Set the mood
Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, founders of lifestyle brand Earl of East, are so fanatical about the brown stuff that their trio of London stores features coffee counters; on their website, a dedicated Cafe Core section is stocked with Scandi-cool mugs and containers. In their own home, they have recreated the café ambience with mood lighting – “a mix of wall lights and table lamps for a cosy, inviting space” – and considered seating.
Similarly, fashion designer turned ceramicist Henry Holland has fashioned a welcoming coffee corner in his London studio. With the help of plants, art and a playlist, “suddenly your kitchen feels like your own private café,” he says.
Time to invest
The fundamental feature is, of course, the coffee machine. These range from pod-only models at the more affordable end, to machines that give commercial appliances a run for their money – with prices to match. “It’s an investment, but if you think about how much a coffee is from a café, it soon pays its way,” says St Hill. Her KitchenAid automatic machine delivers the smell of freshly ground beans and has a plant-based mode (to manage the proteins in vegan milk, which heat up at different rates to dairy milk).