Sitting area in kitchen ideas
Kitchen Sitting Space Design Ideas
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Spacious modern kitchen features a sitting space with silver chain link chairs on black chevron floors, a burl wood dining table and white cabinets with black countertop and a nickel sink faucet.
Greg Natale
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Chic tan bamboo swivel chairs on gold bases sit facing each other in front of tall windows dressed in beige and green curtains.
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Gray slipcovered chairs topped with white pillows surround a black and white octagon coffee table.
Summer House Style
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Blue attic sitting space features rattan accent chairs with a brown Moroccan accent table, blue plank walls and a blue plank ceiling.
Bear Hill Interiors
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Kate Marker Interiors - A small kitchen sitting area is furnished with white upholstered accent chairs placed flanking a white lacquer accent table topped with a white and gold lamp placed in front of a window covered in white grommet curtains.
The Sugar Palm House
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Blue attic living room features a blue face to face sofas with an art deco coffee table atop a blue striped rug, wooden and blue accent chairs, a white dresser lit by a silver lamp under blue art mounted on blue and white wallpaper, blue plank walls with a blue plank ceiling and a woven basket.
Bear Hill Interiors
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Blue attic sitting space features a blue velvet couch with an art deco coffee table atop a blue striped rug, blue and white accent round table, an art gallery mounted on blue plank walls and a blue plank ceiling.
Bear Hill Interiors
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Kate Marker Interiors - Blue cottage kitchen features a vintage fuchsia and gray runner placed in front of blue shaker island adorned with satin nickel hardware and a white and gray marble countertop.
The Sugar Palm House
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Restful bedroom sitting area features white accent chairs placed on eitehr side of a round lucite accent table positioned beneath a blue and gray abstract art piece.
Lauren Leonard Interiors
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Bedroom sitting area is furnished with facing natural linen club chairs placed on a wide plank wood floor flanking a round brown leather pouf.
Blackband Design
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Light beige teak pool loungers sit in a row facing an in-ground swimming pool and are shaded by white outdoor umbrellas fixed in front of a rustic pergola positioned above an outdoor dining space.
Amber Interiors
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White curved headboard with gold sconces creates a contemporary look under a bedroom window fitted with a light blue horizontal stripe roman shade.
Ashley Gilbreath
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Cottage bedroom features sitting area with French burlap bench on vintage red and blue rug, in front of light gray linen slipcovered bed with cream and green bedding, and a black fluted nightstand lit by gray lamp.
Amber Interiors
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Beige wingback bed on a blue wall dressed in white bedding and a floral throw blanket boasting a woven bench at the foot of the bed.
Andrew Howard Interior Design
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Cottage style master bedroom features a white stone fireplace fitted with a TV and positioned between a window and a glass paneled door.
Blackband Design
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Contemporary lounge space features a light brown cowhide rug placed beneath a nickel cigar table flanked by chocolate brown velvet swivel chairs.
William Lyon Designs
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A white sheepksin rug sits in front of gray rope and wood lounge chairs placed on a stained wood floor in front of pay windows framed by gray shiplap.
Tracy Hardenburg Designs
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Cream curtains hang from windows behind a gold and black cafe table matched with zebra cowhide chairs.
Tracy Hardenburg Designs
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Camel colored leather chairs with camel velvet pillows surround a white ottoman placed on a beige vintage rug.
Mrs Paranjape Design
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Sophisticated bedroom with concealed kitchenette featuring microwave nook over small sink and mini fridge hidden behind folding doors across from sitting area featuring off-white leather high-back chairs paired with round tufted ottoman atop jute rug which grounds and define the space situated in front of windows dressed in white silk curtains.
Vineyard Retreat
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Cottage style kitchen features an arched doorway that leads to a dining space.
Pure Salt Interiors
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Chic bay window bedroom sitting area boasts a pair of modern white chairs flanking a brass accent table, Jonathan Adler Brass Teardrop Table.
RC Studio
10 kitchen seating ideas – the essential design rules for seating layouts and trends |
(Image credit: Davide Lovatti / Future)
It goes without saying that kitchen is the central hub of the home – a place to eat, cook, socialise, work, rest and play for all the family.
As physical barriers between these separate rooms merge into one, a functional and comfortable kitchen seating area (with or without a table) is a must-have feature.
If you have a huge kitchen there may be room for a stand-alone dining table and several chairs; at the other end of the scale, a small perch for coffee on an island unit or peninsula might just suffice. But if you want something more substantial, space-saving and permanent, today's renaissance in built-in seating, bar stools, window seats, banquettes and benches, are all great options, and can be seamlessly worked into almost any kitchen ideas blueprint.
Kitchen seating ideas
Whether for entertaining or family meals, a place to sit is essential in the modern-day kitchen.
