True to form, we’re all over the place over here. After switching up the ol’ blog design (and figuring out why the header was MIA for 20% of you – here’s hoping it’s back) we’ve also been plugging away at our $6 cabinet makeover but aren’t quite done with the painting/building-up process (here’s hoping we’ll have photos and lots o’ words to share early next week). But crazily enough, in the meantime we’ve also been doing some yard work, a random bedroom project, and have even started brainstorming the next phase of the kitchen. Hence this brain dump.
We’re still saving our pennies for things like new appliances to begin the next step of our slow & steady kitchen overhaul (remember when we upgraded the fireplace and wood paneling a little while back?). So as we wait for the bank account to say “sure, go buy a new wall oven that’s not bisque, and a new microwave that’s not black”, we thought meeting up with an old friend of ours to get a few kitchen ideas might be nice. Who is this mysterious old friend that we speak of? Why it’s Nancy Kulik, the lady who helped us plan our first kitchen makeover through Home Depot (they offer up Certified Kitchen Designers to help for free if you buy cabinets or counters through them, of which we got both).
We knew that we wanted white cabinets and light marble-esque counters (they were actually granite) during the planning stages of that makeover back in 2007 – so we didn’t look to Nancy for much “style advice” during our 113 day kitchen reno. But she was truly invaluable when it came to space planning. She just knows how people use kitchens and where appliances should be placed to maximize function, and we fully believe that our first kitchen would have been half as useful if we didn’t have her free-with-the-purchase-of-cabinets advice when it came to where to squeeze in a dishwasher, relocate the fridge, and build in the microwave. Lesson learned: sometimes the pros know best. So take their advice whenever it’s free (and even when it’s not if you need it). You know, so you don’t DIY a kitchen all alone that’s semi-functional when you can DIY something twice as useful with some pro advice and a smidge of well-spent cash (assuming you can’t track down free services like those from HD or Lowe’s).
But back to our buddy Nancy. We actually kept in touch with her over the last three years since our big kitchen makeover in 07′ (she and Clara are practically BFFs). So she was sweet enough to offer to glance at a floor plan and a few photos of our current house’s kitchen to give us a little here’s-what-I-would-do advice. Second lesson learned: there are definite perks to staying in touch with any kitchen geniuses that you may encounter.
But first a little refresher. You’ll remember that the eat-in part of our kitchen currently looks like this:
We’ve always planned to add a built-in island in place of the too-small dining table, just because when we knock out a huge doorway in the wall across from the fireplace to connect it to the dining room we thought two tables lined up through that opening would look odd (a big round one in the dining room and another one so nearby in the kitchen = crazytown).
So we thought a big round table in the dining room and a smaller built-in island by the fireplace would make sense and be less “hello table, meet my friend, table.”
Here’s an old floor plan that we shared last November before we even moved, just to give you an idea of what we thought might work when it came to the island (with the new wide doorway to the dining room that we plan to add worked in there too):
Oh while we’re on the topic of someday dreams, we’d love to paint our cabinets white and craigslist our white, bisque, and black appliances and upgrade to stainless steel. When it comes to our counters, we plan to work with the granite that we have, but completely redo the backsplash for a crisper, lighter look. And those florescent tube lights and big brown fan? They gots to go.
While we’re rattling off things on the list, of course we’d love to redo the floors but aren’t sure if there’s hardwood running all the way under the entire kitchen that we can refinish (we know it runs under part of it, but haven’t confirmed all of it) or if we’ll have to just redo them with something new entirely. The challenge of that is that we’ve learned that our floor joists aren’t built strongly enough to hold the weight of stone or ceramic tile (I thought slate would be awesome in there, so yeah… le bummer). We’ve toyed with everything from lightweight cork to some sort of linoleum (Candice Olsen has done some surprisingly awesome kitchens with that on the floor) but we’re nowhere near a decision. We’ll keep you posted though.
