Will the cabinet hardware be the same metal and the same type of lines? It would be nice if it tied in with one of the elements of the kitchen. Is the leather or a man-made product - either way it would be easy to keep clean.

I figured that needed to be part of my equation! The pulls we've chosen will be these, stainless and arched. The cabinets have very straight shaker-like lines. And I could choose chrome pendants (pendants aren't chosen yet) ... Our appliances are stainless (range only) and black (fridge and dishwasher, for now).

I wish I could remember how to link more than one picture in a thread. Would it help to see a picture of the cabinets? Granite? Flooring? Or is that less important than the light fixtures and pulls?

Will this be your only eating space? I think it's fine for lunch or whatnot; but wonder how comfortable longer term the benches will be since there are no backs.

This will be for one of two eating spaces. I imagine this will just be for when we want to have breakfast or a quick lunch in the kitchen. We have a dining room very closeby that we usually eat dinner in.

Here's a picture of the Adel MB cabinets (someone else's). We won't have a window seat like this but if you look at the cabinet on the right, that looks like our granite.

And ... this is the table I'm considering. It's the perfect size for our corner eating space. We'd still have room to put seating on all 4 sides. There will be major traffic areas on 2 adjacent sides, walls on the other 2 sides. DH says he doesn't hate it, so that's a start. :-)

A bench isn't a substitute for a banquette. Benches are uncomfortable and more for looks. A banquette has a padded back to it, or at least a lot of pillows to arrange for comfort. You don't have to actually attach a "built in" to the wall, but you should certainly look for something that either has a back to it or has a much deeper seat that can accommodate pillows. The cheapest and easiest option is to make it from the Ikea 24" deep refrigerator cabinets and then put drawers into it for storage. Then it will be deep enough for pillows at least as well as match your cabinets.

Thanks, hollysprings. We had originally thought about doing that but then started to back away because of the expense. But you know, it really might be less expensive to go that route if the cabinets can handle the weight of people sitting on them. I'm not sure that's what they're engineered for but I'll ask on the Ikeafans forum ...

I grew up with a table and bench. You can certainly can sit at a table with a bench instead of chairs, but having it right up[ against a wall might be more of an issue that it not having a back. They might have a tendency to scoot away from the wall too. I would probably put the benches on either side of a table rather than at an L against the wall.

Another idea might be to put padded backs covered to match or coordinate with the seat mounted on the wall behind them. Similar to a wall mounted headboard. That won't solve the floor scoot, but could help with not having to scoot in against a hard wall. Make sure there is enough seat depth to handle a back or that you figure out a way to secure the ebnches so that don't scoot under the backs.

Well, I thought I would share that Ikea cabinets that are to be used for a banquette should have extra bracing inside, since they are not made to hold a person's weight as a seat. We'll have to decide if we're up for that, but it's a great idea, no doubt.

Various family members don't like the grey bench OR the table I posted, so we are back to the drawing board. Anyone know where I can find a 36" square wooden table with a pedestal base? Lord knows I've been looking!

There are plenty of places that will make one for you. Best bet would be to start looking locally for ease in working and getting the table to you.