Good point...if a bench is for more than 2 people...might as well go with the chair. Even then, how much closer you want to be to the table may vary.

I agree they look cute though :-)

When I was a kid in the 60's, we'd travel a couple times a year to visit an aunt who had an upholstered vinyl-covered corner banquette in her eat-in kitchen instead of a table. I loved the novelty of it. It felt like we were eating all our meals at a restaurant, which was a rare treat back then.

A neighborhood friend's family had a clean but unfinished basement with a section that was set up as a play area. Her dad had acquired an old wooden restaurant booth painted glossy red that was set up in a corner. The mom would serve us lunch or snacks there and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! A grilled cheese sandwich and chicken noodle soup tasted like heaven in that booth.

I suspect that much of the trend toward banquettes and bench seating is driven by the feeling they evoke more than practicality. For a couple, they create a cozy nook to enjoy a coffee or casual meal. Not a bad set-up if you add a couple of kids. But not ideal for more, for reasons you pointed out.

We have a U-shaped built-in banquette in our family room. It is perfect seating for family game nights and my grandkids adore eating lunches there. It must give them the same private cubby feeling I liked. In fact, I still like to sit there with a cup of tea and my iPad. Sort of makes me feel I'm in a bistro ;)

Bottom line for me - I love a banquette, but wouldn't go that route if it was the only dining space in a house where more than 4 would be using it regularly.

Some people we know have benches at their dining room table. To be honest, it doesn't work very well. It's kind of a pain when someone needs in or out because either the bench needs to move or people need to get out of the way.

Are you talking about a bench and a freestanding table, or a banquette? Because banquettes can be very practical. They take significantly less floorspace than a table and chairs, so sometimes they are the only things that allow a homeowner to have an eat-in kitchen at all.

I am not in favor of benches that seat more than two people.

Benches are form over function. They look great because they let you see the table. It's like kitchens without uppers. Looks great. Function is secondary though if you want to use the kitchen to store food and cook it.

For benches, even 5 year olds can't sit on them longer than 15 minutes without squirming at their uncomfortableness. They are a sure fired way to keeping family interaction to a minimum!

Benches with backs up the comfort factor to at least "church pew" (5/10) but add to the trapped feeling.

I LOVE upholstered booths and banquettes. Nothing is more cozy. I think I got immune to the whole trapped thing growing up the middle child in a family of 6 - I was always in the middle of our 70s pine banquette. Then again we were expected to remain seated for the whole meal.

We stayed at a modern cottage recently with essentially picnic table bench seating in the dining area. Looked fantastic and I spent quite a bit of time working on the benches but not sure I'd have it for a year round residence.

(Note the window seat - it was big (26" x 72") and actually really heavily used. Excellent design for a windowseat.)

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 10:11

On the other hand, there weren't a lot of takers for these stools (same cottage) -- but we all have ample derrieres.

Robo, what a gorgeous cottage!

I hear you on the table there, though. Our beach house had the same thing, and we replaced it with a table and bistro chairs.

In our primary house, we have a swedish bench on one side of the breakfast room table, and two chairs on the opposite side. Usually, if all five of us are eating, we are in the DR, so people don't often get stuck on the bench (which can seat 3 adults, 4 kids).

Dream cottage. More pics. The owner was the architect and his wife is a potter so it was filled with nice stuff. They crammed a lot of utility (and three bedrooms, 1.5 baths) into 1200sf. Bedrooms were tiny but whatevs.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 12:30

We have a bench with our dining room table--it's our main eating area. It's very practical for us because a bench stays stationary it doesn't require as much space for pulling in and out. This allows us to have the table father to one side of the room, improving traffic flow considerably (you walk through the dining room to get to the hall bathroom and all the bedrooms). We had the same set up in our last house for the same reason.

Our bench is not necessary for daily use as there are enough chairs on the other sides of the table for our family of four to sit without using the bench--though I often sit on one end of it so that we are closer together when we eat, rather than having dh and I at opposite ends of the table. Ours does have a back and is fairly comfortable.

The bench does have drawbacks, but the improved traffic flow is more than worth it.

I think it depends a lot on who is sitting on the bench. we're a family of four and have a kitchen table with a bench on one side and two chairs on the opposite side. our kids (4 & 6) sit on the bench and they love it. while we were renovating our kitchen, we moved the table/bench/chairs into another room, which only allowed room for one chair, so I sat on the bench with the kids. I definitely wouldn't lounge around on the bench but I thought it was find for eating. I'm short though - 5' - so a bench is probably less practical if you're a family of taller people. I know my husband who is over 6' tall doesn't like sitting on it. we've never needed to move the bench either in or out for me or the girls. it also definitely helps with space. others have mentioned that there's less need for space around the bench but it's also visually less claustrophobic because there's no chair back that crowds out tight spaces.