But I digress (who’s surprised?). Back to our talk with Nancy Kulik and the big kitchen idea she came up with (pretty much on the spot because she’s cool like that). Are you ready? She looked at the new to-scale floor plan that we brought with us (and a few photos) and realized that something was wrong, wrong, wrong on our little whole-house floor plan (seen three photos back, which we did months ago in November). That something? The fireplace is almost in the corner of the room in real life. So the placement of the fireplace in that old floor plan is totally off.
Thankfully it was drawn in the actual correct location in the newer kitchen-only floor plan that we brought with us to our Nancy meeting, but since it’s not actually centered on the wall (and practically kisses the door that leads to the hall), no island could be centered on it without nearly touching slash completely blocking that doorway (which we definitely want to keep open). So Nancy suggested something that we never would have thought of ourselves. And I mean never. Brace yourself. She proposed a floating L-shaped banquette that faces the fireplace and the frame wall.
Note: don’t mind that vertical line that follows the back of the banquette to the door to the living room, she just dropped that in to tell us that we should line those things up- but the banquette wouldn’t be attached to anything, it would just float in the middle of the room to keep things open- just like an island would, but since it would face the fireplace in a way that an island wouldn’t it could make a lot more sense.
I’m not going to lie. Both of our first impressions were “thanks, but no thanks.” But as she further explained her vision we slowly started to come around. See, I’ve always adored the cozy-factor that is an L-shaped banquette. And if you search “banquette” some pretty cute images come up on google and Pinterest. A breakfast nook-ish type space like that might not be everyone’s cup of tea (there are definitely some die-hard island-lovers out there), but we actually thought it could be even cozier than our previously considered idea of an island. Especially because it would make sense of the off-centered fireplace in a way that an island never could (since it couldn’t ever be centered on it or lined up in any real way). So we took Nancy’s little scrap paper sketch home and taped out her floating L-shaped banquette idea on the floor:
To explain what you’re looking at, the smaller L that’s being spooned by the bigger L would be the actual bench seating that faces the fireplace & the frame wall (which would make sense of the layout a bit more than a big floating rectangle that doesn’t line up with the fireplace at all). And the bigger L would be built-in cabinetry that wraps around the back of the bench seating to create a nice nestled nook that looks as good from the back and the side as the front (and provides a nice amount of concealed storage that’s accessible from the back, just like an island would have done).
As for the height, we thought keeping the tops of the cabinetry and the banquette seating the same height as the lower cabinets in the rest of the kitchen would make things feel cohesive and open (many of our inspiration images above have banquettes that are the same height as the base cabinets). And of course knocking out a huge 6 foot wide doorway to the dining room behind the banquette (which will have pretty cabinetry that faces the doorway so it looks good from behind) should keep the flow nice and airy – so nothing feels too boxed in.
I know it’s pretty much impossible to picture, so here’s John sitting at the fake banquette (although the table would be a smaller pedestal based thing, possibly square, oval, or even round – and possibly white or even a color, but probably not dark brown).
Note: we’ll have to move the lighting on this side of the room regardless of an island or banquette creation since it’s placed too far apart to make sense either way – and in the case of the banquette we’d center it over the table, not the seating (like many of the inspiration images).
It’s admittedly still impossible to picture (and I would bet $20 that nearly everyone reading this is completely not sold on this idea), but here’s a round pedestal table tossed in there in case that helps the picture come together for a few of you (since our banquette table will definitely have a pedestal base to make maximum room for legs).
And here’s a lower square table (of course too low for a banquette, but this sized top might be right) to possibly help the vision come together a little more. As of now we’re both actually bigger fans of a rounded top – like the one above – but who knows where we’ll end up.
Who am I kidding. This probably doesn’t help anyone. And you all think we’re crazy to consider this. I know it. And we might be. But we’re excited enough about it to at least keep this idea on the table for now. Har-har.
