I love banquettes but the only concern I'd have is whether people sitting there will be banging their heads against a hard counter top. If I understand the situation correctly, there will be a kitchen counter right behind whoever is sitting there?

Sue, yes .. the countertop will stop on top of that wall. I wonder if the baquette/booth had a back on it, so the counter ended behind the back?

I'm kind of contemplating having some sort of a booth made. We have three girls (8,10,12) and tons of their friends hang out here on a daily basis, I need something that will clean up like a dream.

I'd be more inclined to do something that would be easy to move, perhaps two 4 foot benches under the sink run wall, with removable, washable, cushions. I'd also do two 4x4 tables so the tables could be moved around. Add in as many chairs as you like, but at least 6 chairs, IMO.

The tables could form two separate eating areas for parties, a dining area and homework table for everyday use and, if you had lots of kids around, could be pushed together. That way, you'd have seating and table space for a minimum of ten people, in case of guests, and the tables could be moved around easily.

A strong vote here for a nook that runs along the tall back wall (with a tall back) AND under the divider wall!!

With shelving above the seating on the tall back wall (or how about a giant family gallery wall OR how about a giant bulletin board for lots of artworks, photo display, calendars etc.) ....... VERY fun, very family and friends-friendly too! LOL!

Add storage inside the seating for larger entertaining items OR additional kids storage (each kid could have their own "bin")

I would keep the countertop above the banquette thin so that the banquette below would comfortable for seating .....

With a long thin rectanglar table (think of an upscale picnic table with the X-shaped ends under it) in front (plus a couple of regular chair to push under the table in front, too)

Add a large outdoor-type lantern above the table and banquette area to keep it focused on the fun at the table .....

Jan (who just adores eating nooks and wishes she could have one!!)

Sometime it helps to think outside of the box. It sounds as if your DH is quite handy with tools, so could he create a banquet table that is long, but only 2 feet wide? I can picture this with ladder back chairs being very cottage like. Or maybe an "L" shaped table with the short "L" off the short wall with chairs on the back side and the long part of the "L" parallel with the doors with chairs on both sides. I do like your idea of banquet seating because then one would be able to look out the doors while at the table. How about if you had vinyl covered cushions attached to the wall to prevent hitting the cabinet and matching cushions on the seat? It would be easy to clean and comes in many colors/patterns.

Teacats, the OP said there will be windows cut into that back wall, so depending on the size/location of those windows, seating on that wall may not work... definitely shelving (or artwork) above the seating won't be possible.

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time and all your suggestions !!

Okay, if we do put in the windows on that wall area they'd be roughly 80" wide x 72" long total, so a good deal of that wall. I've been going back and forth on the windows .. on one hand they let in more natural light, on the other the 'view' is nothing to behold. Just our side yard, fence and neighbor's house. So they aren't set in stone yet, although we've discussed them. We put in all the doors that open to the deck and back yard so the eating area and kitchen could 'extend' to an indoor/outdoor area when we wanted it too. We live in NC, the weather a good deal of the time is nice and when we entertain it tends to be more of an outdoor type of thing, rather than sit down dinner parties.

Jan .. for the table are you thinking along these lines, like an X leg trestle table?

If we decided not to put the windows in and do a very long L shaped booth what do you see going there?

Something like these, although even with indoor/outdoor type fabric I'm not sure how they'd wear with the volume of kids we have over here lot of the time. We often have about the whole neighborhood hanging out, 10 - 15 kids. Not always at the table, but I'd like to be able to accommodate a bunch at a time if they're hanging out having a snack.

I've also entertained the idea of having a restaurant styled booth made, windex and a microfiber cloth would take care of spills that way. ;)

Not in red, maybe black, very plain styled so it would just blend instead of shouting look at me. *LOL* More along the looks of the last booth pictured.

But L shaped along these lines.

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If I did something like this, what about making an X Leg trestle table bottom, but buying a stainless rounded edge prep table and merrying the top of that with the X leg bottom. Kind of an updated, different look, I'm all for eclectic .. just a thought. I'm not worried about scratches, they'll all blend after a while. ;)

The kitchen is just a very classic kitchen .. here's our vintage Tappan stove and our Independent hood, we're using a white farm sink, shaker cabinets, soapstone counters, what there is of walls are beadboard, the whole wall behind the range will be subway tiles, with the open shelves beside the hood. The floor is the original heart pine which we removed to fix the floor, but we'll be reinstalling.

I would do a narrow trestle type table that is also fairly long. Maybe 32-36" wide and then ladder back chairs.

It gets hard getting in and out of benches and not almost the most comfortable either. A booth is nice but you have to have people slide in and out for anybody that wants to move.

You do have to have people pull in their chairs some when somebody needs to get by with a narrow table and chairs, but it is much easier to accomplish for most than everybody having to slide out of the boot for one person to get up.

If you got a 32" table then I think you'd still be able to get around when people are sitting down. A little tight but very doable. A long and narrow table also allow you to put extra guests in if you ever wanted to.

Here is an example of a narrow trestle table.
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Love the stove. I think a booth would be fun, and you could put storage underneath.

Such a great house!

