Hmmm. When I saw earlier today that you had gone back to one of your earlier plans (which I like, by the way), I thought "OK, you lost the dining room and picked up a breakfast room with banquette. And, I thought "Hmmm, what about those family dinners?" But, here's the thing, how friendly are you with your family and friends? Will everybody be comfortable sliding in and out and having to move when someone needs "out"? Do you have enough space for the number of people you expect (on average)? I don't mean at once a year occassions (we can always squeeze extra people into our home at the holidays). If you love the idea of a banquette and you and your DH think it is practical for most occassions, I'd say do it. Oh - I just had another random thought - are they ever "removable"?

Isn't it great to have finally met with your contractor? I'm so thrilled for you! Seems like you have a plan that's (well mostly) final... and, believe me, it will be just as much fun to plan all the details that will follow!
Cheers,
-Kim

I think some banquets are semi built in. I saw some at yard sales that had been removed.I do not have one. I have the couch and table set up when needed.

I discovered our little drop leaf table will pull up to the love seat in the dinning room space when needed as a table and then pull up the captain chairs on the other side. Four can easily sit in this space. THEN I have what used to be the kitchen couch in the living room and I can set up the long table in front of it and easily seat another four and six tightly. Making a sit down meal for 10. It would be two tables set apart and yet close enough together every one would be included in conversation. I could even consider moving couches closer together and almost get them to line up.would rather not do that.

I think in times of big family gatherings people are willing to do what they have to to make it work. It is the company together not how they all sit and usually every one sits down for a meal that takes hours and hours to cook but only stay seated half an hour or so. Then start moving away to other parts of the house.

Sit those that do not want to be trapped in on the out side seats. Living small house is all about options and making do creatively. I have always wanted a banquet. But the couches are so comfortable. I do have to add the extra cushion to the longer couch to make it high enough to fit the table.

LL snowing again today. No front porch sun.:^(

Kim- Thanks! I'm not worried about the 'close' family dinners, since I have four chairs and the table would extend to seat eight. We could also seat a few at the island and even by the wood stove :)

Shades- Good point! Small living is all about creativity and compromise. I really like that there's a lot more natural light, with the sitting area and eating area, in the south corners of the house. I love the greenhouse, too!

Shades- Meant to add, raining and snowing today. No sun, but supposed to be back, tomorrow.

I don't think there will be a problem with it being the only dining table, except, if your dinners are like mine, someone is always jumping up to get something. More tea, special sweetener for one, special salt for another, then dessert. If everyone is in a banquet, only a few can help serve.

But then, at my house, it's mostly me, and maybe one other anyway.

It's a lot like the corner booth at the cafe, and that seems to work well for large groups. Maybe a bit harder for older people, but you can always have a chair or two, or room for a wheelchair if needed, right?

"Will everybody be comfortable sliding in and out and having to move when someone needs "out"? "

This would be one of my biggest problems with it. when my kids were growing up we had a bench (with back and sides) plus 2 or 3 chairs (often a hi-chair in one of those spots).

2 or 3 of the kids always had to sit on the bench and it was a hassle every time one of the kids needed up - especially the one in the middle. It never fails that ya can't get thru a meal w/o one of them needing to go to the bathroom. Or just that they'd be done and slowpoke sibling was still working on their plate... (sometimes the older kids would have something to do/somewhere to go while the littler ones had to stay and finish).

a few times I was back on that bench and hated it! could only fit 2 adults tho. with sides on it you couldn't get out w/o pulling out the table a bit. A pain for everyone.

Mostly adults sat at that table to talk, play cards etc.

I think it depends on how yours is set up - and i don't remember right off about that.

Lavender,
Will you post up your "new" old layout? I've lost track (on the various forums you visit) which one you are currently looking at.

I think with a banquet, you don't want any bench to be longer than 2 adults and it shouldn't have any "ends" (just 1 corner though, if you are using it in a corner.

But, most of the time, it is just a couple of you there, right? How often do you entertain/feed more than just a few? (My Mom, on a farm in E Wash regularly feeds 5 still at lunches--working farm, business lunches). What is your dining situation usually?

LL if you go with the last plas as posted with table pulled up to long bench couch whatever it is. You can always pull the table out for large groups and set chairs all the way around. you could even add more eating space at the bench with TV trays and then the bar and sitting area with another small round table.

You would still have the cozy feel of a couch in your dinning area or close to banquet. It would also be more flexible. You would not have some one trapped. Flexible is always good.

You could even make the couch /bench like a banquet bench with drawers under for storage. Morgue drawers going half way under from each side. Hehehe just had to throw that one in remembering our conversations on morgue drawers.

Okay, here's my smaller, cottage plan. The bigger plan (while it offered a LOT of fun things) looked like it would be too difficult to add on the bedroom addition. So, bedroom upstairs (which I don't want) or replace dining room with keeping room (which I've always liked) so it wasn't a difficult choice.