See how the fireplace in the corner almost makes sense in that location with the cozy banquette facing it (which will be lined up with the doorway to the living room, so that doesn’t feel random either)? Nope. You still don’t see it. Haha. Well in person it actually has a lot of balance and makes considerably more sense than any island shape / placement that we’ve taped out on the floor over the last eight months (of which there have been many). We might just have to build our cabinet-backed banquette with cardboard or something to try to envision it further. Or use some serious photoshop magic to help picture it (the challenge is finding photos of the backs of banquettes since so many shots are looking into the L-shaped seating nook as opposed to looking over its shoulder from this angle).
Oh and ignore the crazy white fireplace surround on the floor, since it seems to encroach and crowd the table waaaaay too much. When we redo the flooring in the room that’ll be remedied since we have plans to double side the fireplace down the road so you can peer into the living room through it (but will either make it gas or keep it completely inoperable so kiddo(s?) can crawl through the hole like it’s a secret passageway – so there won’t be a huge tile rectangle on the floor anymore).
I’ll leave you with this picture again, because it’s the one that makes my brain hurt the least when I try to picture things:
So all of this is to say that we taped off a crazy shape on the kitchen floor and we’re seriously considering some sort of cozy banquette-ish breakfast nook as opposed to a centered island with an off-centered fireplace nearby. It should be interesting. And the odds are that we’ll end up making some semblance of a decision someday. And we promise to keep you posted. Off to dip back into the aforementioned bedroom project and the office cabinet makeover. Ah DIY, you fickle friend. Maybe next week we’ll be less scattered. Who are we kidding? Probably not.
Kim says
you had me at banquette. I would put one in every room. I think they’re adorable.
JR says
Hey Guys– LOVE the banquette idea! I totally see it in your space.
You might want to check out Marmoleum flooring when the time comes. Good content, great colour range, pretty easy to install, work with and maintain :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the suggestion!
-John
Amy says
How creative! I’m thinking the seal off the opening to the hallway and having the banquette face towards the kitchen and the fireplace. If you still knockdown the dining room wall it will still be very open. Also seems like the banquette might be a little too close to the fireplace but hard to tell not being in the room so this would give you more room to get the size you want.
Ryann says
I’m…halfway there. I can visualize it, so that’s a win. ;) The thing that bugs me, and this could fully be my issue, is the depth of the counter top. If you would end up with a standard depth, like the the photo of the dark cabinets above with a black pedestal table (so cozy looking!) – this would be really useful. But it looks like you’ll be using something that’s the general depth of an upper cabinet, and the sliver of counter space might end up looking weird and choppy.
What about an l-shaped island there, exact same configuration, but with barstools instead of a banquet on the opposite sides?
YoungHouseLove says
We’re definitely planning to use cardboard to make a 3D replica to make sure it’s not too skinny for us! As for the L shaped island, we’re just not sure if that’s as cozy. Who knows where we’ll end up!
xo,
s
Bailey says
I adore the idea of a banquette! If you didn’t have the fireplace I love islands, but the fireplace mixed with a cozy banquette sounds wonderful! AND it’s another place you can toss cute pillows! You guys always seem to make the best design choices – can’t wait to see what you decide on and how it all turns out!!!
Cassidy says
Love this idea and recently pinned one of your inspiration photos. I’m excited to see how it goes, but it does still seem a little “hey round formal dining table…meet small round banquet table.”
PS the suspense of these $6-dollar-cabinets-gone-built-in is killing me.
elaine says
Hey guys! I think it’s a great idea and you explained it really well. Not hard to picture at all with a bit of imagination and those inspiration photos. Can’t wait to watch the kitchen evolve.
