Brew Stand

Previously, my old espresso set up (which I unfortunately can't find a picture of) was housed in a cramped space near my kitchen sink. When I recently upgraded, I thought the new setup would also fit in the same space. Well, technically it did, but fitting in that space used nearly the full depth of the counter and rendered the cup warmer useless. On top of that, I would have to find a home for a water jug for the plumbed machine to draw water from. It was not looking good. I spent some time looking around my already packed kitchen trying to find a solution. Then it hit me, make a stand and stick it near a the refrigerator's waterline. Then I could have plumbed in espresso machine joy.

Of course, I did not want to spend long without the machine operational, so it was time to devise a quick, good looking stand. To expedite the process, I figured the less I had to build (and paint or stain) the better. So, instead of building the entire thing from scratch, I decided to buy a 3 tier wire rack from Lowes and build a completely cosmetic skirt for the rack. From there the job was easy. I sized a piece of wood inside the top rack to take any load off the wood skirt, then put it together. A couple doors to give me easy access, an oversized top to give me a little extra working room for accessories and plexiglass to match the top for easy cleanup. A nice cheap solution my not so serious dilemma. So far, I am very happy with the stand as is my wife who picked the color and general look of the whole thing. Hell, I was busy with work, so she built most of it before I had a chance to get in there. I guess she approved too.