Coffee Mug Display Cabinet

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the coffee mug display cabinet teasers.

We have a space just outside our kitchen with a counter and cabinets, sort of like a butler’s panty, but without the sink (excuse the messiness of the construction photo below).

Our builder called it a “valet,” but we’ve been calling it our coffee bar. We are tea drinkers, but of course lots of people love coffee so we’ve put in tea for ourselves and coffee for our guests. So really it’s a “caffeine bar” if you want to be technical.

I knew right away I needed something with hooks to hang coffee mugs (right of the window) and I had planned on building it. But then one day I walked into a consignment shop, and a bright light came shooting down with a voice that said, “Behold, your coffee mug display cabinet for only $25!”

Okay, that didn’t happen, but I did get excited because it was so cute and all it needed was a little painting and hooks. Perfect #makeityourownDIY! And as much as I was looking forward to a custom build, I knew this would mean my bar would be done sooner rather than later. Just keeping it real.

Naturally I used some BB Frosch chalk paint powder for this project because this cabinet would have been a bear to sand and prep. I picked up a Behr sample jar (Toasty Gray in flat matte finish) and added a tablespoon of chalk paint powder/water. It only needed two coats. Do you like George? He’s from my son’s nursery and now helps me with painting projects.

After I finished the second coat, I used a very damp cloth to “distress” (just rubbed out the edges) and give it a “chippy” look. Then I added some hooks on the bottom. No tools required, just a little elbow grease and sweat while I twisted them into the wood. I couldn’t find bronze hooks so I just sprayed them.

My original idea was to make a cabinet so I could hide all my mismatched mugs, and I thought about painting the glass with chalkboard paint, but it was just too cute not to use it as a display cabinet. And really it would have been a big pain, too. The mismatched mugs are still in my kitchen cabinets, it’s a good home for them.

Lots of special tea goodness in this cabinet…Creamers and sugar bowl from Ireland and Italy trips, blue/green teacup from Greece (honeymoon), and the pewter creamer/sugar bowl were passed down from my grandmother. The teaspoons were from an antique store – my MIL surprised me and got them for Christmas. White teacups (Pottery Barn) were a wedding gift. And of course the Home Goods mugs on the hooks that our guests can just grab.

And there’s a sneak peek of the caffeine bar. 🙂