and very easy to assemble! Plus, they come untreated, making them a dream to create with.
I used the smaller sizes for the herbs and flowers crates, but it’s the one large one I didn’t do anything with yet! Until now…
During Christmas, I received a lovely box of different flavoured teas. What a treat!
However, my current little coffee station crate you can see in my Christmas home tour HERE (on the right side) didn’t cut it any longer. Something larger was needed to house the new larger case of tea, along with other ingredients like sugar, honey, and ground coffee.
I’m certainly no stranger to creating coffee bar ideas. When you have a small countertop space and you must have a coffee maker, coffee beans and coffee essentials nearby, you pull out all the stops to make it happen! While looking cute too of course.
Here’s a few other coffee station ideas you may also find helpful…
More unique coffee station ideas to make:
Wood coffee station sign shelf with mugs
Wood organic coffee sign with mugs
Create a cool fresh coffee station appliance garage
Fresh coffee long sign with mug hooks
Visit many other unique coffee station ideas HERE
So let’s solve this!
Rummaging around my crate stash, my eyes landed on the large Ikea crate.
After a quick test, the rustic crate was really was the perfect size to house that tea case!
And as luck would have it, the crate fit the kitchen counter too, even with a coffee machine right beside it. Double YAY!
As much as I love the crate as-is (it was already stained), I felt it could be improved with a few additions to make it more productive and of course… even cuter and coffee-themed for a new and improved home coffee station!
I mean, if you have space for a mobile coffee cart, that’s ideal. I use to use a vintage laundry cart as a coffee station you can see HERE, however I’ve had to give up that space to house a cat condo. Yeah… well…
So if you too have only a small counter or cabinet space to work with, this crate idea setup may be the perfect fix for you too!
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Rustic IKEA crate coffee station
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Supplies I used:
Stencils: Fresh Coffee / Shipping Crate Stamps / Valentine Crates
Ikea Crate – large
Fusion Mineral Paint’s Stain & Finishing Oil in Golden Pine and Cappuccino (10% off)
Staining the IKEA crate
1. Assemble the IKEA crate. (very easy to do!)
IKEA crates come with excellent instructions and even their own allen wrench! I however used a cordless drill and the right bit to do the job.
You can view how I put smaller IKEA crates together HERE.
2. Lightly sand, dust with a tack cloth, then stain with tone of choice.
I used a mix of Fusion Mineral Paint’s Stain and Finishing Oil in Golden Pine and Cappuccino (10% off HERE) to create this perfect in-between tone!
You can see how I mix the stains in THIS post.
How to stain a wood crate
- Ensure surfaces are dust-free and clean.
- Mix stain to the desired tone.
- Brush on with a chip brush.
- Spread the stain around with a rag.
- Allow stain to sit for a few moments, then wipe back all the excess with a clean rag.
- Dry the crate overnight.
- If applying a 2nd coat, use some steel wool to sand the surfaces first.
3. To create an additional coffee storage shelf, cut a plank that will fit inside the crate, then paint it in Fusion’s Coal Black.
Coffee and crate stencils
Three Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils were used for this project, which really ramped up the coffee shop vibe!
These stencils are vintage sign style, and really pack a punch where quality is concerned, made out of a durable 10 mil mylar. And the handy registration marks on the sides and top make them effortless to position into place.
Shipping Crate Stamps stencil HERE
4. Stencil the outside of the crate in various coffee and crate designs to chime in with its new duty as a coffee station!
Since this was a coffee station rustic crate vibe, the stencil placements were random where they were most pleasing to the eye. Coffee 100% Colombian fit perfectly on the side of the crate, and the other stencils were added to the top and front. (see more in the video below this post)
How to stencil for flawless results
- Position stencil, then use masking tape to hold it in place.
- Load a dome-tipped stencil brush, then off-load most of the paint onto a rag so the brush feels dry.
- Tap or swirl the paint through the stencil for the desired effect.
To view the stenciling part, click the video near the bottom of this post.
You can also learn how to stencil from THIS post.
Mounting a shelf
Since there is no drawers, an added shelf inside the crate is a good idea, doubling up the space.
5. Position the shelf where desired. Here’s how I did mine:
The tea case was placed inside the crate, with a roll of masking tape sitting on top. The shelf plank was then placed on top of the masking tape, creating the perfect sized gap at the desired height.
This worked great, and saved a ton of endless measuring!
6. Pre-drill holes on the outside of the crate where the shelves will be attached, then screw the shelf into place.
The screws will show, but that works with this rustic style anyway!
The finished IKEA crate coffee station
And this cutie-pie rustic crate coffee station is officially complete and ready to serve up that fresh cup of coffee!
The crate is super productive, and just has an aesthetically pleasing rustic look that I personally adore.
Plus… it was the quickest build ever.
While I really love using reclaimed wood and have made plenty of DIY crates HERE , if one can find some quality readily available supplies, that really enhances productivity big time! Sometimes it’s just nice not having to make every little thing from scratch.
You can also see loads of other helpful IKEA supplies I’ve used in the past HERE.
As long as there’s a way to rustic-it them up, I’m all for it!
So I grabbed a couple of aqua pottery bowls, added tea bags in one and coffee in the other, got some cups in place which proved it would indeed work!
There’s also space for a french press and small storage baskets if you’d rather house that than use a shelf.
Cute, right?!
And egads. I’ve yet to share the finished results from aqua pottery bowls
Because that squishy bowl on the right was a mistake which turned out to be my fav piece! It’s worth a post in itself. I’ll put this back on the list of posts to share.
Because most sides and the inside parts of the crate were themed with a mix of coffee and crate stencils, I decided on Handle With Love along the top since this was about my beloved coffee after all… 😉
Tongue-in-cheek messages keep ya smirkin’.
This cute crate coffee station is a handy little thing to have if you are also tight for space in your kitchen to house all your coffee mugs and coffee supplies.
And theming it to match your style and decor makes even more enticing!
This of course could also double as a wall shelf, and equally as cute positioned vertical.
Video Below
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Watch a short video above to watch the crate shelf being installed and the crate stenciled!
In summary – it’s a win!
This kitchen coffee station crate is the perfect size, offering a place for the coffee maker right beside it!
And with the touches of an aqua color scheme for the cup tray and pottery bowl, it’s as pretty as can be!
That tea case could also be exchanged to house coffee pods too! And you could even line up coffee cups on top and place a few spoons or stirrers inside a container for easy access.
I also love that the crate hides the electrical outlet so I don’t have to look at it.
I’ve always endorsed using crates or benches or whatever to double up kitchen counter space, but this IKEA crate idea is one of my favorites so far!
Now… about that beverage…
What do you think? Could a little rustic Ikea crate coffee station enhance your own kitchen small space too?
View many other unique coffee and crate projects to make:
Visit all the rest of my stencil projects HERE
Hi Donna! I love my coffee and i would love this coffee station. I just love your rustic style so much. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thanks Cheryl! I’m positively smitten with the extra space I was able to gain with this easy idea! And it chimes in well with ‘rustic’. Happy to have inspired!
Donna, a great use for a crate. I’m hoping to make one myself. Got the crate and putting a shelf in it enables one to make use of more space. Your squishy blue bowl is unique and wonderful. One can see why it is your favorite. Thanks for sharing.