I like the first because it's more elegant/casual. Plus, you can move it.

I like both.

Do you want the banquette to look more like it is

1. part of the kitchen (then choice #2 is better), or

2. part of a formal dining room (choice #1 is better).

CEfreeman makes a good point about flexibility with the non-built in banquette.

If you have built in cabinetry on both sides, how far will that "stick out" and will it intrude on the space of people trying to get into and out of the banquette? Also, for me, the beauty of the second one is the design of the pillars, etc on the sides. Will this look ok with it basically being sandwiched by cabinetry? One huge pro of the cabinet maker making the banquette is it will BELONG in between the cabinets whereas a separate seat will look more like "Oh, she found a cute "couch" to put in between those cabinets." So a PLANNED feel for the seating vs an accidental one.
However, the moveable one has it's pros as well. What if you have a rather large group of people and there isn't space enough between the table and seat and you have to move one of them to make room.(Of course, if they are up against a wall, I guess you really have no choice but to move the TABLE, but if it isn't against a wall, just moving the seat would be WAY easier)If you entertain a lot and need overflow seating, you can always use the banquette as well, but you cannot if it is built in. This IS a hard one!

The first one! I think it looks very comfortable, which (unfortunately) many banquettes are not. I like the legs and think a freestanding piece gives you more flexibility, too.

As for the table, you have a beautiful dining table, but a pedestal table is much easier to use with a banquette. If you want to keep your table, make sure you put those little pads under the 'feet' so you can slide it easily, to let people in and out of the banquette :)

I like them both too. #1 is definitely more elegant in its simplicity, but cannot be customized. It could be moved to another wall or room, though, and it would be more comfortable to slip in and out of.

#2 would mean 4 less legs cluttering up the picture, getting in people's way, and making it hard to clean under. It could be custom styled however one wished, in the process making it more comfortable to slip in and out of, and it could be built in in such a way that it would be easily removable, with just a little paint and spackle needed.

I think ultimately, though, my choice would come down to comfort. A 16' dining room doesn't need a banquette because there's no room for chairs, so a banquette ideally would be more comfortable even than the available chairs to entice people to it. Like a good sofa. So a custom unit, with particularly good upholstery. Springs would require more depth to the seat area than the one shown, though.

I love both too, but number one is just stunning. I vote number 1.

A fully-upholstered piece (with springs) is always going to be more comfortable than foam on a rigid platform.

I would pick something with slipcovers that can be washed, and come off easily! In a very hard-wearing fabric that doesn't show anything.

So the second one.

Do you have kids? If so, I think the cushions that can be removed/reupolstered if need be would possibly be a better choice than 1. Of course, in my life, it's been the ADULTS that have dropped the wine, etc and stained furniture/rugs, etc.;-)

I would use #2 and use a sunbrella type of fabric but then I have 10 yr old twin sons.

Number one is beautiful as well.

Can't wait to see your finished product. Sound really pretty.

Both are beautiful, but I like the versatility of #1 for the same reasons others gave above!

Hi Fishie,

I love both, but my gut leads me to #2 just because it looks great.

I also had to choose between a stand-alone upholstered piece and a built-in (a bench in the LR). I chose the built-in. It looks great, but my only regret is that I'll never be able to move/change it.

So, I'd say only go with #2 if you're totally married to it.

BTW...Any progress on the Danby?? Loving mine!! FYI, As far as stains, it's turned out to be bulletproof, but it etches pretty easily and I have a couple small chips where mugs have dinged it on their trip into the DW.

Yes, pros and cons to both I guess! We do have 6 and 4 year olds and the dining area will be our only seating for eating other than island. I'm picturing (but can't be sure) that the island will be for breakfast/lunch, and the dining room (one room with the kitchen, really) will be for the four of us at dinnertime. Therefore I want the room to be somewhat comfortable without being formal.

Even with option #1 I want to get a treated fabric or sunbrella. You can imagine the kids crawling onto it with shoes, although we usually are shoeless around the house.

I also like that option 2 looks like it was built to be there in between the cabinetry like bahacca said whereas a sofa put there has a different look.
There versatility of #1 is great but I actually don't think it will be used anywhere else. Our house is small and that will be the only spot for it!

Comfort is important but really DH and I will be in the arm chairs and anyone sitting there to eat wouldn't really be doing it for too long or all that often- other than the kids.

The reason for the banquette was really so that our table was positioned closer to the wall helping with a larger traffic area between the kitchen. The room is 12x16.

On the wall "above" the banquette there will be a bay window seat.
Also, although a pedestal table works better with a banquette our table was just too expensive only a few years ago when we lived in our other much larger home and we have the 8 chairs and 2 leaves for it so we want to use it at least for now. We'd rather put any extra $ towards marble, etc and we can always change it out later. We WILL reupholster the chairs though with a different fabric.