Holiday House Rules says
So here’s the thing…if you don’t plan on using the fireplace in that room anyway, and it’s throwing off your kitchen design/functionality…why not get rid of it? Seal the back and have it accessible and functional from the LR only. Then make the kitchen make the most sense as a room. I love a banquet, but the idea of having people sitting with their backs/sides to you and facing a wall? Not so much for me. Rather have a banquet in the corner facing the kitchen and DR – how nice for entertaining to have people in those spaces be able to interact without a barrier? Maybe for more workspace get a peninsula from where the little desk was. It’s nicer to have guests/family face you while you prepare/clean up – unless the seating is facing some great view or something. And, setting and cleaning the table on the other side of the banquet? Hassle. And an island is a per surface, and banquet is not (storage is nice, though, but you could build in secret storage under the seats of the corner banquet, too.
Okay, sorry to ramble… I know you will do the right thing for your space!
YoungHouseLove says
We realize getting rid of the fireplace is an option, but right now we’d rather work with it since it’s such a nice architectural feature – even if it’s not necessarily going to function in the short term.
-John
Megan says
I think the banquet seating makes total sense and I can definitely picture it. I can see display cabinets on the back that would look gorgeous from the dining room. Everyone can throw an island in the middle of an empty space, that doesn’t mean it is the best choice. The space is a bit removed from your kitchen space to really function as extra cooking counter space. Plus, as the brood grows I think you will like having a cozy place to eat breakfast. The banquet totally solves the problem of two tables lined up. Fantastic idea. I’m sold, you should do it. Much more custom look. I wish I could fast forward on your kitchen remodel. I am so excited to see how it turns out. Sorry for the worlds longest comment.
Amanda says
I want a banquette in my [future] kitchen (since I live in an apartment right now) I think they’re so cozy to have breakfast in the morning and have some morning-husband time. :)
When I was reading through your post, I envisioned a curved banquette with the center of the curve aligned with the left corner where the open doorway will be. Does that make sense? Your back would be to the frame hallway, but facing the kitchen and the fireplace and if you made that the “long part” of the banquette, there’d be more room for seating so you can still talk and communicate to people in the dining room. A curved banquette would give some nice lines in the kitchen and would help it feel more open and there’d be more of a walkway around the banquette from the dining room to the kitchen for instance. I hope that makes sense.
If you went with your current set up, perhaps extending the length of the banquette closest to the kitchen so you’d have more seating that would be facing the dining room. So if you had a bunch of people over they wouldn’t feel closed off to the dining room, and would still feel part of the party! Which I believe you mentioned that as a plus to when you were thinking of an island.
I’m sure whatever you come up with, will look great ad be functional to what you need!
Veronika says
OMG! OMG! OMG! Bet you have no clue why I am OMG-ing! The thing is from the first day that i saw you wanted to add an island in there i thought, “I wish they were doing an L shape breakfast nook”! Seriously! whoo-hoo! i’m so excited! Because I love the look and feel of those L-shaped banquettes and dream about having one in my kitchen one day (when we buy a house of course)!
So cool! Can’t wait, I know it’s gonna be AWESOME!
Jessica G. says
You’ve sold me! I can’t wait to see it someday. I can imagine what a cute, cozy homework or craft area it could be. It’ll also be a great way to bring some fabric/texture into the kitchen.
I think you should title that picture of John “Invisible Chair.”
Alyssa says
Hi – Love the banquet as we are actually in the process of building one right now. I’m curious what color the wall is behind the banquet and what color white you used for it? Thanks, Alyssa
YoungHouseLove says
Are you talking about one of the inspiration pictures? Our kitchen is the one with green walls so I’m not quite sure what white wall you’re referring to. The wall with frames in the hallway is grey (Moonshine by Benjamin Moore).
-John
Patti says
Winning!! (is anyone even saying that anymore?) I’m picturing something like the third inspiration pic layout with a nice hefty “island” on the side that’ll face the kitchen. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Amy says
Okay, I’m one of those “not sold” readers on the banquet.
