9 Examples of How a Banquette Could Work in Your Space
These corner, curved, L-shaped and straight benches range in style from everyday casual to attainably elegant
Erin Carlyle
January 18, 2018
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes to remodel. Former Forbes real estate reporter. Fascinated by cool homes, watching the bottom line.
Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes... More
If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, you may want to consider including a banquette. Whether it’s a straight bench tucked into a nook or seating integrated into the back of a kitchen island, there are many ways this versatile feature can work in a home. Styles range from the casual and understated to the tailored and sophisticated. Here are nine approaches to this flexible seating element.
1. Straightaway. A long, straight banquette under a mullioned window tucks nicely into this room that connects the kitchen and patio. The shape allows for room to walk between the two spaces. If you’d like to add a banquette to a room that’s in the traffic flow, a long, straight design is a good one to consider.
Since this banquette setup is adjacent to the kitchen, it’s useful for everyday casual dining. The bench can be paired with tables of different lengths or used without a table, providing flexibility. And there’s storage inside the bench, making it an even more efficient use of space.
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Since this banquette setup is adjacent to the kitchen, it’s useful for everyday casual dining. The bench can be paired with tables of different lengths or used without a table, providing flexibility. And there’s storage inside the bench, making it an even more efficient use of space.
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2. Niche solution. Here’s another straight banquette in a room that people walk through. The bench allows the table to be placed closer to the wall, providing more space for people to walk between rooms. It also efficiently uses the niche between the living room and kitchen, which might otherwise be wasted.
This banquette gains a more polished look thanks to wainscoting halfway up the wall, which echoes the wall treatment in the San Francisco home’s formal dining room and its staircase. The wainscoting makes a natural back for the bench, which, with the table and chairs as partners, forms a nice spot for casual everyday dining.
Nook wall paint: Stonington Gray HC-170, Benjamin Moore
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This banquette gains a more polished look thanks to wainscoting halfway up the wall, which echoes the wall treatment in the San Francisco home’s formal dining room and its staircase. The wainscoting makes a natural back for the bench, which, with the table and chairs as partners, forms a nice spot for casual everyday dining.
Nook wall paint: Stonington Gray HC-170, Benjamin Moore
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3. Anchor a space. This banquette is part of a wall-size cabinetry unit that is also a design element of the room. The feature serves as a focal point to anchor the dining niche. The floor-to-ceiling wood draws the eye up, a smart design move that reflects the architecture of the rest of the home, which has tall, angled ceilings. The design also echoes the dark wood paneling used elsewhere in the home.
This banquette offers an important design takeaway: When planning one, think about how to incorporate its look into the overall design of your home.
This niche functions as a breakfast nook as well as a homework station, efficiently using the space at the end of a galley kitchen.
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This banquette offers an important design takeaway: When planning one, think about how to incorporate its look into the overall design of your home.
This niche functions as a breakfast nook as well as a homework station, efficiently using the space at the end of a galley kitchen.
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4. Island style. This banquette, built into the back of an island, forms a contemporary, streamlined look that fits the design of the Melbourne, Australia, kitchen. The bench seat runs the length of the island and continues along the kitchen’s back wall to form an L. The seat back is slanted, which allows people to lean back and also echoes the angles of the ceiling. Using the island back as the seat back efficiently uses the space and allows for a walkway through the kitchen.
How to Make the Most of Your Kitchen’s Back Side
How to Make the Most of Your Kitchen’s Back Side
5. Furniture feel. This kitchen’s freestanding banquette is a flexible alternative to a built-in version, since it can be relocated in the home or taken along should the homeowners move. Note that the kitchen’s island has legs, giving the space a furniture-style fee, and the banquette’s design, with its slim front legs, echoes that.
See more freestanding banquettes and benches
See more freestanding banquettes and benches
6. Sofa style. Here’s another banquette with a furniture feel, this one in a corner. It has a sophisticated, transitional look that works with the rest of the space. The banquette looks like a sofa with its upholstery, wood base and legs, which reflect the style of other furniture in the home.
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See more of this home
7. Sleek combo. There’s something about a banquette that seems casual, perhaps because it’s reminiscent of a diner booth. But this take on the idea shows that a banquette can be both casual and luxurious. The banquette is upholstered in aniline leather and has tufted detailing and piping. Combined with the shapely table and beautiful modern chandelier, the overall effect is a tailored, sophisticated space.
As in the previous example, the banquette pairs with a table that has a pedestal base. This type of table is easier to navigate around than one with four corner legs.
See more of this home; browse pedestal tables
As in the previous example, the banquette pairs with a table that has a pedestal base. This type of table is easier to navigate around than one with four corner legs.
See more of this home; browse pedestal tables
8. Curve appeal. This banquette in a bay window shows how you can get a curved seat despite an angled architectural niche. The back of the banquette fits the angle of the window wall, while the front follows the outline of the table. The parquet detailing on the floor emphasizes the curve. This dining area is adjacent to the kitchen, which has an island with tall bar seating, giving the homeowners options.
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See more of this home
9. Eclectic look. This freestanding banquette is a beautiful furniture piece with a high back and patterned upholstery. It works with the rest of the room, and in fact its Schumacher fabric inspired the Denver home’s palette of aubergine, teal, gold, rust and olive green. As in the previous example, this banquette pairs with a round table.
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Read more about this home
More
Kitchen Banquettes: Explaining the Buffet of Options
10 Reasons to Love Banquettes (Not Just in the Kitchen)
The 10 Most Popular Dining Spaces of 2017
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Banquet area for easy entertaining
Having a serving section in your kitchen is a huge benefit. The ideal place to put hot plates and line up food for your guests to serve themselves.
More ideas: https://www.kitchenmagic.com/gallery
I just love banquettes. They are so cozy, in a restaurant who picks the table out in the open vs the banquettes around the perimeter? They make great use of a smaller space; we have one in our ski condo (styled like #1). The bench faces the living room allowing for 8 people to be together in approximately a 15'x15' room.