Benches, banquettes and built-ins.
Large and small.
Some in cozy little areas, others surrounded by windows.
Sometimes with chairs on the other side.

They vary so widely that it's difficult to compare them. Done right, they're wonderful -- after all, don't most of us prefer to sit in a comfy booth at a restaurant? Done poorly, well, I have to agree with your points.

Ow---so much hatred toward the bench!!!

We have one, and we love ours! It is padded with a faux leather, so it is easy to wipe crumbs and spills off. And contrary to what most have said, people fight over who gets to sit there---my79 year old FIL always wins that argument! Stays longer than 15 minutes ;)

I guess it depends on your family, space and needs, but our 2 kids (13 and 10) sit there all the time. Friends join them a lot. Then we can sit 3 or 4 on that side of the table instead of 2.

I recently saw a new kitchen revealed on a designer's blog. At the island she had placed two 2-3 person wide counter height custom upholstered benches. It looked beautiful, but my first thought was how in the heck do you get in and out of those things?

I found the pic of those counter height benches...

My inlaws had a bench in their dining room. I hated it because I always ended up on it - in the middle - in a skirt trying to get in and out without flashing everyone. Hated it.

I have a 100 year old window seat at my every day table. My 13 year old sits on that side and she likes it. I can easily seat 4 kids on that side with the table opened up if I need to. I like it in my application. I also have a table on casters, so it is easy to scoot the table to the right place.

Looking at those counter height benches above me, all I can think is WTH? They are pretty in the picture but totally useless in my world.

i can't think of even one scenario where 2 side-by-side multi-person upholstered counter height benches (as pictured above) would be practical. Except for a photo shoot....

We have a bench at our summer house for overflow kid seating only. I am a big fan of comfortable seating, which to me requires a seat back. It is one area I will always pick comfort over style if I have to make a trade-off.

IDK, pull those benches back a foot or two, angle them out a bit and sip some wine while the cook makes dinner, talk, interact.

For sitting and eating there, not so much.

We are a family of six, with a bench on one side, two chairs across and then one on either end. I went this route because it was perfect when the kids were younger as we could fit their little friends at the table easily, plus it enabled me to put two chairs in storage and pull one out when we need to to sit eight (3 chairs on one side and bench w/3 on other). Now that they are older, no one wants to sit on the bench at dinner. (We actually rotate...one week the boys are on the bench, next week it's the girls). I suppose it's time to get rid of the bench and just use the two extra chairs. But as I only have a set of six, I'll have to get two extra chairs for when they have friends over. We have a formal dining table too, so when we have adults, we eat in there...I wouldn't make adults sit on the bench!

That all said, I personally don't like banquettes. We visited with a family that had one and while it looked nice, it was a PITA getting in and out as those of us on bench side had to have everyone on the sides get up when we wanted to get out. Plus the whole sliding around the table is a bit annoying-banging into the table, shuffling the feet, etc. My parents have one too...theirs utilizes a corner. Not usually a big deal since it's the two of them. When we are there for dinner, we all eat in the dining room, but occasionally if we are casually hanging out in the kitchen, we will sit at the banquette and it is a pain getting in and out. I do like the look of them and realize they can make good use of a small space, but I wouldn't want to deal with one on a regular basis.

Love the topic .

We are in the process of looking at furniture for the dining area (open to living and kitchen). A table with 4 chairs - two on the heads and two on one long side - plus a two seater bench on the other long side is what we are leaning towards. I like the open feeling a bench gives plus the flexibility of using it as casual seating if needed.

Something like this is what we are looking at

So, for all of you that like the look of the benches, I'm assuming that you will be the ones to sit at them through a full meal? ;)

And I think some are confusing benches with banquettes. Banquettes can be a great solution to a space challenged eating area. They are comfortable, cushioned little nooks. Benches look great, but are horribly to actually sit at.

Live wire, banquettes may be comfortable to sit in, but they are not necessarily comfortable to get in and out of IME. And then there is the feeling of being trapped if you are on the inside and want to get up, especially during what might be a casual, not everyone sits down at once meal like breakfast. When we stayed with friends who had one, breakfast was a serve yourself meal buffet, where people were coming in and out at different times. I was finished and wanted to give up my seat for someone who just came in, but it meant two people who were eating and had arrived at the table after me, had to get up to let me out so the other guest could then sit down. In that sense, I don't find banquettes to be comfortable either.

Benches are acceptable for outdoors (picnic tables, gardens), cabins, the piano, vanities, mud rooms, and at the foot of a bed - but not for indoor dining tables. I've done quite a few bench designs, but none were ever for a dining table, although I cannot say that no one has ever used one of my benches in a dining room.

Banquettes are okay for breakfast nooks and eat-in kitchens, but I'm not fond of them if they are not upholstered.