Here's the table/chairs- looks more orangey in these photos:

and here's the floor plan:

madeline-- Thanks! No, I'm going to look at Danby next week : ) Glad you are enjoying yours!

I like them both, but with kids, I have to vote for #2. We had a small banquette in our old kitchen and we are waiting to finalize design and price and order our new bench, and my kids really miss the bench. I had a vinyl fabric before which was so easy to clean. For my new bench upholstery, I am thinking of still doing the lower cushion a solid dark color faux leather or nice vinyl with a decorative fabric on the seat back. You see it designed like this alot at restraunts.

I think #1 is more formal and #2 is more cozy. The fabric you choose will determne how formal #2 looks. You can't go wrong with either one.

I think your idea of Sunbrella is a great one. I use it for interior applications frequently, including dog beds.

Hope the Danby shopping goes well :) Can't wait to finally see your slabs!

We are also putting in a banquette. We are looking for a trestle or pedestal table since we do not have one. I will say that a table with legs makes it difficult to get close enough to the table from the bench and t get out from your seat because the legs are against the bench. They block your path out! With a trestle or pedestal, the table can overlap the bench portion. Option No 1 looks like it might fit between your table legs allowing room to hop out?? Is that the case?

well i'm biased since i have selected the very same vanguard settee for my breakfast room, x2. going with large bright nickel nail head trim. i think it's stunning.

DJHinVA--- THANK YOU! ALL ALONG I did realize that having 4 legs would mean to get in I'd have to pull the table out (for an adult-- the kids would just climb over). That's fine.

What I DID NOT think of is that the legs make it difficult to get close enough to the table!! I just moved my dining room chair against the leg and sat down and you're right-- NOT CLOSE ENOUGH! Crap!

My table is about 5' with no leaves and each of the 2 leaves is 18". SO, the table is 8'1" at it's largest. That is why I figured if the bench were 8' it would always be large enough for when we have the table fully opened. (not often, but great for holidays).

If we make the bench smaller than the table than of course the table can slide over the bench a bit- to whatever is comfortable. However, then we'd always have to have the table at full length which is a bit much. We did do this in our old dining room but that room was about 18'x18' so it needed a huge table.

Let's see. (I'm thinking through this as I type!)
If we leave in one leaf at all times that would be fine and really at 5' it's pretty small anyway. So, one leaf makes the table about 6 1/2 feet. So the banquette could then be 6' which would fit 2 people comfortably, right?
Then MAYBE if we did open it larger we could add another small folding chair next to bench?

Maybe we should get a new table : (

If you do a banquette, you also want to make sure you get the slope of the back right. Straight up and down isn't comfortable, and although you said people wouldn't be sitting there long, you want it to be comfy enough that people could hang out if they wanted. I don't know what the right slope is, but I know it's not 90 degrees. Maybe others can give you more specifics.

I don't understand what you're saying, Fishies. You can use a bench that's bigger than a table with no problem. You sit on the exposed portion of the bench and then just slide over.

marcolo- Yes, that's right. What I'm saying is that because of the legs on a standard table you can't sit close enough to the table. Yes, no problem sitting, but imagine the way you sit in a chair and pull yourself closer to the table. You CAN'T pull yourself closer b/c the legs are hitting the bench.

With a console/pedestal table the support is in the center so you can pull the table closer to the bench.

Am I making any sense? : )

We use the attached bench from World Market as a "banquette" in a breakfast room where my kids eat dinner most nights. With kids, you definitely want to be able to pull the table in close unless you enjoy cleaning up a big mess in an inconvenient spot after every meal. We also had to switch out a perfectly fine table for one with trestle legs - the kids kept whacking their shins etc. We're still prerenovation but I knew I didn't want to do a built-in; I want to have the flexibility to change things up. We also have a small house, and probably wouldn't be able to use the bench/couch anywhere else very readily, but since it was inexpensive I don't mind. My 8yo loves to stretch out there after dinner and it is a comfortable place for doing homework or making lego masterpieces. One final point: pay attention to the height of whatever you have made. The back of the bench we have is a bit higher than the bottom of the window that it sits under, which isn't ideal.

Here is a link that might be useful: My low-end banquette bench

I don't know which bench you should go with but I read people's concerns regarding kids and possible spills on the fabric for the benches. In my house, I do not have kids to worry about but my DH is notorious for leaving his mark. I bought new upholstered chairs for my kitchen sitting area and I reupholstered my dining chairs. I wanted to protect both from food or beverage mishaps.

After some research, I came across a product that I bought to spray on the fabric. I can now say from experience that it works great. Last week an unidentified reddish stain ( most likely wine) was one of my new chairs. I dabbed the stain with just a damp cloth and it completely disappeared.