With the wall blown out, your view is going to be of the back of whatever free floating banquet you come up with, and I just can see that being very appealing. At least with a table or leggy island, you would have some visual space left to see into the room. The banquet would completely block that off and just doesn’t seem like it would flow all that well. Since you’ll be adding another opening into the kitchen, have you considered walling up the doorway into the hallway? You could then put in a banquet along that far wall that now looks into the hallway, and you would then be able to center the table for the banquet in front of the fireplace. Add some flowers on top and you’d a much more visually appealing space to walk into. Just an idea!
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve definitely considered holing up the wall to the hallway, but actually use it so much and love the look of the frames through it that we’re trying to work with it for now.
-John
grace says
I tend to agree. I feel like the room will have too many openings. I realize that you love looking at the frame wall, but why can’t you just create some other type of artwork that you love looking at for in the kitchen? Closing the entrance into the hallway sounds like a great idea and gives you great flow throughout the dining/kitchen/living areas.
YoungHouseLove says
Who knows where we’ll end up! We certainly know not everyone’s as crazy about the open living thing as we are- but we use that hallway all the time (it leads to Clara’s room, and the hall bath- two places we go all the time (and I’m sure guests will appreciate being able to use the bathroom without having to loop around into the living room and back up to the hall).
xo
s
Snowy says
I think this is a really great idea – I bet it would change how you and you guests use that space and I think would be a really cool draw for buyers in the future.
DO IT!!!!
Kristen says
I think I can picture it now…sorta. But what I think would really help? Photoshop the last picture to get rid of the fireplace surround, and “knock” the hole in the wall to the dining room, even if it’s just black/negative space in the new pic. My issue with imagining this is that blank wall over there.
Another thing is that for some reason, the tape banquette looks tiny – like barely a two seater? Might just be perspective in the photos though.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, we definitely could improve on our “visualization” (thinking Google SketchUp like some have suggested today). And the banquette looks like it’ll seat 4 in real life (3 on the long side, 1 on the short side).
-John
Ashley says
Have you considered a higher island height counter around the back of the banquet. You could add bar stools and have a huge amount of space for overflow seating – the dining room table, the bar, the banquet. Love it with the round table!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s definitely something we’re considering. TBD!
-John
Ashley says
I’m thinking like the 3rd insperation pic. It would also be great for setting out buffets for the dining room and a nice party serving area.
Faith says
I love this new idea!!!! That island never really made sense to me. (sorry) The island was too “predictable and expected”. This banquette is wow. The idea encompasses your vision for this new house….it’s bold, fresh, and outside the neutral box. I’m 1000% sold on this!
Would the cabinets (that serve as “the wall”) be topped with the same type of granite as your kitchen? How about some open storage with the backs painted the same as the backing in the dining room? It would add just a hint of boldness against the clean, crisp white. Oh the ideas, right???
I say go to town with this banquette!!! It’ll look great once you iron out all the details!!
YoungHouseLove says
Totally, the options are endless. We’re not totally in love with our current granite so we’ll probably do something else for some variety. And we definitely like the idea of open shelves with interesting backs too.
-John
Alyrae says
I love this idea, so so so much.
annie says
You know I sort of like the idea of the banquette, but when I first looked at the drawing, I thought it was going to be a bar height island with the chairs around the sides opposite the fireplace and facing away from the kitchen – the same seating plan as with the banquette. That made sense to me – so that the table could still be used for cooking prep, or dining, and the focal point would be the fireplace wall, not the kitchen. Then again, could you see the fire from the seats if you did that?
Lorilyn says
I completely love the idea. I don’t think anything is more cozy than a nice banquet. And infront of a fireplace nonetheless? My husband and I are in the process of a kitchen/dining/family room (KDF for short) remodel and we were playing with a million different floor plans trying to figure out how to fit a banquet in, but alas, there wasn’t enough room to do both a banquet and a dining room table. Sigh.
Brooke says
I LOVE the idea of a banquette! I thnk it’s the perfect solution. And to be honest, I always wondered if an island way over by the fireplace really made much sense anyway. And just think of all the new throw pillows you’ll get to buy/DIY if you have a banquette! :-)
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
It’s not a bad idea! I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it either! I like the photo that has the countertop integrated behind the banquette – so you could still have storage and perhaps even a “bar height” area to place stools, etc.
