Simple, Classy, Coffee & Wine Stand

One of my new years goals was/is to live a more minimalist lifestyle. I am gradually minimizing and organizing the things that we have around our apartment. Andy and I initially did a huge purge of our things when we moved in, so now it is mainly down to organizing.

We have this small Ikea kitchen cart that has been used in the kitchen for a variety of things in the past. We have stored fruit and veggies on the bottom shelves, while using the top for food prep to maximize space in the kitchen. In our current kitchen we don't need it for that, so we put it to better use. We created a coffee and wine stand.

Rather than crowding our already crowded cabinets with our coffee stuff, we now have a special place for it. The mugs and bean grinder go on the bottom, while our french press sits on the top. There are also sweeteners and tea on the top for preparing your tea or coffee however you like it. Not only is this convenient, but it frees up some counter space and is an attractive way to serve coffee and tea.

The middle shelf on our kitchen cart is reserved for wine and wine glasses. The wine rack that we had been using didn't always fit the width of our wine bottles (frustrating!), so we decided to keep them on the kitchen cart instead. Out of convenience, our wine glasses slowly started to pile up on the kitchen cart as well, so we decided to make a spot for them. We bought a wine glass rack from Ikea and installed it underneath the top of the kitchen cart. That way our stemmed wine glasses could slide right on. Then, we screwed in some wire cooling racks to the sides of the kitchen cart, so that the wine bottles or glasses wouldn't fall out.

Now we have a simple, yet classy way to store and serve our wine and coffee items. Keeping them out and away from the kitchen also frees up more space in the kitchen and keeps things from getting cluttered. Things look and feel more minimalist in our kitchen/dining area all because of this simple coffee and wine stand. How do you keep things simple and organized in your kitchen?