Hi Craftylady!

I dont know if this will help you, but I have spent an inordinate amount of time on banquettes and will have a custom one installed next week with tall hutches on either side. This link helped me to think about my space and may help you too. Scroll down to the article on banquettes.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: banquette seating

Thanks for the link! I've been wanting to put a banquette in my kitchen remodel, but I don't want the hard seat. This is great :)

My hope is to have a banquette on one side, with a long table that has additional leaves. That way, the table can seat 6-10, depending on how many leaves you add, but still only need four to six chairs!

Craftlady- For windows, think the back cushion will be about 18"-20" above the floor, and depending on whether you want throw pillows or not, that should help you determine the height for your windows. I think I would rather have an upholstered back, for added comfort, but I'm not sure how high it should be...maybe windows 33"-36" from the floor?

Thanks, that article was helpful!

I also came across a thread on GW that even had a wonderful sketch (linked below) that I found extremely helpful in figuring out the dimensions. We're replacing windows and I didn't know if we should use 48" high or 60" - looks like the 48" will work better for us. I haven't thought about upolstered back vs cushions yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Thread on Banquette bench

On ours, the sill/top of bench is 37" from floor. The back of the bench (it is somewhat sloped) is 24" from the end of the table. Since it is the short end, it doesn't get used much for eating--mostly just laptop/homework action. Here's a pic:

There are two things you might want to take into consideration. One is how the window will look from the outside of the house in relation to the other windows. The other is if you or a future owner would ever want to put counter and cabinets under the window you are thinking about.

We had to replace and reposition four window openings in our remodel because they were too low to put counters under. We placed them all at about 41" from the floor. Three are over countertops but one is over where our table sits against the wall (not a banquette but we almost put one in). There is plenty of window and you can still look out when sitting. If the window was lower, I would worry about my kids banging there head on the glass.