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Corner seating ideas for kitchen


35+ Charming Banquette Seating Ideas

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1

Black and White

This tufted black leather banquette, in an airy apartment designed by Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, defines the kitchen’s seating area in contrast to the white walls, a move that feels intentional and cozy.

Kelly Marshall

2

Storage Galore

Knowing that most kitchen tables work overtime as homework stations and game-night venues, this sunny yellow banquette in a home designed by Todhunter Earle Interiors features plenty of storage and ample wrap-around seating for dinner guests and math assistance alike.

Francesco Lagnese

3

Window Seat

Playful wallpaper, plush blue upholstery, and animal-print cushions make this dining nook, in a sunny Los Angeles home, the coziest spot for a cuppa joe.

Karyn Millet

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4

Out and About

Plush and relaxed, this oversize seating arrangement in architect Christina Seilern’s Greek island retreat is casual enough for a slow morning yet fully equipped for a lively dinner.

Matthieu Salvaing

5

Undercover

Crafted from the same wood as the dining table, this version, in a picturesque Alpine ski chalet, is a minimalistic take on the traditionally upholstered seat.

Gaelle Le Boulicaut

6

Low Profile

For a seamless feel, focus on proportions. This banquette, in a charming London abode designed by Veere Grenney, is the same height as the accompanying dining chairs for a seamless feel.

Simon Watson

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7

Supersize It

There’s no fighting over the booth side in this family kitchen designed by Frances Merrill. An oversize corner banquette allows for kids—and all of their friends—to pile in at mealtimes.

Laure Joliet

8

Add Some Curves

Dining room seating doesn’t always have to be so straightforward. To mimic the oblong shape of this marble table, a curved bench, a custom creation by designers Husband Wife, takes the place of more individual armchairs.

Chris Mottalini

9

Artful Nook

Leave it to designer Augusta Hoffman to master a perfectly composed nook, as she did in this elegantly understated New York kitchen. “It’s important to bring a soft layer into a kitchen space for contrast to all the hard materials,” she says, “whether it’s through lighting or window treatments, or if you’re lucky, you have the opportunity to do upholstery. It can make all the difference.”

Tim Lenz

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10

Bright and Bold

A vibrant turquoise nook (with complementary mustard yellow chairs) creates a stark contrast in this otherwise grayscale kitchen in an Oakland, California, Tudor with interiors by Tiffany Thompson.

Marni Epstein-Mervis

11

Cozy Cushioning

This minimalist banquette looks more like a comfy sectional sofa, ideal for long nights around the dinner table in this minimalist Amsterdam abode.

Richard Powers

12

Box It In

Cozy and kid-friendly, this rust-colored seating nook in a Malibu, California, home features performance upholstery and custom millwork.

Shade Degges

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13

Play with Patterns

Taking inspiration from the home’s seaside setting, Jean-Louis Deniot opted for a whimsical patterned upholstery to complement the deep navy walls.

Stephan Julliard

14

Hide in Plain Sight

Cleverly camouflaged, the banquette’s parrot motif carries on to the ceiling for a seamless look in this Manhattan apartment.

Douglas Friedman

15

Create Contrast

This curved dusty-pink banquette was designed by Husband Wife to offset the straight lines of the wooden shelves and custom dining table.

Nicole Franzen

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16

L-Shaped

The centerpiece of this California home, the L-shaped banquette offers roomy seating and open views of the living room and beyond.

Stephen Kent Johnson

17

Midnight Blue

A curvaceous navy banquette offers a grounding and coordinating force to the pattern-filled dining room of lighting designer Marie-Lise Féry.

Pierrick Verny

18

Dramatically Disguised

Let your dining table be the star of the show by coordinating the banquette and kitchen cabinetry, as in this Art Deco apartment.

Douglas Friedman

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19

Space Saver

Short on space? Opt for a pint-size banquette, like this single-seat bench upholstered in the Parisian kitchen’s showstopping emerald hue, courtesy of designer Lorenzo Castillo.

Eric Piasecki

20

Charmed, I’m Sure

A mustard banquette and raw-edge table add an unfussy air to this otherwise sophisticated and elegant home designed by Kevin Dumais.

Eric Piasecki

Kate McGregor

Kate McGregor is the Market Assistant for ELLE Decor covering all things home decor, design, and style.

27 Banquette Seating Ideas for Cafe Energy at Home

Michelle Berwick Design

In an era long dominated by the kitchen island, built-in banquettes have taken a back seat. But interior designers and homeowners are rediscovering the appeal of those chair-height, often upholstered benches that anchor the seating areas of kitchens, dining rooms, and open-plan spaces. Banquettes share DNA with window seats which are found in every room of the house, and banquette seating without a table in front of it often appears in mudrooms and entryways as a place to pause and slip off your shoes or rest your belongings.

A popular space-saving solution in the midcentury modern interiors of the last century, built-in banquettes never really went out of style. Long a fixture in tight city apartments and eat-in kitchens in older homes where a central island with bar stool seating would be cramped or impossible, these days the banquette is finding its way into larger, open plan spaces as a replacement for or alongside a kitchen island.

