MELANIE WARNER SPENCER PHOTO
When close friends and family visit New Orleans and opt to stay in our living space built for two, we set up a temporary guest room. It is located just off of the kitchen and the living room with a doorways leading to both areas. There are removable curtains, which provide some privacy, but it doesn’t shut out noise. As an early riser, I try to be mindful of the fact that not everyone enjoys being up at dawn, especially during Carnival season and its ensuing revelry on most evenings, so I do what I can to be quiet and let the rest of the house sleep in. The sounds of cabinet doors opening and shutting, clinking coffee mugs and the gurgle and clank of the coffee maker is not a recipe for additional slumber. Also, truth be told, I both enjoy and need my time alone in the morning to have the balance and energy necessary to tackle the day. So, while I love morning chitchat with houseguests, I have to give myself some private time before emerging for coffee talk.
Enter the bedside coffee station.
A staple in even hotel rooms providing only the barest essentials, the coffee station is of course nothing if not convenient. To me, it also feels like a small luxury. As far as I’m concerned, to sit in bed, scribble in my notebook and sip a freshly brewed cup of joe in my PJs, while propped up on a stack of fluffed up pillows is the height of decadence. All of that without ever having to leave the room — it’s so sumptuous it borders on sinful.
Top a tray with a mini, four-cup coffee maker or your favorite coffee contraption (I use the most elegant little vintage percolator gifted to us by a dear friend) and, to elevate the ensemble from simple to luxurious, perhaps add some seasonal fruit and chocolates, a cloth napkin and fresh flowers.
Opening my eyes in the morning to such artful and tempting offerings is a guaranteed good start to the day. When I’m done, the tray allows for quick and easy removal to the kitchen and the bedroom is back in order.
You could wait for those times when there are guests in the house and you need to retreat or for your paramour, spouse or children to bring you breakfast in bed on a special occasion, but that would be sporadic at best, no? Why not pamper yourself a few days per week?
Perhaps it’s time to consider making the bedside coffee station a permanent feature and tossing in a mini-fridge and snack basket? I may never leave my room.