1. Have a booth built into a small kitchen
(Image credit: Davide Lovatti / Future)
Built-in booths and seating offer many advantages: they can integrate different areas and functions of an open-plan kitchen or living room – while dead space can be utilised to brilliant effect around windows, in awkward corners or any odd shapes that need unifying.
Circular booths and banquettes are a popular choice and can be joined cleverly to an island unit for a striking, curvaceous contrast or fitted into a corner or bay window for a comfortable snug. The curves create a cozier, more intimate ambience for sitting and eating – far less formal than a traditional dining table – and the 1950s retro diner look can be brought bang up to date with neutral, matt leathers, earthy shades and natural materials.
2. Utilize a large kitchen island for seating
(Image credit: Brent Darby / Future)
Beautiful kitchen island seating is still enduringly popular, and it is easy to see why. Long, linear islands and peninsulas with an overhang can be broken up with small cut-outs or seating 'nooks' so friends and family can sit right in the centre of the action (whether it's relaxing or catching up on work) while someone is busy preparing food.
3. Pull up a dining chair
(Image credit: Polly Eltes / Future)
There is even more choice of dining room chairs, and often it’s the chairs that deliver the most design impact.
Don’t feel you have to be too matchy-matchy. There is a current trend for completely mismatched chairs, each one different, but you don’t have to go that far. Modern designs will sit quite happily with a rustic farmhouse table, metal or painted chairs with wood. The exception is upholstered which always looks better with a more formal table.
4. Make the most of an open-plan space
(Image credit: Rachael Smith / Future)
Even very small kitchens can often accommodate an open-plan dining area. In a compact kitchen, consider using banquette seating, fitted into a corner or even on one side of an island, to create a cozy dining spot, while in living areas, try using the space creatively: window seating can be combined with a table for impromptu dining, while extendable tables can provide multi-functional space.
5. Extend into the side return – to create banquette seating
(Image credit: James Merrell / Future)
One of the big surprises can be just how little space you need to add to gain enough useable room for a dining area in your existing kitchen – sometimes a mere matter of feet is all you need to fit a compact solution such as banquette or bench-style seating.
One of the most popular extensions is the side return which steals little-used alley space from the side of housing. These are rarely more than a few feet wide but the resulting kitchen will be bright and airy, and it’s a great way to gain space without encroaching on the garden, especially in cities where outdoor space is at a premium.
6. Increase the functionality of a kitchen island
(Image credit: Polly Eltes / Future)
Bar stools that allow people to sit at an island will increase the versatility of your kitchen layout. Getting the seating right isn’t just about finding the right stools to coordinate with your kitchen ideas either. It’s also worth considering the size, shape and configuration of the island itself so everything works in harmony.
'Always remember when choosing kitchen bar stools to keep the size and scale proportionate with the island. If the chairs are too big, with arms, it throws that visual balance out,' says Jane Stewart, design director at Mowlem & Co .
7. Define your seating area
(Image credit: Paul Raeside / Future)
Key to creating a successful kitchen seating area is planning. 'The design should be carefully thought out so as to maximize convenience without blocking the flow of space,' explains Jane Stewart, design director at Mowlem & Co.
An efficient way to do this is to create zones for each area, with everything needed for prep and cooking in one, and a well-defined dining or entertaining area in the other. Alongside kitchen islands, kitchen peninsula ideas are ideal for dividing the room, and as well as providing extra workspace and storage can double as a breakfast bar or incorporate a dining table.
8. Incorporate integrated seating into a kitchen
(Image credit: Polly Eltes / Future)
‘The purpose of integrated seating is that it should blend seamlessly with the rest of the kitchen,’ says Lucy Powles, director of Cocovara Interiors . ‘Therefore, the furniture should be unobtrusive in terms of design and color – try to keep the same lines and heights as the rest of the kitchen.
’
Upholstered banquettes, benches and stools will add greater comfort to a snug seating area. Choose practical, user-friendly fabrics that are hardwearing and wipeable, such as faux leathers, washable suedes, heavy cottons and canvases, and treat with a tough stain and water-repellent protection. Your upholsterer or interior designer will advise on the amount of fabric required, taking into account pattern repeat and wastage.
9. Invest in space-saving bench seating
(Image credit: Alicia Taylor / Future)
‘Bench-style seating means you can accommodate more people and leave one side clear if needs be,’ explains Jane Stewart, design director at Mowlem & Co, ‘and it can be neatly tucked away when not in use.’
'Be aware of table heights,’ says Stephanie Dedes, design manager at bespoke kitchen company Charles Yorke . ‘Ensure the table height is complementary to the seating height or vice versa. It’s not very comfortable eating or working at a table that's too high or too low for your knees.
