blfenton, I am sorry I missed your question about the lumbar pillows. They are IKEA pillows, and they are slip covered in that pattern, so it worked out well for us. I attached a link to the pillows--they come in several fabric covers and are $19.99 each. On our banquette, we have five right now. I also wouldn't want to have a narrow table, as I don't care to knock knees with anyone. Our table is 43"X 54" oval and has two leaves to lengthen it. The butcher block (and cushion) overhangs the cabinets a little bit, so that our legs aren't hitting the drawers or hardware below. I have sat on benches where the hardware was kind of in the way, and I kept hitting it with my calves, so I kept that in mind when designing this particular bench. I think having it done with springs and upholstered like real furniture as circuspeanut suggests would be optimal for seating. I would have loved that! I am certainly not skilled in that area and haven't the money to have it professionally done, so we went the budget route. One of the most beautiful dining rooms I have seen had a loveseat set in a bay window, with the table pulled up with chairs in contrasting fabrics. It looked elegant, yet totally comfortable--a place you would love to sit with the girlfriends over coffee and treats gabbing for hours. *sigh* Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA lumbar pillows

I just now saw the questions posed to me, and I am sorry for not having checked in sooner! ML, the 3-drawer stack I bought was just the 18" base cabinet with 3 drawers, and I ordered it with Arlig (now Harlig) drawer fronts. When you order it like that, everything you need for that arrangement is included in the price. I am sorry I do not remember off-hand how much it cost, but I know it was under $100 at the time. I see the price has gone up to approximately $150 now, but that was 4.5 years ago. That 3-drawer cabinet is in my linen closet now, and I have extra toiletries--toothpaste, shampoo, soap, mouthwash, etc. in one drawer, some cosmetic items and personal stuff in the shallow (top) drawer, and misc bath items in the bottom drawer. This was the cabinet that convinced DH that IKEA kitchen cabinets were a whole 'nother animal than their other cabinets. Newbie, it actually IS my only dining area. It was the "formal" dining room, but we never used it as such, except for holidays and entertaining. Every other day, it became a catch-all. This drove DH crazy, as he cannot stand any kind of clutter. We had a small table in our kitchen area, and that is where we ate. We have two children, and when we first started this, they were a bit younger and SMALLER. ;^) We tore down the wall between the two spaces because it felt so cramped. It is such huge difference having that wall down! I came up with the idea of the banquette when I was trying to create more storage. I looked online for some pictures and drew out the plan on graph paper first. DH was hesitant at first, thought it might be too "frilly-nilly" as he called it. He loves it now. Our table has two leaves, and we have used it that way. There is plenty of room for entertaining and holidays. It would be nice if that were our "breakfast room", and we had a more grand dining space, but our house just is not that large. I am fine with the cozy cottagey vibe we have going. In fact, I am quite fond of it. :^) I imagine I will be even happier when we get around to finishing the basement, which is next on the list. DH wants a year off of house stuff, though, when this kitchen is finally done. I can hardly blame him. He has been amazing! Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA--Harlig three-drawer stack

This is the best picture I have of the back of my house showing all the windows, sorry. The kitchen is the right side of the house in this picture. The bank of windows you see will be made of 2 wider windows instead of 4 skinnier ones. We will be residing the house next year after the kitchen project. (there's no insulation so the whole skin is coming off so we can insulate from the outside, plus the siding isn't in the best shape) The hill under the windows will become a deck area and the grass in the forefront of the picture will be a pool. The view from the kitchen windows will be the garage roof for now, but after the deck is in I hope to add some taller evergreens into the landscaping if possible for shade and a screen for the garage from the house. As far as adding a counter to that wall, I suppose it's possible, but we intend on staying on this house for quite a while.

Thank you all so much for the diagrams, link and ideas. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for! Gooster - I am concerned with the space looking tight visually as you point out. I don't want the seating area to look squished into a corner. That chair with it's back to the french doors would have about 34" of space from my calculations. I have it set up that way now, to see how it feels. I am very interested in learning more about your movable storage banquette with padded back. Do you have any photos you could share with me? Lavender_lass - I can't do without the peninsula in this floorplan. But, what do you mean by not being able to access the banquette? Which part? Thank you very much for your help. Scrappy25 - I really like your idea of doing a furniture piece rather than a build-in, I hadn't thought of that. Cost-wise that is very appealing. I would need it to have back support, so I'm going to look at what options might exist for that. Overall, my concerns are making it look appealing and well designed, rather than squished and that the seating would be comfortable for someone with back issues.