Hey brutuses, I don't think you are technically hijacking if you are asking questions about banquettes. (Then again, I haven't read the rule book lately. If I did it probably also says that you shouldn't have pics of dogs pretending to eat a dead person.) I agree that not being able to put your feet back could be an issue for some people. My cabinet guy actually put drawings together that had a slant so you could put your feet back. I didn't like the look at all. (I am all for function but you have to like the overall look.) It looked funky with a square drawer. Another option would be to have the seat top extend a little longer (I thought of that after mine was done.) Also, you could have a shallower drawer that sits on feet or a platform that sets back. If that makes sense.

Bellsmom- OMG I wrote a 3 paragraph response this morning, got distracted by GC and then didn't press send. Now I just did, but I had to log in again and lost it all : ) Anyway, YES, the plan you posted (first one or 3rd) is pretty much where we are going to end up I think. The organizational area and bar is about to be built any day now and of course if I called yelling, "STOP THE PRESSES!" I'm sure I could make changes, but honestly I don't see a great situation even if I did that... THe organizational area is GREATLY needed and was planned pretty well. If I put it on the wall where corgimum placed it I would lose 10-12" of cabinetry which isn't a great option and then that wall would be kind of empty except for the bar area at the end of the long high windows. The side of the refrigerator cabinet is a broom closet that will open up which although not a deal breaker is another issue with the banquette bench in bay window. At this point lowering that window quite a change and GC agrees of course that 24" is way too high. (He's actually our project manager- not main GC). It was built to plan so it's my fault for not realizing to ask to have it lower. When you're new at all of this it's hard to foresee EVERYTHING although I try! : ) Also, it would have to be built out more into the room and that messes up organization area as we said. If I had planned it to have the banquette in the bay window area I would have also reworked those long windows b/c they keep our options limited as far as organizational spot (desk without seat) and bar/glass area. You bring up a good point about people sitting at the heads of the table and I think, then, getting a really deep table would help with that and with the people at bench being able to get in and out of there. Also, the french doors are actually 2 doors that slide in front of 2 stationary door panels so that helps things. Hmmm.. what else did I write last time that I am forgetting? OH!- Please don't worry about your post yesterday being upsetting. I wasn't at all upset with you- I think just frustrated and confused at all of the options-- none of which seemed perfect obviously. Do you think it helps to "clip" the corners of the bench? I SO appreciate your posts so THANK YOU!! I'll miss you -- sounds like you're going away? Have a good trip if that's the case!

The biggest decision in our kitchen / dining room remodel was whether or not to replace our formal dining room table with a banquette. We had these concerns about resale value and whether it was "accepted" to make this change. We did a banquette, and in retrospect it was the best decision we made. It's clear looking back that virtually all of our initial skepticism was based on an outdated view of what is seen as "acceptable." We had an architect who originally proposed the idea. For us it added a lot more space in our combined dining room / kitchen. The other main advantage is that it made the space much more usable. We went from having a formal dining room that we never used to a much more functional space that we use probably 4-6 hours per day. We also built storage under the bench which we didn't have before. I've since talked to a couple realtors who have confirmed what our architect said, which was that the most important thing is the overall functionality and usability of the space -- if you dramatically improve that, it will increase the resale value of your house. With our banquette, we have chairs on the other side of the table so we can seat as many people as before for dinner parties -- the banquette is more like a bench seat. In our case, it's just more informal than it was before.

Thanks so much for all of your helpful suggestions last month about what to do with the alcove above my banquette. We decided (for now) to take down the mirror and build paneling in that area to match the molding profile on our kitchen cabinet doors. I think DH did a great job matching the trim on our cabinets. This may look a little plain and in the photos the trim detail is washed out; but in real life it makes the banquette area even more integrated into the kitchen, especially since everything is painted in the same color. The magnetic paint is still underneath the top coat of white paint and you can see it in action in this photo: We are still trying to decide what art work or clock to put on the wall above; for now we've put a picture of our house by a local artist. After the holidays when I have more time I plan to make a thin, tufted back for the banquette, possibly with a nailhead trim detail: A clock for the wall above is still a possibility; I'm also thinking a glass shelf for plants (one of the GW suggestions) or these glass wall pockets might be interesting in that space: Comments and suggestions are still welcome!