DIY Coffee Nook: Good Use of Dead Space

If you have any "empty space" in your kitchen/breakfast area, this is the perfect project.

So many homes have that little annoying space that is too small to really put any furniture or accent tables there, or it's a bit too high traffic, or it's behind a door or basically, a sort of "dead space" where nothing really seems to go. 

I had such a space, just outside of my kitchen in the breakfast nook, behind my utility doors: 

Sorry picture is a little blurry LOL

The utility room door also opens and swings back to block the space. 

It wasn't a good place for the trash (carpeted, and I hate having a trash can out in the open), and it was a bad place for shoes (also - carpeted and super messy with dirt from shoes getting everywhere), so after thinking about it, I decided to build a coffee nook!

Coffee nooks seem to be all the rage these days, and since I like coffee and tea, having a little dedicated space seemed like a good idea!

I used old shelves from a broken bookcase (they were laminate, so I lightly sanded them), bought some cheap shelf brackets, grabbed some paint I had in the garage, and bought a strip of tassel fabric from the fabric remnants section at Hobby Lobby for an accent...

I had to cut the shelves to fit, and laid a balance on them to make sure they were level: 

I installed two full length shelves, and then put in a little coffee cup shelf. I also had to cut a square out of the back of the shelves so I could fit an electric cord down the back. 

Here they are, all installed: 

The little center shelf fits six coffee mugs perfectly!

Next, I caulked around the edges to give it a "built in" look, then I painted the whole thing, brackets and all, the same color of the walls.

Using hot glue, I glued the tassel strip along the bottom of the lowest shelf (my house is kind of a Moroccan - African desert look)

I put my tea and coffee stuff on it, and voila! Perfect coffee nook!

So happy with it! (I will get a white coffeemaker when this one dies haha.)