Can a banquette work in this type of space?
A bit of info, this is our retirement place. Mostly will be DH and I for meals. 2 adult kids or brother occasionally, so 5 people for some Sunday dinners. There will be another dining area on the covered back porch for more formal gatherings. The area shown is about 8' by 12'4". I would really like a shallow buffet or built in on the one wall to use for storing holiday stuff and maybe service. It seemed like making the banquette the entire space would be huge so I'm making it stop as you can see from the pic. I will say that I like the idea of a banquette as we do tend to sit around at the table after dinner and talk.
Comments (24)
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Or based on the length of the room maybe a single bench centered with 30" cabinets on either side would make more sense?
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Does a banquette work in my space? Other layout feedback?
Comments (6)That's a lot of knees all squished in with the table supports! Also, I used to have an octagonal table like that, and you really couldn't seat people comfortably for meals on the corners. If you think of the banquette as kid seating, you can squeeze more of them in, but they're going to grow. Given the size of the bow, however, you're probably occupying the least amount of floor space that way. One thing you can do to maximize it is to have the banquette curved, rather than following the angles of the bow. You can squeeze more kids in that way. :) You could do a combo too, with the cushion support and cushion curved but the base angled. That might get you four on the banquette, or even five if they're little and don't have HE TOUCHED ME problems. Also, you could extend the end of the banquette all the way to the door on the left, even though it wouldn't be symmetrical. So...how formal is your dining room? Is it a proper room, or one of those little ones that hold six people that they throw in to be able to advertise that it's a dining room? Because, especially when your folks are over, it might be a lot easier just serving in there. Perhaps a better alternative (though I'm not in a position to figure out the exact measures and angles) would be to put in an oval table with leaves and be willing to block the doorways when you put one in for extra seats. You could push it more toward the window if you had chairs there, and pull it out for seating. That seems like a very make-do kind of solution, though. As to the rest of the kitchen, you have a basic L with island, which almost always works. Things are arranged efficiently enough to work fine. For optimum use, I'd shift the sink over toward the fridge, with some room on the end for landing. That would make fridge to sink easier, and get you away from tush to tush between the sink and stove. That's not crucial, and you might prefer the visual symmetry of having them lined up. There's only one thing bugging me about your plan (barring the problem of trying to make eight people comfortable in your window bow): Those supports, or whatever you call them, on either side of a gas stove. That's very confining. I know it's a popular look, but you have to cook in a cave that way, and you can't just set something down by a pot. If you're straining soup, you have to pull a heavy pot around those and over to your bowl. If you have a ladle, you have to put it down on the other side of the uprights. There's no room, except over the heat, to reach the pots in the back to stir, season, etc. But most important, if you have a boil over, a fire, or some similar mishap, you can't just grab the pot and push it off the stove. You have to reach--potentially across another burner--and LIFT the pot out while something bad is happening. Similarly, you don't have side access with a lid, fire extinguisher or box of baking soda. Be really sure that's something you want to live with and cook with, and you've felt what's it's like moving big heavy pots (which I assume you have with regularly feeding eight at a time), and stirring them....See MoreWill a banquette work in this space?
Comments (5)What I was thinking of when I said you'd need to change your island to balance the banquette. (cell phone picture from a magazine I took a while ago) I would put drawers along part of the wall side near the sink, and maybe 1 seats opposite and one seat along the end. This shape island creates a great 2 person work space with a shared sink, where each of the 2 people can see and talk with each other. Also a good breakfast serving area since the fridge is so close. In effect, you each have your own "galley" kitchen. The person prepping along that side of the "L" island would be looking out the windows while the other person is cooking :-)....See MoreFixed outside banquette seat with granite table advice?
Comments (9)I don't know the details of the fixings for the granite. We had a granite table previously (see picture) for 16 years but it was so well fixed and stable, they were unable to remove the granite to move it for the current garden renovation, so sadly it had to be destroyed! So we're having to get a new piece of granite! I love the fact it needs absolutely no maintenance whatsoever, other than a scrub and wipe before use! As far as the banquette, we don't really have a choice. We've removed a higher level garden to create a new patio area and intend to have a firepit table that needs a minimum 3 metre footprint. If we have the fixed table away from the house wall and far enough away to be able to pull out chairs all the way around, it will be in the way of the chairs of the firepit table and make the whole area look/feel cluttered. I'm hoping that with a 12" gap between the seating and the table top that slim adults won't find it impossible, even if it isn't ideal. We'll have the five folding chairs for regular use, so it will only be when we have "extras" that the banquette will come into play. Does that reassure..?...See MoreNeed dining table ideas for a banquette space!
Comments (3)what about this? Link: https://www.wayfair.com/keyword.php?keyword=36+x+72+dining+table Link: https://www.teakcloseouts.com/Adelaide-Rectangle-Extension-Teak-Table-p/bg-table-adel-rect-120-180-70.htm Link: http://www.harmonycedar.com/70-x-36-Quarter-Sawn-Oak-Farmhouse-Room-Table-p/tablefarmhouseqso7036.htmLink:...See More
8 years ago
8 years ago- 8 years ago
Swedepie(great screen name!), thanks for the input. I think you're right so I did a bit of searching and found a pic where they made the bench part a bit longer than the table and made the cabinets less deep than the bench.
i also like the idea of framing the room somewhat. I'm thinking in mine I may add some timbers at the sides to define the space.
- 8 years ago
Practigal, I think based on your answer it will make sense to leave the leaf out of the table most of the time. The good part is a bench gives me a place to store the leaf.
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
This is what I mean by framing the dining nook. Wood beams kind of like this.
I love how GW people make me think differently about each space. I'm now thinking It makes sense to incorporate some not so big house elements. I think I can have a cozier dining area now and may lower the ceiling height just a bit. I can put lights on dimmers. I'm also psyched that this layout give me a space to put a shelf or two between the cabinets to display pottery pieces.
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
How much height is there under the window? In other words, can you have a decent backrest?
Other options are freestanding banquette or settee.
- 8 years ago
Dh and I have a favorite place near here that is modeled after an Irish pub. The owner bought parts of old pubs and shipped them here. The main attraction are the booths which they call snugs. I'm thinking that I'd like to try for the same cozy effect. We frequently meet friends there for dinner and we always ask for a snug for seating. They comfortably seat up to 8 in most of them.
My plan was to do the side cabinets either 15" or 18" deep and then angle the corners of the bench. Then have display area above the bench.
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
From Wikipedia - "The snug, a small private room within a public house, once common in pubs across Great Britain and Ireland. The same word is sometimes also used for small rooms in private homes."
Here is a pic from the pub near me. Each snug has a sign above it. We love the one called Gallicia as that is actually where my best friend grew up in Spain. It is a town settled by the Celtic invaders centuries ago, Gaelic became Gallicia. The restaurant also has standard dining tables as well as the 8 or so snugs.
- 8 years ago
Ok I may have worked it out. See in this pic how they have the built in display above the banquette so it flows up. I will do something like this, have the top of the bench seat flush like this.
I laid it out in my room app. I had to modify a book shelf, so mine won't be this busy but this is the idea. On the wall to the right that shows a piece of art I may hang a cool mirror I have which will reflect the window, or I may be completely tacky and put a flat screen on that wall :D.
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
So odd, I just found this pic from another house by one of the builders we are considering.
Dining nook in a lowered ceiling area off the vaulted ceiling great room. Even the window is in the right place. I will not have a buffalo head over the fireplace ;).
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
8 years ago- 8 years ago
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