The product I bought is called 303 High Tech Fabric Guard. It is for both indoor and outdoor fabrics. Lots of reviewers on the web thought it much superior to other products like Scotch Guard, The company's website give lots of info and a link to let you know where you can buy it locally. In my area it was available at some Ace Hardware stores and at some boat supply and camping supply stores.

I just ought some of you GWers might like to know about this product

Here is a link that might be useful: Fabric Guard

smaloney- thanks!

badgergal- Sounds like a great product! Thank you! Is spraying the product an issue if there is wood around a chair? Or do you have removable cushions?

2littlefishies
We are putting in a built in bench so my vote is number 2 but whatever works for you in that beautiful new kitchen will be great. The advantage of number 1 is it is easier to replace downstream.
Keep on posting! So exciting!

Regardless of the table legs,the first thing that caught my eye on either piece are the arms. That curved arm is so pretty! However when sliding in behind a table I imagine having to rake over the arm edge to get to the seat. #2 has the seat cushion higher than the arm,which may be easier to enter and exit. Does that make sense?

kaijutokusatsu- yes, It does. ACtually for #1 the guy who makes them said he could copy it but just lower that "wing" a bit. : )

yes. table legs are always a problem. i had my breakfast table made custom. it's 56" square shaped pedestal, so no legs.

2LittleFishies: my upholstered sitting area chairs are tub styled with no wood but my dining chairs are wood with upholster seat cushions. I sprayed my chairs in the house. I put a plastic tarp down on my wood floors first under the chairs. I did nothing to protect the wood on my dining chairs. I can't say how much of the product may have gotten on the wood but if any did there was no damage. The 303 High Tech Fabric Guard is in a non- aerosol bottle spray bottle that can be set to spray or stream. The bottle contains the usually warnings about fumes and ventilation but to me it really was not smelly and there is absolutely no chemical smell left on the treated fabric.

The spray makes the fabric water repellant. Water literally does bead up on it which it does not do on my new living room couch with a factory applied stain guard. I did test putting cooking oil on some scrap fabric that I treated with the 303 and it cleaned up with no stain. I dont recall what the content of my fabrics is. It says on the bottle that it is for all fabric but suggests testing for colorfastness. It also says it is recommended by and for Sunbrella Brand Fabric so I guess that's a pretty could endorsement.

I guess it's considered expensive at about $14 for a 16 ounce bottle. But I think it is worth it. I sprayed it liberally and did 8 dining chair cushions and the top, sides, front, back and both sides of the cushions for two tub chairs. I used about 24 ounces of the product.

Hope this info is of some help to you. I have been following all your kitchen posts and can't wait to see how the finished product looks. Love the choices you have made so far.

I vote for #2. It is not as imposing. Seems like the back on the first one is too high.

Fishes, there is a real nice banquette on sale today on the Joss & Main site for $799 it was $1,710. It's leatherette for easy cleaning.

Fishies- I told you...ship the table to my house and you can visit it as often as you like :)

Seriously, if you haven't ordered your cabinets yet, maybe you should rethink the banquette...and you know how much I love banquettes! But, if you really want to keep your table...all chairs might be a better solution. If you want the banquette, than I'd get a pedestal table.

Since you don't have to walk around the table to go outside (for example, if you had french doors where the window seat is) then I don't know that your table and chairs would block that much access. Your door to the outside is on the left (off the kitchen) so maybe you should try drawing it both ways, before you make your final decision.

Sorry to add to the confusion...but we want you to be happy with your kitchen...not wishing you had changed just that one thing! :)

I think Lavender Lass makes a good point above (except about selling her your table!)

It looks like the table would be best centered in the room, surrounded by chairs.
Otherwise, won't the room look out of balance?

You could still make a little window seat on the bay window wall, if you want to create a little nook space in the room.
But the window seat does not need to work as a place to sit at the table.

Thanks everyone! I'm going to sell my table and chairs as although I COULD center it, it just isn't what I had planned and would prefer to "move on". LOL

Hopefully I will get lucky with a buyer!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I'm glad you will have a solution soon. While we don't have our banquette built yet, I do have some experience with this table leg thing. At my office, we have this gorgeous new space, very well designed. My boss was so excited to bring in these beautiful extension tables from CB2 to put in from of the long custom banquette bench he had built down the length of the break room wall. It's all beautiful, sleek and looks cool but you CANNOT GET CLOSE enough to the table and it makes me crazy. And I'm always stuck sitting with one of the legs between my legs(!) or in between them unable to get out. It's the oddest thing and I feel like I'm the only one noticing it!?!? Wah?? I'm sure it will all work out and I can't wait to compare banquettes!

Deborah

OK, now I'm wondering what style table would go well with my "fancy cottage" dining area? : )