Snuggling on the couch with a hot mug of coffee, a roaring fire, and family and friends is holiday goals for me! You may remember that when we remodeled our kitchen last year, we added a kitchen coffee bar where our built-in desk used to be. It quickly became my favorite thing about our new kitchen, and it’s been especially fun to spruce up for the holiday season.
Whether you’re hosting family, welcoming friends, or simply enjoying quiet December mornings at home, creating a Christmas coffee (or hot chocolate!) bar setup turns an everyday routine into something festive and fun. Today I’m sharing simple ideas to help you create a Christmas coffee bar that’s both functional and beautiful. (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})
Display Your Holiday Mugs
I started by adding some super cute seasonal mugs from Rifle Paper Co. to our coffee bar, displaying them on {this wood mug holder tree}:
I removed the lower two pegs on the holder for a better fit since my mugs are oversized. I also picked up a box of these gingerbread mug hangers at Trader Joe’s that are as delicious as they are cute:
They’re the perfect little holiday treat with a mug of coffee or hot cocoa. (Also grab a box of {these Joe-Joes} if you make a TJ run – they’re delish!)
Bring on the Holiday Flavors
I keep my flavored coffee syrups out on our coffee bar all year, but for Christmas I swapped out the flavors, adding peppermint and salted caramel syrups in {this pair of gold pumps} (that comes complete with the labels):
I corral them on {this marble tray} so they feel intentional instead of cluttered, and as a bonus, they’re easy to wipe down if things get drippy. For the holidays I also added {these candy cane spoons} that are a sweet extra for stirring coffee or hot cocoa:
And since I’m a Nespresso lover, of course I had to indulge in some festive flavors for our coffee pods, including gingerbread, cinnamon & candied tamarind, pumpkin spice cake, and sweet almond & hibiscus. I keep them in {this pod holder} in one of our coffee bar drawers:
Make a Few Simple Swaps
I also made a few simple swaps with the everyday items we already keep on our coffee bar. I swapped out the faux avocados normally filling the white ruffle serving bowls on our coffee bar shelves for {these large jingle bells} tied with {this light blue velvet ribbon}:
Some pretty holiday ornaments would also make a beautiful bowl filler if you want to use what you already have on hand.
I also swapped out my plant for a pretty pink poinsettia in {this favorite vase/planter}:
I also added bows made with {this 2″ wired velvet ribbon} to {these sconces} above our coffee bar:
The Finished Look
The end result is that our coffee bar feels more festive for the season without being overdone. It’s definitely made our December mornings feel just a little more special, which is kind of the whole point, right?
Coffee Bar Sources: Subway tile | Sconces | Floating wood shelves (white oak) | White ruffled vase for poinsettia | Rectangular marble board | White ruffle serving bowls | MoccaMaster coffee maker | Marble tray | Glass canister for coffee | Syrup pumps | Wood coffee mug tree | Nespresso machine | Kitchen Sources: Woven counter stools | Rattan island pendants | Vase on island | Faux florals in vase
The finishing touch will be our homemade marshmallows that I’m making with the girls once they’re home for the holidays in a few days. They’re ridiculously easy to make and are delicious on their own or with some yummy hot chocolate!
Want to see a few peeks of the holiday decor throughout the rest of our home too? Sometimes I go a more traditional route with red and green, but this year I decided to embrace a coastal vibe for the holidays. Our heat pump broke the day after Thanksgiving, and it was over a week before we could get it replaced, so I ended up not decorating quite as much this year (we didn’t stray far from the fireplace)! Surprisingly, I’m really enjoying the more minimalistic vibe.
In our entryway, I added some mercury Christmas trees to our entryway console and swapped out the glass bead garland that normally fills the large faux clamshell on our console for a mix of gold ornaments:
Entry Sources: Console table | Table lamp | Mercury trees | Faux clamshell | Art print
In our dining room, I added one of {these rattan bells} tied on {this dusty blue velvet ribbon} to the back of each chair:
and hung our stockings from the four pulls on our dining room console (I get nervous with having them hung on our fireplace that we use so much!). My talented youngest daughter hand-knit them for me as a Christmas present a few years back, and I couldn’t love them more!
I decorated our fireplace mantel with the same garland as we’ve used the past few years. It stores beautifully with the bows and ornaments tied in place, so it literally takes only two minutes to put up!
I put our Christmas tree decor on repeat from last year too! Since we expect to only have one more Christmas here before we move into our new home (we break ground in January!), I’m finding that I don’t want to buy too many new things since our new home won’t have as much of a coastal vibe as our current one does.
And with that, I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, or peace and joy during whatever holiday you celebrate. Thank you so much for being here and for following along. I truly appreciate each and every one of you and hope your season is filled with warmth, happiness, and lots of cozy moments at home. We are going to have SO MUCH FUN together next year as our new house goes up – I can’t wait!
XO,
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