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Kitchen eating bar ideas


Beautiful Kitchen Breakfast Bars to Copycat

By

Ashley Knierim

Ashley Knierim

Ashley Knierim is a home decor expert and product reviewer of home products for The Spruce. Her design education began at a young age. She has over 10 years of writing and editing experience, formerly holding editorial positions at Time and AOL.

Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process

Updated on 05/13/22

The Spruce / Christopher Lee Foto

Your breakfast bar is often the centerpiece of the kitchen. Not only is it the focal point of the entire room, but it's where you entertain and share meals with your loved ones. The idea of the "social kitchen" is incredibly popular, so if you have space to add a breakfast bar, there's a good chance you will. Even if you have a small kitchen, you can probably add a breakfast bar for two.

Here we've rounded up some of the best breakfast bar ideas for every style of kitchen.

33 Kitchen Island Breakfast Bar Ideas for Countertop Seating (With Pictures)

Home Projects

Decorating

Ideas & Inspiration

Kitchen Projects

by Tess Wilson

updated May 26, 2021

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.

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The breakfast bar may have started out as just a place to scarf your morning cereal, but as anyone who’s ever been in a home with one can attest, if there’s a kitchen island with seating, that’s where everyone will be hanging out, guaranteed.

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They’re great for people who love to cook too. It allows party guests to have some fun with the person who’s handling the food prep, and provides a handy spot for kids to finish up homework while their parent is getting dinner done.

No matter how big and fabulous your home is, matter how long your dining table or how cozy your breakfast nook, everybody is inevitably going to hang out in the kitchen, and breakfast bars give them a place to do just that. So pull up a bar stool and prepare to get inspired by the next-level breakfast bars below.

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1. Fun With Pink

Emily Murray, the founder and editor of The Pink House, says her favorite element of her whimsical London home is “The Bert & May pink-tile-clad marble breakfast bar. The tiles are such a delicious shade of pink and I love to perch on my gold Bend Goods counter stool and watch the bright green parakeets roosting in the trees outside.”

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2. Pop of Green

The seafoam green bar stools add a welcome pop of color to the neutral palate of this kitchen, and add much-needed extra seating to this 500-square-foot Toronto apartment.

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3. Rustic Chic

Carina Michelli’s favorite part of her Instagram-famous Buenos Aires kitchen is the island. She says, “When designing the kitchen I imagined it white with a long rustic table. I love all the ways we use it, from my first coffee at dawn to family dinner; everything happens here.”

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4. Tons of Seating

This massive kitchen island can seat five with room to spare and is the homeowner’s favorite element of their California house.

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5. Bright and Airy

This green concrete island in this Melbourne, Australia home adds an element of color and whimsy to the all-white kitchen. Says homeowner Chelsea Ellis, “It gave me the chance to bring in some warmth with the wood and personality with the color and tiles behind the island” and adds “more space and seating for the family. It has worked out so well that the dining table is getting some long service leave.”

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6. Classic Marble

This marble-topped island has plenty of space for baking for Joy Wilson, aka Joy the Baker, in her New Orleans home. “I’ve never lived in a house with this much open space and it feels really wonderful to have friends over and be able to make a big mess gathered around the main kitchen island,” she says.

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7. A Clever IKEA Hack

With no upper cabinets and minimal storage space, the island is what makes this open LA loft’s kitchen function. Says resident Jack Strutz, the island serves multiple purposes: “[It’s] a great gathering place for hosting dinners, prep space for cooking, much needed storage space for kitchen items, and a home for the microwave and toaster oven.” And bonus, it’s an IKEA hack! The counter’s top and island are the IKEA Karlby and “I had the metal leg custom designed by a local metal shop [Steel Impression] to help support the counter top. ”

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8. Industrial Strength

This breakfast bar allows for chatting during dishwashing, allowing one to feel involved in the festivities while doing this hated chore.

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9. Color Contrast

Though the overhang on this island is fairly minimal, “[the] generous counter island can fit all of the little ones for breakfast or snack time.”

