Kitchen floor plan after moving cabinets...

Kitchen table/ banquette area (fridge and the cabinet on the right will be moved).

Recessed cans (pots) are great and there is a reason they are used with such frequency. They are intended to "go away" and enable placement of light where you need it, rather than where it looks good on a lighting plan.

In consideration of the beam, the lights above the island should be "spots" rather than "floods" so there is no walls wash onto the beam. You could also consider pendant lights to drop below the beam.

The beam is a bit distracting on its own. You might consider adding faux beams or a coffered ceiling treatment to blend in the detail.

The first thing I would NOT do is a banquette they barely work for kids and IMO just a PITA to get in and out of for adults. Why not a small table that can be opened if he needs it with a light centered on the table the rest all pots 4” LEDs in 4000K for good overall lighting Forget the walk in pantry which BTW is too narrow to work and then he could have a bigger table Get a pullot pantry beside the fridge and the bar can be narrower the fridge is IMO too far from the sink too.

Thank you for the ideas!

The pantry is actually just a 12” deep cabinet (just shelves, but we didn’t want open shelving), and was added both to fill in the empty jog in the wall, and to lengthen the wall for the banquette. The main reasons for the banquette were: (1) not enough width in the room for both the table and island if a table has to be 24-30” from the wall- the banquette allows it to be just 15”. (2) In the lower right in the photo, you can see where the stairwell had been cut into to increase headroom, so there’s an angled piece about a foot deep and high that is jutting out into the room, which the banquette bench would cover. We could go with a 4-person table to have the needed space between table and island, but we’d still have that angled piece to deal with somehow. I’ll take a look at it today to see if I can visualize an alternative!

I really like the idea of pendants over the table! I’m going to see if the beam location would allow for that. I think that would look better visually since they wouldn’t extend under the beam.

Thanks for your thoughts!

The first thing I would NOT do is a banquette they barely work for kids and IMO just a PITA to get in and out of for adults.

I'll take the other side of that argument: I love banquettes. Assuming they're built to nice proportions, they're perfectly comfortable. Yes, whoever's "caught" at the back isn't coming /going anywhere during a meal, but is that really a problem?

Next time you're out to eat /seated in a comfy booth, bring out your tape measure and take notes of the dimensions. The devil's in the details.

Last thought on banquettes: This isn't a big space, and a banquette can be a space-saver ... and can provide you with some storage.

I really like the idea of pendants over the table!

Yes, like it so much I can't imagine anything else!

Thank you Mrs Pete for your points above. We took the tape measure out again today and we are definitely going with the banquette. It makes sense with the limited width, and it will be infrequent that 6 people will be seated at the table anyhow. I also like the fact that it provides an opportunity to add some colour and pattern in the seat fabric and cushions, especially since there will be so much wood in the cabinets and flooring. Your point about the added storage is an added bonus!

That sounds exactly like our situation: 1948 house, no dining room, no real spot to put a table caused by an awkward kitchen (due to a house addition, window placements and stairwell). I’m glad to hear it worked out well for you. Also your advice about the bench covering was useful- I’ll keep it in mind when picking the fabric!

Things look pretty tight there all around. Did you consider orienting the banquette/ table so that the longer side was against the wall with the stairs and pantry?

We hadn’t considered that. I think I’ll measure it out tomorrow and see if that would work better. Thanks!