Chisue, I hate to admit it but yes, we have little to no upper cabinets. We have a kitchen that is open to the great room with the separation being columns and a buffet area in between with a prep sink, bev fridge, and lower cabs/drawers. On the range wall we have two large windows on either side. Originally our architect said we could do upper cabinets in the column space (she'd done it before in another house. After talking with the cabinet guy it became clear that it would be a large expense for very limited storage space to build cabinets into the columns. Then the wall area where the fridge/freezer are going was going to have space on the side for a upper/lower cabinets. I figured the uppers here would be great for daily glassware, etc. Unfortunately, the fridge/freezer takes up most of that wall space leaving little to no room for upper cabs here. Our architect did a good job with the house but a lot of her measurements for kitchen items were off and I'd even given her specs for all the appliances as we'd already purchased them. So I thought we'd have some upper cabinets but now it's looking like we'll have two above the fridge/freezer (not convenient for daily use items). One bit of good news, We're thinking we might be able to reduce the columns down to three sides to make room for usable cabinets in the area that separates the kit from great room. Still looking at the idea, I'm not sure it can work yet.

I suspect you're not getting any responses b/c no one can think of any possible way that you can fit a breakfast table into the space you have. You said you have 9 feet from wall to island...but from the dimensions shown on your diagram, it is clear that 9 ft doesn't count the space taken up by the bar stools around your island. Then, because you have to access the office/playroom, you need space to walk between the bar stools and whatever chairs/benches you would have around the breakfast table because you have to access that office playroom. The barstools and walkway will take up a minimum of 4 feet of your 9 foot of space. That only leaves 5 feet for the breakfast table and chairs. Two people can barely sit knee to knee in 5 feet of space...much less have room to stick a table between the two that is wide enough for breakfast things. If you haven't started building yet, I would rethink this whole plan. If you have started building and are therefore stuck with this space, I see two options. 1) Forget about sitting at the island, make it half as wide and move the sink/dishwasher around so that you face the windows when washing dishes and forget about having any barstools. Then, you'll have about 11 ft of space and no barstools taking up part of it. That is room enough for a normal breakfast table with space enough between table and island to walk to/from the office. If you decide to keep the "french doors" I'd make them inoperable. 2) Forget about having a breakfast table at all. Instead, enlarge the island and do all your dining at the island. Be aware tho that many people don't find it terribly comfortable to sit on raised bar stools when they eat. You might need to find someplace else for the sink and DW and lower the entire (enlarged) island to normal table height. table at all. Just eat all meals at the kitchen island.

Thank you all for your thoughts. It is so helpful to read a variety of perspectives. Thank you for the info Annie. Maybe a winter project (if the built in benches survive that long--just joking, I am resigned to dealing with it the best I can as is). Bronwynsmom: yep. I didn't want to come across as overly dramatic, but it does indeed sap my energy. My kids prefer lounging on the stairs over the benches and it just makes me cry a little bit inside each time I see one of them on the stairs. And yes, intentional over dramatization in effect! Les: I will look into various upholstry/cusjhioning possibilities. This seems to get pricy quick. I am definitely thinking of making some myself or modifying less expensive ones. Francoise: I have thouth about the deeper seat portions. The parts that hinge up for the storage or only in certain sections, so I cannot just put in larger hinged tops. Actually, maybe I could. Hm, I am going to look into this more. If I can make larger ones, even just where the lids hinge, I could still replace the original ones if needed. But then it might be odd having only certain parts of the benches extend out farther. Unless I make them kind of T shaped to fill in the gaps. Not sure that makes sense unless you can hear me thinking. Teacats: I do think painting the bannister is a possibility. Apparently the house used to have cabinets that matched the bannister, but previous owners had the current cabinets and breakfast nook put in. Updating the bannister all around would be my preference. Grandma: taking out the backs would give us an extra 2 inches it looks like. I am worried that if we try to do that we will mess up somethign along the way. I don't know if it is just us...but any project we undertake becmoes about a gazillion times more complicated than it originally seemed. Geo: If you have little kids, I think the banquette seating is a great asset. Even when we first moved in, almost 3 years ago, my boys were young (small) enough to have friends over and everyone would squeeze into the benches and do projects, have snacks, etc. Deeper and taller seats would definitely be better for people over 6ft. It is interesting the different styles of tables suggested. I don't really know what style this cabinetry is even considered. To me it is more formal that what I would chose were I remodeling a kitchen. I had thougth the dark pedestal tables were the closest match for the rest of the kitchen.

Good advice from CPArtist - for instance you might find you need/want a mudroom space attached to the garage. And/or add a larger pantry space (then remove the one in the kitchen to free up more counter space)