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10. Warm and Wooden

This smart kitchen setup allows diners to eat their breakfast while gazing out the window and/or contemplating the day’s to-do list on the chalkboard refrigerator.

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11. Striking Legs

Here’s another example of a situation in which the stools fit all the way under the island, keeping the walking areas clear. The seating area was created by augmenting an island with a tabletop.

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12. Farmhouse Inspiration

“The island gives additional counter space and is a casual spot for the family to share a meal.” While the high bench provides ample seating, “having the family room right off the kitchen now allows everyone to hang out close to one another during meal preparation—without having too many cooks in the kitchen.”

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13. Sleek Minimalism

“Friends love coming over for dinner and having a drink at the kitchen island while Nick and Julia finish cooking.” Who wouldn’t want to belly up to a quartz-wrapped bar, especially with a television right at hand?!

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14. High Shine

Unusually, there is seating on both sides of this kitchen island, while clear “stools from CB2 allow the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows to pass through and fill the kitchen. ”

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15. Weathered Wood

In another rare stools-on-both-sides arrangement, lab stools from Craigslist are positioned on each side of a DIY island made from a restaurant cart.

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16. Polished Waterfall

The most important meal of the day is any meal eaten at this gloriously marble-clad breakfast bar.

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17. HIgh-Backed Chairs

This breakfast bar exactly fits four counter chairs from Restoration Hardware, especially convenient since the dining room is at a distance from the kitchen.

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18. Extra Space

Up to seven stools could fit around this island, allowing lots of folks to eat within viewing range of the living room’s television.

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19.

Floating Island

Two delicate stools fit under this slim custom-made floating island, but there would be room to seat eight, if desired.

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20. Concrete Style

Poured concrete counters by Concrete Elegance top a generously proportioned island devoted to dining—there is no dining room—in this totally renovated kitchen.

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21. Tucked-Away Seating

Two stools are tucked, nearly invisibly, into the end of this long kitchen island.

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22. Mixed and Matched

The slim proportions of this island nonetheless allow it to seat at least four diners, with room left over for a stove, utensils, and essential ingredients.

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23. Bright Whimsy

There’s room to tuck these adorable stools all the way under this IKEA island.

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24. Motorcycle Mornings

Diners can perch on the adjustable, leather upholstered stools—or pull the 1967 Triumph up to the breakfast bar.

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25. Butcher Block Basics

This island has the look and functionality of a butcher block, while allowing room for in-kitchen seating.

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26. Thrifted Finds

Island seating needn’t be limited to stools: these thrifted chairs provide a formal dining experience at an rustic antique island.

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27. Quirky Cushions

This custom-built island has only the smallest of lips, but it’s enough space to accommodate these quirky, cushy stools.

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28. Perfect for Parties

The close proximity of the dining table to the breakfast bar means that a large group can dine companionably in the space, while an integrated stove opens up the available work space in the kitchen.

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29. A Sunny Spot

Here’s another example of island seating that’s nice and close to the table, perfect for large gatherings. (The island can serve as a kids’ table, as kids generally love stools.)

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30. Cozy and Casual

The nearby dining room table provides ample seating, but the island—which holds the kitchen’s second sink—allows for cozy, casual dining.

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31. White and Light

This airy kitchen features the ultra-rare breakfast bar which not only provides seating for 10, but is unusually, at chair, rather than stool, height.

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32. Swing Time

This San Francisco home’s incredible island features swinging seating from Dot & Bo—though there are two CB2 stools tucked under the end for diners who get airsick.

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33. Neon Bright

And then let’s finish with this: incorporated LED lighting. Make your breakfast bar a nightclub! Pity the poor diner who gets stuck on the end with neither leg room nor exciting lighting.

118 photos (real) + 7 Types + nuances

Let's look at 7 types of bar counters and their place in kitchen design (on real photos), as many types of countertops for them, and how to fit all this into the interior of the apartment.

Types of bar counters for the kitchen

There are as many as 7 designs of bar counters, and they differ fundamentally.

