Coffee Craze: Grounds for the Household

By Cal Orey

 Healing Your Home Room By Room

Drinking coffee for its healing powers is healing, but did you know that you can use coffee for healing your personal environment, too? Welcome to the world of coffee uses in the home, another perk of the coffee tree. Before I entered Coffee World, I didn’t know coffee grounds were eco-friendly and something to use. But now I know the dark brown gritty grounds can be home friendly. Bless the little coffee grounds for their uses indoors and outdoors.

Kitchen

Use an abrasive Cleaner:  Use grounds as a scouring agent to tackle any greasy or dirty surface. It can also get rid of pungent odors from pans and your hands.

Go for a Deodorizing Buzz: Dry coffees (not soggy used ones) placed on a cookie sheet and put in an open container in your fridge or freezer can be an instant way to help absorb odors. Also, fill a sachet with dried grounds paired with cinnamon sticks and whole cloves and place it in close drawers (be sure it’s baby and pet proof).

Living Room/Dining Room/Bedroom

Furniture Concealer: Coffee grounds can do away with smells and unsightly scratches on furniture, too. Steep grounds and apply the dark brew to wood furniture with a cloth. I tried this household treatment on an antique dark chest in my bedroom and it worked. I thought, “If coffee stains cups and coffeepots, it has to work on brown furniture.” And it did just that. Flavored coffees provide a nice aroma, unlike commercial types of cleaners with strong, undesirable scents.

Fireplace Dust Buster: Ever notice that when you clean out the ashes from the fireplace dust gets in your eyes and nose? You can control the dust by using wet ground on the cool ashes because they keep the dust down and not in the air. Note to self: Try to see if this method works.

Bathroom

Ant Repellent: In the mountains, I don’t see ants, but in the city I did. And it they weren’t in the kitchen they took over the bathroom especially around water. Rather than using a chemical spray, try using coffee grounds on the area thirsty ants got to. (Be sure kids, cats, and dogs are not around as the natural anteater does its job.)

Outdoors

Plant Fertilizer: Plants like acidic soils will like your coffee grounds. Use grounds on the top layer of soil, or mix them with potting soil before planting. I started dumping coffee grounds on the aspens in the front yard. It could have been the late-summer rain and/or the grounds that helped the trees perk up.

Compost: Grounds not only feed your plants and trees, but they can feed your compost bin (if you have one) also. Simply add compost piles to increase nitrogen balance. Coffee filters and tea bags (yes, I have both) will also break down fast during composting, I still don’t do the compost dance, but it’s on my list of to-do changes and coffee grounds and filters will be included. I continue to sprinkle grounds on one wilted aspen in the front yard, but so far it’s not showing signs of being a coffee lover…

Insect Repellent: But tossing grounds on the deck, dirt, or sidewalks may have a faster effect. Again, it’s a risk to do this if you have indoor/outdoor dogs or cats, because you don’t want a sequel of the Ethiopian got herder’s dancing, frisky goats perked up by the caffeine in coffee.

5 Coffee Feng Shui Tips

Welcome your home sweet home to the art of feng shui—the ancient Chinese art of placement—with a twist of joe.  By putting stuff in the right spots in your kitchen and other rooms you can enhance the flow of positive energy and zap negative vibes, brings you good health, happiness—and even fortune.

·        Declutter Your Coffees. Rather than stuffing java beans all in one place, such as your pantry, I suggest storing it in a variety of places (including the freezer, and concealed containers in the fridge).  It works and keeps your kitchen clutter free.

·        Use Coffee Art. Framed coffee prints can give your kitchen a nice, visual effect, especially if they boast Mediterranean colors: read, brown, gold, and blue.

·        Flaunt Coffee Companions. Glass canisters filled with from biscotti to coffee candy look warm and inviting and are your friends whenever you decide to brew a cup of java.

·        Brighten up with Lighting. Enjoy earthy coffee colors from a tan, light coffee on wood paneling. Fresh white curtains will lighten up the room and your energy.

·        Scent It Up: Coffee candles made with different aromas (like café au lait and hazelnut) will warm up your kitchen and linger from room to room.

[Excerpt from The Healing Powers of Coffee: AComplete Guide to Nature’s Surprising Superfood]