The shape of a banquette can be adapted to suit the layout of your kitchen or dining room, and may run along a single wall or occupy an L-shaped corner or a U-shaped alcove. You can use a banquette to help define a seating area in an open-plan space, or custom build a banquette that follows the irregular angles of an older home. Adding a built-in banquette can range from a straightforward DIY to a more elaborate tailor-built job for a professional carpenter. Banquettes are usually made of a wood base that may include integrated or free-form upholstery in leather or fabric (choose an outdoor fabric if you’re worried about wear and tear) and may include under-bench storage.

These ideas for built-in banquette seating will show you how to turn your kitchen into a cafe, your dining room into a bistro, and your home into a cozier, comfier space for meals, coffee breaks, or working from home. If you live in a rental or don't have the means to add a built-in banquette, there are plenty of options out there for freestanding banquettes in a range of materials, styles, and colors that can mimic the look.

Sitting well: How to rethink the kitchen nook

Here are some ideas for basic and secondary seating placed in a traditional kitchen in an unconventional way

Where else but in the kitchen can be a place for a feast, and just hanging out? There are not so few options. The first thing that comes to mind is a table with chairs, as well as a corner sofa. But there are a dozen different seat options. It is about them that will be discussed in this article.

Jules Duffy Designs

Natalia Dubchenko

1. Sit on the bedside table
Kitchen units placed on the floor can act as seats. That is, floor pedestals of a lower height (for the possibility of sitting on them) and sufficient strength to withstand the weight of human bodies. If you cover them with the same top as traditional furniture, you won't have to reinforce the frame.

Tip: Instead of a hinged door and shelves, order modules with drawers - they are more convenient to use near the floor. The soft part (pillows and seats) in the kitchen must be removable, otherwise regular cleaning will turn into a problem.

2. Capture the island
The kitchen island as a constructive element of the kitchen can have several uses: dining table, cutting table, storage, bar counter, and so on. Usually high bar stools are installed near the island, but this is far from the only option.

One of the walls of the high island can serve as a backrest for a bench and a dining table next to it. A reliable and comfortable seat back is always a plus, allowing you to relax and not control the center of gravity of your body.

There are other advantages to this solution. By combining two in one, an island and a dining area, you will get space savings, because the route for moving between these areas disappears. Another plus is that it is convenient for the hostess to serve food. She removes it from the stove to the island, and those sitting on the bench, without even getting up, carefully take small dishes and put them on the dining table.

Jill Neubauer Architects

3. Divide into parts
In essence, this is a continuation of the previous idea - with the only difference that instead of a bench, a table of reduced height was attached to the island. Agree, when you have a spacious kitchen, you can afford not to choose between countertop bar stools and a traditional table - organize both. Or even three, as the authors of this project did.

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21 more photos from this house in Massachusetts

4. Put the kitchen on the steps
If there is no space in the kitchen, go to the corridor, master the adjacent territory. The option is complex, in most cases requiring redevelopment, at least expanding the doorway. And it’s better to sit in the opening on the podium. That is, it will be more convenient to raise one of the zones, the kitchen itself or the adjacent territory, by about 30 cm.

Lali architecture

In this photo, it is much less extravagant, and therefore more common. In small apartments, the kitchen is also often combined with the living room, then the dining area from the working kitchen moves into the living space.

Such redevelopment, according to current regulations, is allowed in a house with electric stoves. The gas stove should be located in a non-residential area, that is, the door to the kitchen should remain.

5. Above the radiator
The window sill can be used as a seat in many ways. If there is a radiator or convector under the window, you should not close it, as the heat exchange in the room will be disturbed. To leave a path for warm air to move up near a window, mount the bench, leaving a gap, and lay a mattress to size.

It's not necessary to build a table for a coffee cup next door - see how great a stool does this role.

McBurney Junction

Here's an option for those who like to talk tet-a-tet, when the seat is primary and coffee is secondary. A corner or slightly corner sofa will allow you to sit opposite each other, and a portable geridon will be needed for a light treat. Agree that it is much more pleasant to communicate in this way than sitting at the dinner table.

SEE ALSO…
Kitchen design with sofa

KuDa Photography

6. Outdoors
A table on a balcony or on an open loggia with an exit from the kitchen in warm weather will solve the problem of lack of space in a small kitchen. Usually, even the most secluded place on the loggia attached to the kitchen boasts a panoramic view from the window.

Yurieva Galina | Interior Design and Decorating |

Another thing is that a full-fledged redevelopment "with accession" of this kind can be coordinated extremely rarely. Most often, the window sill remains in the same place. And great! Take advantage of this.

Read about the interior with the photo ...
Houzz Tour: A small apartment with bright details

The Kitchen Design Centre

Heather Merenda

7. On the windowsill
usually use such decisions for a country overlooking the terrace. The idea of ​​a countertop (continuation of the window sill) is not new, but usually it is about the interior, not taking into account the window sill from the outside of the kitchen window to the balcony. And in vain! The folding frame solves all issues with interfering open window sashes.

Cooper Robertson

Cooper Robertson

A similar design idea, implemented indoors: hinged doors divide the kitchen island into two parts. With one movement, the hands hide the notorious "mess in the sink" from those sitting.