While I'm sure we could figure out some way to do the other plan, my contractor said it would be much more difficult, probably would have to redo the roof lines already there and LOTS more money. So, the 'sentimental' reasons for keeping the dining room are out and the open keeping room is back! It also means the greenhouse is back, which I love, because my little sunroom got too small for very many plants...so here's the plan...also by Summerfield :) {{gwi:1397302}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

And, here's a rough idea of the corner banquette, which I liked in the other plan and thought maybe I would use here. The dining area is a bit shorter than the plan, since the window wall of the seating area is about 6' and then the dining area. So a rough sketch, would be something like this... {{!gwi}}From Courtyard Garden album

I'm not completely sold on the corner banquette, but it seems to fit the space well and it's more banquette area. The problem (besides fitting everyone in) is that where do you put the windows? Only behind the banquette or all around, like a porch (which this space actually is, right now).

Oh, on a regular basis, it's me and my husband and our kitties, with mom stopping over for dinner or tea. We have lots of nieces and nephews that visit, but mainly in the summer. When we do have friends over, it's not always for dinner, but it would be nice to have dinner for 6-8 people. The table would extend and the fourth chair (in the second photo, I made the hutch a desk/hutch combo) would slide over, to the table. Number of adults normally on banquette would be 3, unless we're having a holiday meal...then maybe we could squeeze 3 on the long side, one on the end and use all four chairs.

Shades- LOL!

We love our banquette. Ours is, however not a corner banquette, but extends along an entire wall on one side of the table. It is the favorite place for my grandchildren to eat. As for serving, it is usually just me or maybe one more person that is seated on any of the other 3 sides. Crawling in & out of the banquette side hasn't been a problem for us, but we're a very close family that doesn't mind. An added plus is I can get up to 4 grandchildren on the side of the table. There's no way I could put that many chairs there.

Krayers- I love your banquette, too! It's one reason I want to have one, for our dining area :)

Here's another possibility...but I put the bay window seat back in the bedroom and the hot tub on the screened porch. I think it makes more sense to have the hot tub back here, since it will be close to the powder room and no carpet! LOL {{!gwi}}From Courtyard Garden album

Also, kept the corner banquette and I'm thinking about a desk/hutch combination, where we can use the fourth chair. I can always put extra dishes in the pantry area (love that space). What do you think? {{!gwi}}From Courtyard Garden album

Oh, and here's a cute wood stove I found, online. We don't need a big stove at all...just enough to heat up a kettle of water or a pan of soup, when the power is out. {{gwi:1400124}}From Courtyard Garden album

Well, the tub in the back would mean walking all the way through the house to get to your room... Are you likely to keep and change into your tub clothing in the mudroom/powder area?

Actually, that's not a problem, since it's normally just me and my husband :)

LL at our last house the hot tub was far from the master bedroom and we both wished it had been closer. Was a long way through the house soaking wet.And slippery across the kitchen floor. BUT if the screened porch off the master interferes with the roof line then that is the biggest consideration. I would love a screened porch off our master. Would be so nice on hot summer nights with a sleeping couch out there.

Kirkhall and Shades- Actually, I moved the hot tub, because people have said it would be better to have it closer to the bathroom and not by carpet! LOL

Okay, what if we put the hot tub back and add some doors from the screened porches, down to a patio, behind the bedroom? This would be more outdoor space...and more gardens! :) {{!gwi}}From Courtyard Garden album

LL there is not really all that much drippy stuff to worry about your carpet. Put a nice absorbent rug down and invest in nice fluffy terry cloth robes.

A patio would be nice but not needed other then a garden feature at some point. Your kitties will enjoy the screened porch off the master.

I would make the hot tub accessible from either the back door off the screened porch or from the back door off the mudroom. I agree with whoever advised you not to make the path to the bathroom over a carpeted area. We have a hot tub and people go in and out the back door over a tiled area to the bathroom and it does get wet. I wouldn't want people walking through the bedroom to get to the hot tub - unless it was just you and DH using it.

Kim- It would be for me and my husband, and I did another cut and paste to show what I want to do with the back porch.
{{gwi:1400142}}From Courtyard Garden album

The BBQ, dining table and 'bar area' will be off to the left of the back porch (behind the greenhouse) and will be a covered patio. My husband's friend has one in their backyard and it's very cool. The back patio would be mainly for a shady seating area (north corner). We have a lot of people out in the summer, but not very many in the winter, so our outdoor spaces really add to the living space, when we need it.

The house actually sits on an angle (as does the road) and the banquette is on the south corner...and there's a lot more space on the left of the house and the back left. Here's a few pictures from last fall, from behind the house, looking straight back towards the barns and to the right, down the creek. This is an old barn, which we're tearing down (actually the old chicken house) and the horse barns are behind it and to the left. {{!gwi}}From Farmhouse pictures
{{!gwi}}From Farmhouse pictures

Oh, and I meant to add that I think we'll need another foot (depth wise) for the mudroom and the back porch...which will mean 2' depth to the sunroom/porch on the back. That should keep things from looking quite so tight, as they do in my cut and paste.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions! I'm going to show this new plan (with the change in measurements) to my contractor and see what he thinks. The porch should be done today or tomorrow, so this is my last chance to get 'free' consulting! :)

Here are a few ideas, for the back porch. Outdoor wicker would be nice, because it's one of the few areas the kitties wouldn't be into :)
{{!gwi}}From Courtyard Garden album
{{gwi:1586399}}From Courtyard Garden album

I think I have that second picture saved (but I'll save it again). That's kind of what I want to do on our enclosed patio.

Marti- Isn't that pretty? I like it with this kitchen photo, Young-gardener gave me :)
{{gwi:1586397}}From Courtyard Garden album