Is that center wall coming out? Is it load bearing? What can move in the way pf plumbing, etc.? Those answers and all dimensions will be needed before anyone can really offer much in the way of advice. Budget? Hiring out or DIY? Kids do not stay little for long and I personally think banquettes are awful.

Center wall is coming out. Contractor will put in a replacement support beam. Plumbing won't be a problem since it's easily reachable from our workshop directly below our kitchen.

Yeah, that's a kinda awful layout ... gives you the look of two too-narrow rooms.

Thoughts:

- I love banquettes, but I don't think this is the right space for one. You use a banquette when you need to save space ... once you change that odd wall in the middle, you'll have ample space. A banquette would create an odd "what to do here?" space between the table and the window.

- I'd say replace that small window on the left with a lovely bay window ... tables in bay windows are so nice.

- Definitely add a nice chandelier over the table. That spotlight isn't doing it.

- Assuming the wall can come out /isn't load-bearing, add a big island between the table and the kitchen.

- I like the general location of the fridge, sink and stove in your sketch.

- Is the space to the left of the refrigerator a small pantry?

Since the plumbing is easily modified, I would shift the kitchen to the other side of the room, L-shape. So the door & traffic doesn't flow through the workspace. Sink under the window.

I remember my grandmother's kitchen had a booth type banquet. Developed a hate for it at the age of 5 and haven't changed my mind about them in all the decades since.

You should have enough space for a dining table by eliminating the island/ galley concept with an L-shaped kitchen installed on the walls.

If your back yard is behind any of those exterior walls, consider adding a slider somewhere. If this is the front of your house, think about whether a larger window where the small one is would look OK from the street. Is this a MCM house (wood paneling is saying maybe)? If so, a bay window would not be appropriate.

I agree with Theresa, you don't need to have a banquette after you remove that wall. It would be appropriate if you were trying to leave a traffic aisle clear. Your mind is going there because that's what you have now. While it looks like fairly good quality wood paneling, you could definitely use less of it to brighten the space so remove all of it in the kitchen area as part of the project.

While I don't think the placement of a banquette in your proposed plan is good, I do think the idea of moving the main part of the kitchen to the left, away from that door, is a great idea. Sink under the window, range on the far wall. Not having an actual plan with dimensions makes it hard to offer a plan (include LR (how much space available for table?). I have a banquette in my kitchen and I love it, but we also have a formal DR and some seating at the island. It freed up space in the breakfast room, which leads out to the back patio/pool. I use it for breakfast and doing puzzles, as I prefer it to the island seating, and it works great for when the grandchildren are here. We can extend the table further into the room and can seat 6 when I don't feel like using the DR. As your children grow, though, it will be less useful and less comfortable for everyday use...we prefer booths when we go to restaurants, but scooting for every meal might not be ideal. A table with chairs would be more versatile.

Adding "life" to your dark kitchen will be easier without that odd divider down the middle. First, get your layout decided, then your cabinetry, floors, counters, and backsplash decisions will be how you lighten (and liven) it up!

I dislike banquette seating but I need a to scale floor plan on graph paper . Every window, doorway and where the doorways lead . Every measurement clearly marked , if plumbing cannot be accessed easily then show where that is .From what I see there is no space for that seating area but I need a proper scaled drawing of the whole space . POst here in a comment in jpeg format DO NOT start another post.

Does this floor plan help? Disregard the placement of the appliances and such but the walls, window, door measurements are accurate. The door leads to our garage. The window looks out to our front walkway. The “wall” on the bottom of the box is actually the open and leads to our livingroom

place the sink on the right side of 64 in window.....if you consider half the width of window...then you have approx 32 inches on the right side ...... fine for a 33 in sink base and a 30 in sink. Then place fridge to left of the window. Then park a long farmhouse table over on the right wall instead of fridge along there. You dont want the table like that in the middle. You could find a round pedestal table [always better] for lower right once the fridge and cabinets are out of there. You can probably tuck a tall pantry cabinet in the corner behind that hinged door that leads out especially if you get a round pedestal table.....vertical storage can be any depth so you can go right up into that corner behind the door and it wont hit it. As far as the diagonal cabinet in the upper left corner of your space......people usually prefer to stick w a corner 90 degree cabinet......the storage inside those is pretty good with gizmos that swing out

90 degree corner utilization:

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people dont always center the sink under a window.....in the pic shown, they wanted to make room for the dishwasher .....in your case, getting the fridge over to that side on the left would be my preference. shift the sink to the right half of the window. then you can get more from a seating situation.....choose from various table shapes.

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I like your banquette idea for your space. Just make sure when you do the backs of the seating that you give a comfortable slope/angle. If the back is too straight-up, like shown in the photo, it's less comfortable than having no back at all. The photo you show is also good for having just one pedestal under the table instead of legs. Easier to get in and out.

Your example is good for having a ridge that separates the diners from the sink and food preperation behind their heads.

Even if you have a carpenter make the banquette for you, double check the backrest angle

https://mickeykay.me/2019/10/build-banquette-bench-seating/

I would not do loose cushions but instead have the backrest padded, or have back-cushions that are strapped in.

Seeing the dimensions and layout of the space, I think the banquette is a great idea. The layout with the table in the middle and counters on three wall (which maybe you've already rejected) seems too tight; the chairs would absolutely have to be pushed in all the way for the aisles to be comfortable and with kids that would probably be a continual annoyance. You could probably make a table work with an L-shaped kitchen.

One more tip about a built-in banquette:

Don't bolt the table to the floor, which may be what was done in your posted photo. It's very easy to get or make a pedestal table with a heavy base, so the table doesn't tip if people lean on it getting up and down from the bench seating, but isn't so heavy you can't move it around as needed for cleaning, etc.