I would take two chairs at a dining table over a bench any day. I assume that the main reason to replace two chairs with one bench is to get three people on the bench - otherwise, it would be difficult to get two people to agree to sit on the bench instead of chairs. It's not very dignified, IMO, and I would only expect children to sit there.

It might work for other cultures, however, or in a pinch in a very tight room.

Benches are acceptable for outdoors (picnic tables, gardens), cabins, the piano, vanities, mud rooms, and at the foot of a bed - but not for indoor dining tables. I've done quite a few bench designs, but none were ever for a dining table, although I cannot say that no one has ever used one of my benches in a dining room.

Banquettes are okay for breakfast nooks and eat-in kitchens, but I'm not fond of them if they are not upholstered.

I would take two chairs at a dining table over a bench any day. I assume that the main reason to replace two chairs with one bench is to get three people on the bench - otherwise, it would be difficult to get two people to agree to sit on the bench instead of chairs. It's not very dignified, IMO, and I would only expect children to sit there.

It might work for other cultures, however, or in a pinch in a very tight room.

Live wire oak, Yes, I do sit on my bench frequently, as I said in my first post in this thread. When all four of us are home for a meal, I sit on the bench rather than sitting at the head/foot of the table. And when we have company I usually set my place on one end of the bench--since I'm the hostess I do try to avoid being in the middle so that I can get up and down without disturbing my guests for drink refills for people, etc. I also often sit there for breakfast or snacks because it puts my back to the sunlight coming into the room. My dh also frequently sits on the bench when we have company.

As I said above, the main purpose of the bench in our space is to improve traffic flow. Though it also comes in handy when we have a lot of people over because we can fit more people at the table. And we do like the look as well.

I'm not sure how a bench is undignified? They are essentially the same thing as a church pew after all. I can't imagine people refusing to sit in a church pew because it is undignified?

crl I think your bench is different because it has a back, which makes it way more comfortable than a backless bench. It's pretty too, btw. :)

I'd hate to sit at a backless bench for a long meal. (Maybe even a short one.) For our large holiday gatherings, I love when we all sit and relax over coffee and dessert. Even the younger ones (all teens and up now) would be uncomfortable, I think, if sitting on a backless bench for a long time.

And for our daily dinners, which is the main time I get to catch up with the kids, I want us all to be comfortable and relaxed before we run off (again) in different directions. I just don't see a backless bench helping us relax and enjoy our meals.

sbdesign - I'm so glad you posted this topic. I spent many a year waitressing and to this day, detest booths. A lot of it is probably due to having to clean the awkward things, but the rest is due to the sliding (so elegant!) one must do to get in. With a large group of people in a restaurant, and if the booth is the best seating available, I'm fine with taking a booth, otherwise, I'll always turn it down.

I've been very curious about those who purposefully build these in to their plans. Where's 3littlefishies? I've wondered what her feedback is after a year in place. Marcolo, I know you are a big fan - in a larger space, would you feel the same?

Similarly, if you love benches/banquettes, did you grow up with these at the dinner table?

Our kitchen table is circular, which I love. Having a square or rectangular space would probably change (reduce) the options. (So, for ya'all still in the planning stages - make space for a round table :))

benjesbride - I have never seen that done before, crazy, thank you for the picture.

This post was edited by oldbat2be on Sat, Oct 18, 14 at 6:20

Ack!!! After writing that opinionated post, I just looked at corgimum's reveal. Lovely banquette, and what seems to be a great use of the space.

Don't even like restaurant booths where only 4 people sit. If necessary, will always take the outside seat.

I have to laugh...I grew up in a family of 8 (6 kids, 2 adults). We had two benches, for the kids and my parents sat in chairs at the ends of the table. We never gave it a second thought. However, our benches were not against walls. When the middle person got up, they just turned on the bench and got out the "back" - no one ever had to get up for the middle person to move! I don't actually remember them being uncomfortable (or comfortable) - they were what we had. When we had friends over, they wanted to sit on the benches as well - more for the novelty, I suspect.

My parents did eventually change out the benches for chairs when they got a new kitchen table (we had no DR table at the time), but I was in my mid teens and almost "out the door" (college), so I don't remember that much about the benches vs chairs back then.

Fast forward to today - I'm not as limber as I once was, so I don't think I'd like that seating for adults.

I do know, however, that I do not like booth seating at restaurants - I always opt for a table if it's an option. For me, it has more to do with how the tables with booths are generally fixed and are usually too high for me and much too close - plus there's usually not enough room for the legs of two people sitting across from each other in a booth. (While I'm 5'10", all my height is in my legs. My body length would need to be at least 3" or 4" longer to be in proportion with my legs!)

I think banquettes can be usable - but they need to be designed carefully.