Lesson 2

Today's objective: Planning the design 📐

Today's outcome: Major decisions made and a detailed sketch of your planned coffee bar design

Hi Coffee Loving Friend!

We left last lesson thinking about what design style you want your coffee bar to reflect, the next part of the process is planning out the design.

This is where we start to move from just dreaming about your coffee bar to actually designing your coffee bar.

This is exciting ... this is where you can start to envision not just what somebody else's coffee bar looks like, but YOUR COFFEE BAR!

Now instead of looking at all those amazing coffee bars on Instagram — in no time you'll have one of your very own!

Your design plans

Let's get one thing out of the way first. Planning out the design of your coffee bar may FEEL overwhelming to you. But don't let your feelings about this step overtake the reality that this is a simple and fun part of the process. It just takes a bit of thought and perseverance.

Essentially all we're doing in this planning step is taking the ideas in your head and putting them down on paper. Think of it like writing out a shopping list to make sure you don't forget anything when you're at the grocery store or market.

Let's start thinking through some practical considerations.

For example:

Is this a brand new coffee bar or are you enhancing what you already have?
Will your coffee bar be espresso machine focused or manual brewing focused … or both?
What room in your home will your coffee bar be located?
Is there a power source or wall plugs close by your intended location?
Is there a sink or water source close by your intended location … do you need one?
What are the general measurements of your intended coffee bar?

Length — left to right
Depth — wall to you
Height — floor to top of the bar (clearance for shelving and equipment)

What sort of budget will you put towards your coffee bar?

This information is going to be really helpful as we start to plan out your coffee bar design.

The Sketch

Now is a great time to start sketching out your coffee bar design on paper. If you prefer to use digital tools, there's lots of digital options to start drawing out a rough sketch of your space. I personally use canva for most of my graphic needs — there's a free version you can sign up for if you choose this route.

But in my mind, nothing beats good old paper and pencil!

Here is a sketch of my personal coffee bar when I was just starting out this planning step.

Here's a current view of my personal coffee bar.

Notice that the rough sketch is really close to the final product. A couple changes you may notice was the lighting, wall art, and shelving.

It's perfectly fine for your coffee bar to end up different than your initial sketch — it's just really important at this step to have an idea of the direction you're headed!

The triple fork in the road

One BIG DECISION that you need to make at this time in the planning process is:

A kitchen countertop, freestanding or a built-in coffee bar?

The reason why this is important now is because of the different approaches you'll take if you decide to do a built-in coffee bar. A built-in bar is more of a full construction project versus setting up a kitchen countertop or freestanding coffee bar.

Here's just an idea:

Kitchen Countertop...easiest (and quickest) coffee bar to create... downside: less ability to change the design
Freestanding... harder (more time required) coffee bar to create... downside: may be further from a sink than you prefer
Built-in... hardest (most time required) coffee bar to create... downside: higher cost and longer time to create

If your plan is to take on a built-in bar I'm super excited for you. A built-in bar is truly a custom project that is built around your intended coffee gear and the way you love brewing coffee each day. Some of the nicest bars I've ever seen are built-ins.

Here's an example:

— Amer from California has a gorgeous built-in bar!

Stunning custom woodwork (not sure species of wood, but almost looks like zebrawood)
Sink and water source (also likely to have water filtration hidden under the countertop)
Hidden power sources (no cables seen)
Built-in floating shelves
Pot light above the bar
Custom designed to fit the depth of the La Marzocco Linea Mini

og_amer's built-in bar!

If a built-in bar is your goal, here are some additional planning considerations:

Do you need to hire a general contractor or carpenter to frame in the build?
Do you need a licensed electrician to run wire and install various power sources?
Do you need a plumber to run a water source and tie this in to your existing piping?

What about a water filtration system to plumb into your espresso machine?

Do you need any permits or is the location in your home away from load bearing walls?
Do you need experts to help with the finishing work … like lighting, trim work, wall treatments or paint, tile work, countertops, etc...
Are you a skilled tradesperson that can do some or all of the work yourself?

If so you'll save LOTS OF $$$

There's nothing wrong at all with taking on a larger project if your dream is to create a built-in coffee bar. Just know there will be a significantly higher cost associated with a built-in bar versus a kitchen countertop or freestanding bar.

