The holiday season is a time when we gather around the table to share delicious food and great conversation with family and friends. For many of us, it may also be a time when we look at our tiny kitchen or rarely used formal dining room and ask the question: where is everyone going to sit?
Adding a built-in bench, or banquette seating, is a great use of space. Not only does it seat more people than chairs, it offers other benefits, including: extra storage, improved traffic flow, an added sense of coziness, and more efficient use of awkward spaces.
Here are four HighCraft remodels to help inspire your custom banquette design.
Banquette with a View
With its view of Horsetooth Reservoir, the new built-in banquette (above, right) provides more seating around the dining room table.
The banquette seating pulls the table closer to the wall of windows, too, keeping a pathway clear to the kitchen.
The multi-purpose bench incorporates hidden access to roll-out drawers for ample storage. And the banquette was designed with textured melamine – the same material used for the kitchen cabinetry – to create one cohesive and stunning space.
Seat cushions and pillows add color and softness to the neutral palette.
Read more about this kitchen and dining room remodel in “Modern Melamine Kitchen.”
Kitchen Island Banquette
The kitchen is the heart of the home in this whole-house remodel, and the banquette seating is the heart of the kitchen.
The banquette is inviting, drawing the family into the kitchen where they gather for meals every night.
In a clever use of space, the L-shaped center island serves as the backrest for the banquette.
Once again, additional storage was added under the bench top with large, oversized drawers.
The white bench also provides an ideal contrast to the kitchen table – a stunning custom piece made in Turkey – allowing its colors to pop.
Explore this entire whole-house remodel in the “Second Story Pop Top” gallery.
Cozy Corner Banquette
This banquette, stained a rich mahogany, creates a cozy corner for this eat-in kitchen.
Each bench seat provides deep drawers for holiday linens, extra dishes, and more.
The built-in wall unit behind the banquette creates additional storage, including wine racks, display cabinets and open shelves.
Understairs Basement Banquette
Our team transformed the awkward space under the stairs into a cozy eating nook in this game-room basement. The banquette seating is the perfect place to sip a drink while waiting to play pool, foosball or ping-pong.
The nook also doubles as a corner to play cards or board games.
And like each banquette featured in this post, the built-in bench also provides additional storage.
Explore the entire basement remodel in “Ultimate Basement Hangout.”
Whether you build new construction, or remodel what you have, HighCraft’s experienced design-build team can navigate every detail of the planning and construction process so you don’t have to. Contact HighCraft with questions or to schedule a free consultation.