Hovanskaya Olga

8. On wheels
“The height of the window sills at 70 cm prompted another interesting idea in this design project: to make a single window sill for all three windows in the living room — from the desktop to the kitchen itself” , - says Olga Khovanskaya, project designer with a photo. A hidden guide is hidden in the window sill, along which the L-shaped tables on wheels move. The three movable tables form either a large dining table or spread over several independent tables for the dining room and home office in the living room.

SEE ALSO
8000 more photos of bar stools in the Houzz collection

Corner kitchen design ideas and tips 0 Comments

In rooms of small or medium size, rectangular or square, corner kitchens will be the most successful solution. Such headsets have an important advantage - exceptional compactness, which allows you to carve out precious space to accommodate a dining group. For the same reason, it is the corner option that is often chosen for the design of studio apartments. Designers offer a look at the options for L-shaped headsets that meet the needs of modern housewives.

Simple does not mean boring

Minimalism, hi-tech, loft - these interior styles are at the peak of popularity today. The interest of buyers in furniture in this category is quite understandable, because it is deprived of lush, catchy decor, it literally excites creative imagination. At the same time, in a laconic interior, it is easiest to relax and escape from everyday worries, which is very much appreciated by busy people who lead an active lifestyle.

The design of a corner kitchen without elaborate handles, gilding and vignettes attracts the eye with the orderliness of storage systems, the quality of materials, and functionality. Properly selected cabinets in size and internal filling will accommodate everything a home cook needs, leaving work areas completely free.

Since corner sets are most often bought for small spaces, preference is given to light colors of beige, milky, ash, cream shades. Only due to a well-chosen primary color can you make the room lighter. A bright contrasting accent in such a calm interior will be the details: an apron, lamps, chairs, countertops. The dark or very bright color of the facades looks more advantageous in a kitchen with two windows.


Corners are no longer useless

In old furniture sets, often the corner compartment was not used in any way. Access to the internal space is quite difficult, so a considerable volume remained empty with an acute shortage of storage space. Now furniture makers have at their disposal ergonomic devices for corner cabinets: carousels, sliding mechanisms with closers, roll-out sections, etc.

With a simple movement, all content is instantly retrieved and just as easily returned back. Designs are constantly being improved, so the process of getting to know them is sometimes very exciting. At the same time, nothing from the outside indicates that wonders of engineering are hidden behind a laconic facade.

Not enough space? We combine the work surface with the windowsill!

Usually the kitchen has at least one window. Often in small rooms it is located opposite the front door close to the corner. With such a layout, it is quite difficult to arrange a corner set. The designers found a way out: the window sill is combined with the worktop and work area, thereby providing a gain in space savings and excellent natural lighting of the stove and sink.

Another problem arises: how to accommodate a dining group if there is simply no free space for it. There is a way out in this case too. A gap is left under the table top of the combined work area (do not occupy it with lockers) so that you can put a couple of chairs and have a bite to eat.

Focus on high cabinets

They can completely occupy one of the sides, which is why the corner kitchen set will only benefit. In narrow cases up to the ceiling, it is easy to place large household appliances: a refrigerator, a microwave oven, an oven, while there will still be a lot of space for dishes and tools. In addition, there is no need to make a beautiful finish behind the cabinets placed along the wall (savings!).

If such a design is chosen, then its advantage is obvious not only in a small room, but also in the spacious space of a studio apartment. A series of narrow cabinets stretched upwards will easily perform the function of a partition, thereby removing the need to build additional structures.


Washing in the corner!

A very practical design solution is to move the sink into a corner. In this case, you can not be limited to a modest and low-capacity model, but purchase truly comfortable plumbing for one or two bowls. In a sink of this size, it is easy to wash large pots and baking sheets, which will certainly be appreciated by families with many children.

Another important advantage of this solution is the ability to place the stove as close to the water source as it is convenient for the owner himself during the cooking process. Difficulties with connecting the hood will also not arise.

Soft sofa will not interfere

For many, the opportunity to sit comfortably in the kitchen and spend a pleasant time with a cup of tea and watching TV is worth a lot. To do this, you will need to organize not just a dining group, but a full-fledged soft corner with a table. In this case, an L-shaped set is ideal, since the sofa can be placed in the opposite corner.

The main attention should be paid to the choice of material for upholstery of upholstered furniture. No matter how carefully the household behaves at the table, there is always a risk of staining the seat. That's why the fabric is not suitable, unless it comes from removable covers. They are just easy to wash. But it is much more practical to initially choose a moisture-proof and easy-to-wash material, for example, eco-leather.


The bar counter is a great way to win some extra space

Convenience in everyday life of the bar counter is difficult to overestimate. Unlike an ordinary freestanding table, a stand combined with a headset has three approaches instead of four, that is, it is preferable for a small kitchen. In addition, it is easy to slide high stools under it when you need to clear the passage.

The carefully thought-out design and location of the bar counter allow you to get another full-fledged work surface. This is extremely convenient if the family often needs more than one person to participate in the cooking process. With this layout, two or even three people can easily share the countertops among themselves so as not to interfere with each other.

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