Help Yourself Kitchen Breakfast Bar for Easy Mornings
In this post: This help-yourself breakfast bar will help accommodate your guests’ varying schedules, with a pretty kitchen vignette you can put together in no time.⇒
Do you love whipping up breakfast for a house full of guests, each waking up at a different time and moving about on a different schedule?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
It’s so much simpler and more pleasant to have some basics set up for everyone to grab on their own.
Kitchen Breakfast Bar
I like to style a pretty makeshift help-yourself breakfast bar on our kitchen table for just this purpose. It’s an opportunity to create a lovely vignette aligned with the season and functions to help guests and hosts alike.
Today’s post is part of our ’20 Minute Decorating’ series, a monthly feature that focuses on quick and easy decor that can help you update your home in no time. Please be sure to check out all of my friends’ posts, linked at the bottom of this one, as we have an amazing group participating together.
You can set up a breakfast bar on the kitchen island or peninsula, as well. As long as it’s easily accessible, it will be beneficial to your guests and a central location provides the opportunity to make a decorating statement in your space.
My breakfast bar vignette comprises graceful tabletop items gathered loosely around a silver serving tray.
The tray lends structure, but the spillover keeps it from getting too uptight. Still, the most important items are stacked neatly on the tray, beginning with these sweet French dessert plates to set a charming and romantic tone.
A breakfast bar is an opportunity to showcase some of your loveliest table decor, so I chose vintage and French for the character and theme. (No surprise there!) I’ve been slowly collecting an assortment of vintage silver napkin rings and here they are corralling my blush pink linen napkins.
The combination of pink and silver sets the tone for this morning scene, which I wanted to feel soft and peaceful in the sun-drenched breakfast room.
(See below for resources.)
A pitcher of pink lemonade stands at the ready to quench morning thirsts, with enchanting ‘Un Verre d’Amitié’ glasses lined up awaiting the sweet elixir.
*Note: the glasses are from Vagabond Vintage but seem to be unavailable at the time of this writing, so they are not included in the resource list, but it’s worth a search on the web, if you’re trying to find them.
The purpose of the breakfast bar is to make it easy for guests to serve themselves in the morning, but I generally don’t leave perishables out for any length of time. So yogurt, fruit and cheeses are left in the fridge at eye level, while pastries can be presented on a small platter as part of the breakfast vignette.
I also keep mugs on the counter near the coffee maker, rather than expecting guests to walk to the table to get them. You can set up a second mini-vignette in the same theme by your coffee maker if you like.
Utensils are another essential and the simplest display is also the most convenient, as well as the most sanitary. Keeping vintage pieces clustered handles-up in a mason jar makes them easy to grab and keeps fingers away from eating surfaces.
And always, there are fresh flowers. There is no better way to welcome guests to a bright and lovely morning!
The real secret to my breakfast bar is that it doesn’t have to be only for your guests.
If you’re tired of the same old kitchen decor, why not refresh the room with a pretty breakfast bar vignette? Then when you wake up in the morning and come stumbling into the kitchen, you’ll feel like you are the guest in your own home!
Resource Guide
To get the look, click on the items below for direct links to the products. Where actual items were no longer available, I’ve provided similar options. If an item is out of stock but may be restocked, I left it on the list.
(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.)
Please enjoy all the other posts below:
Thistlewood Farm | 7 Simple Steps to Style a Hutch
French Country Cottage | Simple Ideas to Decorate with Mirrors
On Sutton Place | Decorating with the Rule of Three
Shabbyfufu | Decorating with Collections
StoneGable | Easy Mason Jar Citronella Candle DIY
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The croissants are making my mouth water….
Ha! Me too!! I hate to buy food for photo shoots because I can’t resist eating it after!
This is such a sweet idea for guests and can be switched to different themes like upcoming July 4th when my house is overflowing with company. I have to use the flower 🌸 cones you shared, in some way, because I think they are so adorable. Have a wonderful weekend!
Yes, love the idea of doing this for 4th of July!! And definitely use those cones… 🙂 Maybe I’ll do them for another season?
Oh what a treat it would be to be a guest at your home and come down to this gorgeous breakfast setting. When would be a good time for me to come visit? ha ha ha
Ha! What a sweet comment!!
I can find the glasses in this week’s post but they seem shorter!! Are your glasses 8oz. or larger???
Mine appear pretty tall, so I thought they were more than 8oz, but I just measured and sure enough they are 8oz. They’re a bit narrow, which gives the tall appearance.
I have a question. How do you keep all your silver looking great. Do you polish it all regularly.
I do polish my silver from time to time. Since most of it its vintage, I like to keep the dark areas in the recesses, so when I polish it, I do it fast and purposely try not to get it too shiny. I use silver wipes to make the job super easy.
Love your breakfast bar ideas. Looks so pretty and welcoming. I will definitely be doing this when I am able to have guests stay with me. I like that your silver isn’t perfectly polished, gives that vintage look.
Thanks for the kind words! And yes, I’m a stickler for polishing the silver and leaving the dark bits showing.
I love pink and silver together. This is lovely and inviting thank you.
Thank you so much!
Lory, those napkin rings are beautiful. You hardly ever see any in thrift shops.
One of my favorites are the ones you used for the Hanukkah tablescape.
When I see your antique pieces, I think of your parents. I loved the picture of them dancing.
What a lovely and touching comment! Thank you!!