Height:

  1. Dining table ~ 75 cm, ordinary chairs
  2. At the height of the table top ~ 82-92 cm, bar stools
  3. Up to 105-110 cm, when it is already comfortable to stand behind the bar counter

Here we disassemble last 2 options.


According to the type of base, the bar counters in the kitchen are divided into:0059

1. Built-in

Bar counter as a continuation of the kitchen worktop - the same height and without breaks.

The easiest and cheapest option to implement. At the same time, it looks great.

Minus: if you are tall, you can't stand up for this.

Fully marketed by kitchen workers.






This is still taller than a standard table and regular chairs won't fit.


If you like these, look about them in the relevant paragraphs in the articles about U-shaped and corner kitchens - there is also about the entry of such a rack on a wall with a window (instead of a window sill).

2. Corner kitchen with breakfast bar

More often open corner counter, perpendicular to the main line of the kitchen. The height of such a bar counter is just + 15-20 cm to the height of the countertop. Prepared by kitchen workers. The material of the countertop is the same as that of the kitchen.

According to the layout of the kitchen with such a bar counter, they are usually combined with the living room, or the size should initially allow it to be approached from 2 sides.






3. Freestanding bar counters

Either solid or open. For a monolithic base or bottom of a former wall, or a newly erected structure made of bricks or gas silicate blocks.












May be with a furniture base, but not so beautiful.



For kitchen design, it is a good idea to finish the monolithic base of the bar counter with a material with a deep texture (decorative plaster or stone) and direct light from a hidden tape along this surface.

4. Bar table

Suitable for medium to large kitchens. The height is like a stand, and the size is like a regular table, i.e. wide.


a stand-alone bar counter table allows you to receive the maximum number of guests - it is convenient to sit and stand, and the area will allow you to fully serve it.



5. Bar counter by the window

An ordinary bar counter in a small kitchen is placed either in a built-in format or when combined with a window sill. There are also options for a folding bar counter, but such solutions seem to me an unnecessary complication, so we will omit them.


Implemented separately from the main working area near the window as a wider window sill with an overhang and legroom. Or as a continuation of the corner kitchen with a view under the window.






After redevelopment with the addition of a balcony to the kitchen, the bar counter is installed in the window block in place of the former window sill.


6. Island type

The fundamental difference between a bar counter and an island is that neither a sink nor a hob is placed on it, and you can sit behind it on a bar stool due to the legroom.








There is a hybrid version, when the island has an overhang of the table top so that there is room for the knees, and an island bar is obtained. Below are 2 photos of an example of such islands in typically masculine kitchen designs.






7. Multi-level

The design of the bar counter with a ladder at different levels refers us to the sad kitchens of the 2000s, but, theoretically, it can have an acceptable look.




From the side of the working area, it is made at the level of the countertop, then it rises with a step to the standard height from the side of the living area. I do not recommend using chrome legs for this.







Kitchen design with a bar counter

The bar counter in the kitchen is no longer an experiment - designers have been offering them to customers for a long time, but many are still afraid and in vain. Let's analyze from the photo which designs are relevant in modern kitchens, and which are already out of fashion.

Obvious:

Chrome-plated furniture legs (supports) and rounded shapes of the racks themselves will only spoil the design of the kitchen.


To decide what type of bar counter will best complement the interior of your kitchen, we will determine the goal-setting and your requirements for the bar counter in the apartment:

  • Large free cooking area (low counter)
  • Bar counter as a way to host large companies
  • Additional storage space for dishes (base with drawers or cabinets)

    • The whole kitchen design can be built around the bar: designer lamps above it, lighting from below, stylish bar stools. Interesting photos of kitchens with bar counters in terms of design: the most stylish options for the base are monolithic, the top is solid wood or stone. If you save money, then chipboard under the tree.

    A special role is played in the design of kitchens and living rooms. It is placed in the place of the demolished wall for zoning the premises, and a TV is hung on the same line with it. In this layout, it can be viewed from both the kitchen and the living room. From the side of the living room, a sofa is often attached to the bar counter.



