DIY: Bringing the coffee shop to you

There is no greater dream than to saunter into a café and warmly greet my friends behind the counter with the words, “The regular, please.” Maybe accompanied with a knowing smile, or a sincerely friendly wink (only possible in coffee shops apparently), or even a flailing hand as they are instinctively aware of my midterm schedule and my need for a cappuccino STAT. Regardless, most students just don’t have the funds to continue dropping five bucks on a drink, or have the time to sacrifice bussing off campus only to find it’s busy, thus forcing one to lose their dignity while desperately loitering around the front door, overtly keen on gaining a seat. So here’s to every coffee shop lover out there: how to recreate the perfect coffee shop environment in your very own dorm. No need to step out your door, and no need to creep people out while staring at their seat as if it were your own.

The instinctive allure towards a coffee shop is the warm drinks that come along with it. Always perfectly made, and somehow so much more soothing than the average cup of Joe you can get from Centro or Tim Hortons on campus. But, of course, one is not always born with the talents of a barista who has had literal training towards serving you perfection.

There are two essential staples you must invest in to have any hopes of replicating the classic coffee shop taste. One: a milk frother to whip up the thickest of foam for a latté. I can’t say how many times I use mine a week (well, seven) and how many times I greet my roommates as if I were a Cheshire cat a result. Two: your happy mug. Everyone needs a mug that seems to fit only in your hands, made just for you, and that’s where your dorm/bedroom wins over a coffee shop. Scoot on over to Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters (or anywhere else closer to you – Starbucks is offering some gloriously festive numbers now) and invest in two or three really happy mugs.

The music, man. Something viagra generic about the music played in coffee shops can make you feel so much less like a bogged down college student with a pile of work that may or may not be excruciatingly boring to you and more like a British writer whose fingers just seemed to type a whole novel for them.

Generally speaking, the most productive of coffee shops don’t blast the Top 40 for its British writers as inspiration, but rather, a medley of soft tunes that set an atmosphere not quite as starkly quiet as the sixth floor of Mills and not as rowdy as the second. Let’s think Ben Howard, Bon Iver, the Cinematic Orchestra, Daughter, Rhye, and Sigur Ros. Your own room wins again over a coffee shop in that you can tailor your own playlist to the work at hand. Don’t want any lyrics? Well instead of appearing rather high maintenance and requesting the baristas to change the station for you and you only, you can just switch up the tunes yourself.

The third most pivotal aspect of a coffee shop in forcing productivity is the peer pressure. The peer pressure to be working seriously on anything at all, other than your Facebook profile, YouTube’s “Watch Later” playlist, or your apparent duty to scroll through Tumblr. The minute your browser opens one of those bad boys, say goodbye to your carefully crafted “cool, British writer” façade. Because everyone aspires to that, right?

The easiest way to slip into the nasty habit of procrastinating before you even start work is feeling as though you are wrapped up in your bed still, by which I mean, sweatpants, your pajama top, and your fuzziest slippers. But that sounds fantastic, right? Well, not if you want to maintain that coffee shop vibe. Unless you’ve discovered a pajamas coffee shop (email me immediately upon discovery). Instead, opt for an outfit you would indeed wear out to your favourite café. Points again to your room, though, because nobody will chastise you if you happen to slip into your favourite pair of slippers once dressed.