Homework

Making some decisions

Location

The first thing you need to decide is the location of your coffee bar. Once you know the space you intend to locate your bar it will be a lot easier starting to sketch out the overall design.

Measurements

Knowing general measurements of the space you intend to put your coffee bar will also start to help you plan what sort of table base you're going to use. Or if you're planning a permanent built-in bar, you'll need to know the overall size and what it's going to start to look like.

Kitchen countertop, freestanding, or built-in coffee bar

Now's the time to make this decision. If you've chosen a kitchen countertop coffee bar — that's perfectly ok too. All of the planning work in this lesson is still great to think through. With kitchen countertop bars though your kitchen design is already done, so you'll be more focused on choosing your coffee brewing gear and design accessories to personalize the space (both these topics are covered in future lessons).

Setting your budget

Let's talk money $$$$$! At this stage it's a great idea to have a rough idea on what sort of budget you have to spend on building or enhancing your dream coffee bar.

One thing I want to clarify … I'm not talking about your budget to purchase coffee brewing equipment. I'm speaking specifically about the budget that is going towards creating your coffee bar that will hold your coffee brewing gear.

Do you have no money for this design project and plan to utilize resources you already have?
Do you plan to purchase a small number of accessories to improve the design of your coffee bar?
Do you plan to spend a few hundred dollars on the project or a few thousand dollars?

Obviously if you plan to design & build a completely custom built-in coffee bar you should budget $thousands of dollars for the project. Depending on how detailed and high end the finishes you choose will determine the overall cost of the project.

If you plan to build your bar on your kitchen countertop perhaps a $100-$200 will be adequate to buy some accessories to personalize the space the way you envision.

My secret exposed — the cost of my personal coffee bar (classified TOP SECRET)

Just for context, my personal coffee bar (see photo above) cost me approximately $175:

The barn board on the wall to create some visual interest was $150
The pendant light from amazon was $25
The wood sideboard and Hymns mirror I inherited from my grandmother for FREE
The shelves my mom was throwing in the garbage so I grabbed them for FREE
The plant, globe, and table lamp was given to me for FREE

The coffee brewing equipment currently on my bar adds up to around $3000 CAD. I've bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of gear over the past 12 years though!

It just goes to show you can create a pretty cool space that you love for NOT A LOT OF MONEY (relatively speaking)!

Pro-level move

Here's the practical steps to take as you plan out your dream coffee bar design:

Get out your measuring tape! Now that you've decided on a location for your coffee bar it's time to measure the dimensions in the space where your coffee bar will be located.
Sketch out a rough drawing of your coffee bar design with the measurements included, similar to the photo I included above of my personal bar.
Take a day or two and then go back to your initial sketch and make any minor changes as new ideas may have popped into your head.
If you've chosen a kitchen countertop or freestanding coffee bar then the sketch will be enough to move to the next lesson as we build the coffee bar foundation.
If you've chosen a built-in coffee bar then the sketch will be great to guide your design & build. One extra step for you is now you'll need to line up the construction work and trades people you may need to hire (unless you can do the work yourself).
Don't forget to go back to your design inspiration folder where you saved all those design style photos … these photos may help you refine your rough sketch to ensure your coffee bar ends up looking the exact way you intend.

If you chose the built-in coffee bar route and need some additional guidance, reach out to me directly and I can help create a construction schedule and materials list for you to follow (mike@coffeebar.design).

Last thoughts

Phew ... this lesson was a big one! Thanks for sticking around right to the end!

I know we covered A TON of information if you need some time to absorb it all.

so go back and read through again

Just remember that everything we've covered in this planning lesson is applicable whether your creating a new coffee bar from scratch, enhancing the bar you already have, or designing a built-in coffee bar that will take a little more time and work!
The reason why this planning step is so thorough is because this will be the step in the planning process we use as a roadmap to create your dream bar. 🗺️

It's really hard to get to your final destination if you have no idea where you're going!

Send me a photo of the rough sketch you've drawn of your design plan.
In the email, tell me a little bit about your design plan — are you creating a kitchen countertop, freestanding or built-in bar?
In the email, include any other details you want to share and if you have any questions I'll be happy to connect over email or video call to help.

Until next time,

Mike

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Introduction