Instead of putting full windows down on that end wall, particularly since the view isn't all that great, how about putting a run of three side-by-side windows up high, that echo the top three sections of the cubbie area at the opposite end of the room? You would still bring in light, but have the wall space for seating and for adding decorative touches.

I am not a fan of booth seating. Not for everyday, all the time use. It is fine for younger kids, but as they get older, and bigger, and all their friends do the same, it won't be so appreciated imo.

I would think about building an island of sorts, that would attach at the sink wall. Then have seating around on three sides. That island will then be perfect for serving buffet style when you open the doors to entertain. Top it in the same soapstone, have some storage cabinets for the base. You could even do it as a counter height island, rather than table height.

The other way to go would be to do a long table with drop-leaf sides. Keep one side dropped for every day and put that side up against the sink wall. Then you can open it up as needed. Store a bench there, or on the end wall under the windows.

I'd do a long narrow table with ladder-back chairs or benches - I think a built-in booth would be very limiting in what's otherwise a great space.

Wow, tons of great ideas and different ways to go with this. I really appreciate you all brain storming this with me and your ideas. Please keep them coming!

I think a long narrow table could work, but I think it would kind of make the space feel kind of tight. I'm a just touch claustrophobic, so if the space is tight, I'm apt not to use it. I know you're thinking well a booth can be a little 'squished' too, honestly I'd sit on chair side and leave the booth to the kids if we went that way. *LOL*

Les, I really like the idea of a drop leaf table for the space, dropping one side and pushing against the short sink wall unless we needed the extra seating. I wonder how hard it would be to find a 8', possibly 9' long drop leaf type of harvest table like that. The island sounds great, especially from a serving point of view, but this will be our primary eating area so I'd like to have the option of a table I think. I like the small upper windows idea too, I'm going to bring that up with my DH.

See what we did was flip flop part of the downstairs area to make the space work better for us. The kitchen and formal dining room were on the other side of the house. The thing is the dining room in this old house was built too tight to really comfortably accommodate more than a few people .. can you tell I don't like to feel crowded. *LOL* So it really wasn't a good use of space, the kitchen had too many door and window issues to have a good flow.

Now on this side, this back eating area was chopped into two cramped rooms. One being a dark bathroom, the other just kind of a no mans land of wasted space back entry area .. this opened to the deck which made no sense. Where the kitchen we are building is, was dark bedroom, since that side of the house is North facing. So it made sense to open this area all to one space, put in the doors leading to the deck to let in natural light and make this a brighter, more useable space. The eating area is not ideal, but neither was the other arraignment and it was in the interior of the house, so cramped *and* dark. At least over here you can open the doors, people can be on the deck, people can be inside and you have an illusion of space.

Now next on the hit list is taking the old kitchen and dining area and reworking that space into a master suite. At that point we actually have three rooms to open up. An old library that we'll be using for our sitting, office area, there is a double sided fireplace in the middle of that room and the dining room, so by opening on both sides of that it will open the spaces to each other, yet leave them intact as a different space. The dining area and part of the kitchen becomes a nice sized master bedroom, what's left of the kitchen our bathroom.

Whoops .. I forgot to ask something. Okay, say if I go with a table, like the drop leaf and push it up against the low sink run wall. What would you do for lighting fixtures? Would you center them in the middle of the room or over the pushed in table? Would you do ceiling mount or a drop fixture?

I think Les' idea about the three (to match the locker on the other side) slightly higher windows might allow a booth to be built on the wall and around the corner under the counter.

JUST a thought -- would TWO benches work instead of one long one? A shorter one (in length) on the back wall under the new windows AND a slightly longer one under the counter area. Then there would be easy access -- although the "corner" seating would not be there ....... as I said ..... just a thought .......

Yes -- a think thinner trestle or picnic-style table would work and still allow for some chairs on the outside edge. Just be sure to find chairs that do fit neatly under the table!

Jan, I'm not sure if two benches would work better, I'll try them out in a bit. I'm going to pull out the painters tape and do some mock-ups on the floor of the ideas that have been suggested here. Since the girls and friends are hanging out, they can help me and then 'pretend' moving around the area. *LOL* I do this a lot, I probably taped off the kitchen 15 - 16 different ways before I found a workable plan. I think what ever way we go a thinner table is a must and if we do the booth a trestle or picnic legged table, or pedastal would be too.

Also I forgot to tell you guys the 'why' about the all the beadbord, well other than I just like the look. At one point most of our walls were covered in beadboard, we found lots of bit and patches where stuff was removed sadly to put up sheetrock. :( Beadboard and plank was very common here in older Southern homes as total wall and ceiling coverings. Plaster was expensive because of the labor involved and wood cheap, especially the long leaf pine which was basically clear cut to build here. Our house is made totally out of it, just like a lot of older Southern structures. So, in keeping with the age of the house and the cottage look I like, beadboard will be used extensively in the house.

I'm still working on this .. I found this trestle table and bench set on craigslist for a very reasonable price. It's a bit wider than what we discussed here at 39". The benches could be used one in the hall and one in our bedroom, then pulled in if needed for seating. The table could go against the low wall, with chairs on the one side and ends.

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Two questions.

1) What do you think of the table with the kitchen and eating area I'm putting together?

2) How would I go about lighting? The table would be sometimes off centered in the room, pushed against the wall, other times more centered as it was pulled out.