On average, a height between 24-28 inches should be allowed for knee space.’
10. Opt for booth or banquette seating
(Image credit: Davide Lovatti / Future)
Integrated seating is, by its very nature, more relaxed than a formal dining table and chairs, and it can work for kitchens of all sizes, fitting into any design – no matter how small or awkwardly-shaped.
Where space allows, a booth or banquette is a more generous set up complete with dining table. Booths tend to be enclosed – either two seats facing or u-shaped or circular in design – while a banquette usually refers to a bench seat attached to a wall which may be linear or L-shaped.
How do you add seating to a small kitchen?
Whether you’re looking to create an intimate spot for two or for room to fit a table large enough for extended family there is always a solution to fit.
If your room is compact then opting for relaxed dining such as a breakfast bar is a good idea. It can easily be added to the end of a run of units or on a peninsula by creating a slight overhang on the worksurface so people can get their knees comfortably underneath.
In bigger rooms a large dining area may be possible, but make sure you measure not just the space for the table but also the chairs.
'Where you are struggling for space to get an island and a table in, a dropped seating area coming off one or more sides of an island or peninsula can achieve both of these things – and by having split heights you can clearly define your kitchen and eating areas,' explains Ben Russell of Arlington Interiors.
Do use a design professional to realise the full potential of your space and to create an attractive seating area with good proportions.
When commissioned as part of a bespoke kitchen project, your kitchen company will usually handle the design of the seating, often choosing materials and finishes to match cabinetry and your exact requirements. If your kitchen is off-the-peg kitchen or you are looking to add a seating area to your existing set up, you will need to find a reliable tradesman.
As with any commission, be sure to check a company’s credentials and ask to see references from satisfied customers.
Find out if VAT has been included and ensure you get everything you have agreed, including start and finish dates and the pricing structure, in writing.
Jennifer is the Digital Editor at Homes & Gardens. Having worked in the interiors industry for a number of years, spanning many publications, she now hones her digital prowess on the 'best interiors website' in the world. Multi-skilled, Jennifer has worked in PR and marketing, and the occasional dabble in the social media, commercial and e-commerce space. Over the years, she has written about every area of the home, from compiling design houses from some of the best interior designers in the world to sourcing celebrity homes, reviewing appliances and even the odd news story or two.
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How to organize a relaxation area in the kitchen: 10 examples
How to decorate
If the dining group in the kitchen is an alternative to the dining room, then a sofa, couch, modest bench or just an armchair can sometimes even replace the living room.
We consider 10 such examples in which the kitchen has a place not only for cooking and eating, but also for relaxing.
Ekaterina Goncharenko
Kitchen. Kitchen set, IKEA; facades, Cover; table, &Tradition; chairs, La Forma; lamp, Gubi; sconce, Aromas. Photo: Sergey Ananiev
This can be seen as a paradox, but the usual “recreation areas” in the kitchen are most often formed not in spacious country houses, but in compact apartments, where you need to fit everything on an area of 5–7 m². And here it is important to see the difference between the “kitchen-living room” - an open space with two independent zones - and a kitchen that simultaneously performs the functions of both spaces.
A striking example, where both the kitchen and the living room are located on a small area, is the apartment designed by Anna Rokachevskaya and Mikhail Balko.
Since the entire apartment is 42 m², the designers wanted to “give the room maximum functionality”. “So that it looks not only like a kitchen, but also like a living room,” Anna and Mikhail explain. The storage system helped to solve the problem: it starts with a kitchen set, and continues with a chest of drawers. The TV is mounted on a bracket, so it is convenient to watch it from the sofa, which complements the dining table with a couple of chairs.
Bright apartment in Presnya City Residential Complex, 42 m². Living room with kitchen. Cabinet furniture is made to order; glass apron with a colored pattern on the back; table and chairs, La Redoute; sofa, Mexo; pendant lamp, Market Set; curtains, textile studio A-Decor.
Photo: Sergey Melnikov
But the area of the apartment in the house of the 1970s is almost twice as large - 80 m². It is divided into three parts by two load-bearing walls, so the unification of the kitchen and living room was impossible.
The authors of the project, Vera Totskaya and Maria Zemlyanykh, gave the function of the dining room to the kitchen: to emphasize this role, they placed a sofa here, which echoes the upholstery with the base of the table, and the legs with the table top and backs of the chairs.
Apartment in a house from the 1970s, 80 m². Kitchen. Kitchen set, IKEA; facades, Cover; table, &Tradition; chairs, La Forma; lamp, Gubi; sconce, Aromas.
