A Coffeebar Evolution
About thirty years ago, I spent $100 on this antique cubby that was originally the in-house mailbox at a small-town bank in Kansas. One hundred dollars was a lot of money for us back then, but I had Christmas money from my parents so I went for it! I have never been sorry! I don’t know if the alphabet letters are original to the piece, but they were cut out and pasted over each cubby space. They’ve faded over the years and once or twice I’ve gone over them with colored pencils to keep their color.
The Farmer’s State Bank in Galva, Kansas received its charter in 1909, so my guess is that my piece is at least 100 years old, and maybe much older. I bought it at the Galva Emporium Mall, which is now permanently closed, but still on the street view of Google maps. The business card was taped to my piece when I bought it, which is how I know its history.
When I brought it home, this antique first served as office cubbies on my writing desk in the corner of our living room in the duplex where we raised our four kids. There was plenty of space to store all my office supplies and a few pretty just-for-display items too.
When we bought our first house just outside of the tiny town of Moundridge, Kansas, and it was there that I first had a coffee bar. I had begun spending a couple days a week writing in a coffee shop in town, and found it so inspiring that Ken suggested I set up a coffee bar in my office. I loved the idea and this was my first attempt at setting up a little space to make a cup of coffee without leaving my office.
My first Keurig was a game-changer in this office.
Meanwhile, the cubbies were still holding office supplies atop a rolltop desk in the living room:
But seven years later, when we moved to our house in Wichita, Kansas, I chose to use the “formal” dining room for my office, and was thrilled when I realized I could use the cubbies as coffee mug storage for an even bigger coffee bar in my office. This worked especially well since my office was right next to the kitchen, making it even easier to refill the water and wash the mugs. My mug collection had grown to about 100 mugs by then!
I’ve whittled it down to about 50-60 now, but I still have a semi-annual washing of the mugs. 
You may remember that I LOVE to rearrange furniture and that coffee bar spent time on every wall in that room.
About six years after we moved, I had my dad take the thick wood back off the cubbies and replace it with hail screen. Doing that opened up the back and let in light (plus, made the piece much lighter.) I was pleased when my dad was able to use that backing piece to frame a map of his later.
It wasn’t until we moved to our Missouri house that I turned the cubbies back on their side. And in this house, the coffee bar is in the dining room because my office is too far away from the kitchen. It’s handy to have the coffee bar away from the kitchen prep area when we have company over.
Plus, the grandkids love being able to choose a mug for the hot chocolate they want every. single. time. they come over, even in the summer. We love hosting these hot chocolate parties! The coffee cubbies have had a long evolution, and I think I love their current purpose most of all. But who knows? Maybe someday one of my grandchildren will grow up to use this piece on their desk to hold office supplies.