    It is a mistake to think that the rack is only suitable for large kitchens or kitchen-living rooms. Unlike a table, a bar counter takes up less space and often becomes an alternative to a dining table in Khrushchev kitchens. In small kitchens, a bar counter is used in the height of the working area as its continuation, either in place of the windowsill, or as the edge of the corner kitchen.


    Bar countertop

    The countertop is important enough, but when it becomes a bar counter and its share in the kitchen design increases, the right choice is critical.

    The difference is huge in:

    1. appearance
    2. Tactile sensations
    3. stability to an aggressive environment in the kitchen
    4. price

    If you are too lazy:

    In terms of ratio price, quality, speed (do the same one who and all who and all are the same kitchen), stability, design, tactility - best of all chipboard with wood imitation.

    An article with a selection of photos of white kitchens with wooden countertops.

    For more details, read on.

    Chipboard bar counter (postforming)

    Laminated chipboard imitating wood, stone, marble, etc. The wood look options look cool and are in fact the standard solution for countertops in general.

    Postforming with imitation of any material other than wood must be chosen very carefully. Ideally, look for samples of kitchens with such countertops exhibited live somewhere, because little is clear from the sample. This is important because most of Chipboard with imitation of stone or marble looks terrible in real life , photos of this also do not convey.

    Plus, when stone is imitated, but when touched and knocked, it makes the sound of wood - this causes dissonance.










    Natural stone The material is durable, resistant to moisture and high temperatures, easy to clean.

    For my taste, it loses in important parameters to an artificial stone. You can choose if money allows. The main plus is tactile sensations. The material is perceived as monumental and solid, which is nice. Live, no one will confuse natural stone and imitation of laminated chipboard.

    Limited number of shapes and sizes, difficult to process, but not afraid of temperature.



    Artificial stone (acrylic)

    Artificial stone can be of different types and can be called brand or type. Known as acrylic, agglomerate or corian. Created on the basis of acrylic resins. Acrylic is not inferior to natural stone both externally and in wear resistance. A huge number of colors and it is almost impossible to miscalculate with them - an acrylic bar counter looks at least good.

    A feature of acrylic is the ability to use broken geometry without seams. Great for an L-shaped open bar counter. Also, in acrylic, you can embed the backlight directly inside, but this is already an amateur. Can be cast as a single piece with a sink, etc.

    Minus acrylic: scratches over time, but can be sanded. Afraid of extremely high temperatures.




    Concrete

    A concrete bar can become a central part of your kitchen design, especially if you are designing a loft style kitchen. A piece object, but it is precisely such things that are worth the time and money spent. take your kitchen to the next level.



    Solid wood

    A kitchen with a breakfast bar made of solid oak and other wood looks very cool, suitable for both classic and modern styles. But the tree is tender (it is afraid of mechanical damage).

    You will have to get confused with the search and production - this is not something that you can just order from kitchen workers. But a natural tree is always a one-of-a-kind unique item. In the photo below, people tried and bought a whole cut of oak, which was also enough for the table.




    From tiles

    The base is made of monolithic or plasterboard, and the sides and top of the rack are faced with tiles or mosaics.

    Not recommended. It will look like a collective farm in 99.99% of cases. In addition, dirt will constantly clog into the seams between the tiles - it is inconvenient to wipe a non-smooth countertop.

    Tempered glass

    A controversial option that can turn out to be both successful and unsuccessful. If you are confident and willing to take a risk - why not. But there are more proven materials for bar counters.



    There are also unusual options for bar counters: stainless steel, porcelain stoneware, timber, round, etc., but these exclusive options are already beyond the scope.



    If you are tired of racking your brains and want a ready-made solution - a monolithic base made of gas silicate covered with decorative plaster and a tabletop made of postforming wood effect.

    If you really wanted a bar counter, but you were not sure - go for it. Now you have all the information to implement your idea without risk. I advise you to read about the choice of cuisine, there is really useful information.

    Save and share - come in handy!