Photo: Sergey Ananiev
In the apartment designed by Elena Kornilova, the color design was thought out no less carefully than the layout. The designer built the palette of the entire space around a painting by Pavel Shevtsov from the gallery of Marina Gisich. “I call this palette “Dutch lands” — there are rich and rather dark shades of furniture and accessories and neutral walls that, like a chameleon, adjust to and reflect all other colors,” says Elena. So in the kitchen, the walls became black and emerald, and they perfectly emphasize the main character of this room - green Brazilian granite.
The banquet in scarlet velvet upholstery contrasts with it, and in combination with dark color and traditional Viennese chairs, the atmosphere in the kitchen resembles French brasseries.
Apartment in Dutch earth tones, 180 m². Kitchen. Headset, Eggersmann; table, Philippe Hurel; on it is a bronze vase, Artvivo; chairs, Thonet; bench, Liaigre; alabaster chandelier from the Carole Decombe gallery.
Photo: Mikhail Loskutov; stylist: Natalia Onufreychuk
This apartment in the center of St. Petersburg also has a French feel, but it looks completely different. The interiors here, on the contrary, are bright, and there is no dining area in the kitchen at all. The customer and an old acquaintance of the designer Evgenia Evinzon bought the apartment for investment purposes and decided to make the interior for the soul - to sometimes live here himself, and rent it out in between. Therefore, instead of a dining area, there is a small sofa under the window, a variation on the theme of the breakfast corner.
And if before we considered projects in which the sofa became part of the dining group, in this interior designer Anna Zinkovskaya placed it a little further in her own kitchen, separating the seating area from the dining area. “I took into account the context, but I did not have the task of reproducing the historical interior. These are all reflections on how it could be,” Anna explains. However, she deliberately refused an open common area. Firstly, there were no open spaces before, and secondly, this is how we managed to make the front living room according to the classical canons.
Another option for designing a seating area in the kitchen is to use the space by the windowsill. This is what Milena Yanichkina did: in a Moscow apartment of 65 m², the designer combined the kitchen, the dining room, and a compact corner by the window, where the hostess can both have breakfast in the morning and read in the evening.
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Bright apartment in Moscow, 65 m². Kitchen. The furniture is made to order; table, Ustinov Studio; chairs are made to order, "Aliander Group"; chandelier, Handle Studio; vases, Flowolver and Designboom; painting by Albert Soldatov from the Pic Related series, pop/off/art gallery; spice set, Jonathan Adler.
Bright apartment in Moscow, 65 m². Fragment of the kitchen. Textile, Tatiana Kushnir's Textile Decoration Workshop; joinery, Studia-MS; sconce, Handle Studio.
But Elena Gorenstein united two apartments at once. So it turned out three main common areas: a kitchen-dining room, a living room and a winter garden, behind which a private part was hidden. The designer “dissolved” the kitchen in space; only an apron made of etched brass gives it away. The wall is painted in the color of the headset, and this is another trick to hide the work surface. “If I hung kitchen cabinets here, the whole space would turn into one big kitchen,” Elena says.
Another nice bonus is a wide bench under the windowsill, where the designer likes to have breakfast.
A wooden bench became part of the kitchen in the apartment of the architect Alexei Dunaev. Such a minimalist seating area near the kitchen is fully consistent with the ascetic interior of the entire apartment. Moreover, the owner claims that they never put pillows on the bench, while no one likes to sit in comfortable chairs, everyone wants to sit on it.
Apartment of architect Alexey Dunaev in Moscow, 60 m². Kitchen area. All built-in appliances, Asko; faucet designed by Arne Jacobsen for Vola; kitchen cabinets, IKEA; countertop and apron made to order; coffee maker, Alessi; doors and partition, Union; porcelain tile, Ceramica Fioranese.
The apartment designed by Oksana Alekseeva and Masha Kunyakina has a separate dining area, but the designers did not refuse a comfortable place in the kitchen, despite the change in layout: for seven years, the owner of the apartment got used to admiring the panorama of Moscow from an armchair that stood opposite the balcony .
After the redevelopment, the kitchen and living room changed places, but the view point remained. To save space for a chair, the kitchen island was made asymmetrical: one of its ends is rounded, the other is straight.
Apartment in Moscow, 135 m². Kitchen area. Kitchen, Leicht; the island is made according to the sketches of designers by Vasily Arshansky Furniture Laboratory; bar stools, Checcotti; chair, Baxter; lamps, Viabizzuno.
The founders of the FullHouseDesing bureau combined in their kitchen not only a dining area with a seating area, but also furniture of different moods. “The dining room and the kitchen are our place of power, we love to receive guests, so we needed a spacious kitchen with a large table,” says Maria Ivanova. It is surrounded by wooden chairs, transparent Ghost armchairs and a boucle upholstered sofa - the main one responsible for relaxing in the kitchen.
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