Our Breakfast Bar

With two working parents and a baby to get to school, we need to be ready to roll in the morning.  For me, that means coffee STAT!  I like to have it already brewing while I'm still waking up and getting out of bed:)  (Our machine has a setting where we can set it to brew before bed- love that!)  I've been making an effort to get up earlier, and always start my day with a big cup of coffee.  We are Starbuck's espresso roast folks over here, and I add glug of Coffeemate caramel vanilla to it.

Our breakfast bar is set up so that everything we need is at our fingertips.  Our ground coffee, coffee scoop, and packets of Splenda are at the ready since my husband likes to sweeten his coffee pretty well.  

And we both usually eat oatmeal in the morning, so our glass canisters are stocked with rolled oats, raisins, and sliced almonds.  I add cinnamon too, so I keep it nearby also. 

Shelli from House of Smiths was sweet enough to send me the vinyl decals for our glass jars.  I got my jars at Pier One, but I've also seen them at Hobby Lobby.  I like them because they have rubber inside the lid to keep them air tight. 

I don't normally keep flowers near the coffee maker, but moved them from the breakfast table for this shot:)  Also, our Cuisinart coffee maker has survived about 5 years, but we just bought a new one this weekend, the same model, just the newer version, because our plastic lid got burned and started leaking coffee when pouring.   I took these pics before we replaced it.  The new one looks a little nicer, as far as coffee makers go. 

You may remember my post about keeping things corralled on trays, and the tray below I especially like because it's got a great woven texture and is really large.  I found it at West Elm.  

Making our coffee ahead of time and having the oatmeal jars out on the counter help make our morning routine run smoother.  The weekday mornings can be hectic if we both have to get out the door early, but I so enjoy the weekend mornings when I get a chance to linger a little longer with my coffee and some magazines I've been waiting to read!

How's your morning routine?  I'm always curious if you drink coffee in the morning like me, or prefer tea or some other caffeinated beverage, or nothing at all??  It's those little things that make me feel like I know you better:)