The one thing I don’t like about banquettes – or booths in general, is that they aren’t that great for casual entertaining – somebody invariably has to do the “butt scoot”. It’s just a thought to keep in mind. I think having an integrated bar height area would certainly help that issue. Whenever we have people over, unless it’s a formal dinner, which is pretty darn rare – they ALWAYS congregate around the bar/island/barstools.
Just some food for thought! It’s an interesting idea that could be modified to suit a lot of different uses – double duty! Awesome-sauce!
Alicia Seebach says
I LOVE that idea!! :) It’llgive you an island, plus some extra functionality for that quick bowl of cereal, read the morning paper, have a nice cup of coffee infront of the fireplace.
The inspiration photos are what helped me visualize it the most.
Erica M says
I really like the idea. You can have the cabinet side be a lot shorter in height than an island would have been, and would obstruct the view to the fireplace less. There are so many options as to how you can design the cabinet side, adding some open shelving etc. And I also like the round table in the space, while you have less surface space, I think it makes the area between the table and the fireplace a little more “maneurverable”.
I can picture a couple of ottomans for the pull up seating, that can be put underneath the current picture frames (flanking the doorway into the hall) while not in use.
Tracy says
I think the banquette idea is great; they really are cozy and it’s a good use of the space. Why don’t you “build” it from cardboard (any old boxes laying around)? They do that on The Old House to test out a kitchen design. It would give you an idea of how the sightlines will be, how much mass the counter and banquette take up, your clearance around it, etc.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re thinking we’ll do just that. First we gotta track down some cardboard… :)
-John
Lucy S says
I love it love it!!! I can’t wait to see what happens, and I have to say that our kitchen genius at Home Depot was equally as fabulous!
heartartz says
Maybe someone already posted this but what about a furniture piece, free-standing banquette. It would allow you more flexibility and you could expand a round table with leaves when you have lots of company. Yes you would have to sacrifice storage :(
Like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Modus-Furniture-2YA466D-Banquette-Leatherette/dp/B003UGN8ZK/ref=sr_1_22?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1314890515&sr=1-22
or this one if you have lots of $$$$
http://www.horchow.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=cprod61350017&ecid=HCCIGoogleFeed&003=5841029&010=H4JYU&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=H4JYU
YoungHouseLove says
Definitely another possibility! We loved the idea of gaining some storage space too, but you never know…
xo,
s
Jessica C says
I was wondering if you guys had thought about closing up the hallway entrance to the kitchen since you will be adding the other two entrances. That would allow you to turn the banquet seating and wrap it on the wall keeping the seating open to the kitchen for conversation and also making all of your entrances/pathways through the room less choppy. I know that it will make you have to walk around the wall from the kids rooms but it doesn’t seem like it would be that inconvenient since the master and dinning room would still have direct routes. Anyway that is my two cents…
I like this idea so much more then the island. I think you are on the right track!
YoungHouseLove says
We did think about it, but we love the open look so closing things off (especially the awesome view of the hallway frame gallery) to look at a closer wall isn’t really something that excites us now. But who knows where we’ll end up! We’re definitely just getting started. Haha.
xo,
s
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
…or even just take off that whole wall altogether so it’s even MORE open….the house might collapse…but….ya know…details ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- you know we love to keep things open!
xo,
s
Tanya says
Hi Guys
Have you considered using the study cabinets you are working on as visual place holders for your banquet? You could create your stand in banquet layout out of these, take a couple of photos and see how it looks from all angles. They should take up close to the same visual space and help visualise how it would work.
Just an idea.
Anyway love the house as always and the changed up website.
Tanya xx
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to give them a go!
xo,
s
Kristen says
Oh John and Sherry,
You guys are unstoppable, seriously! Earthquake, hurricane, power out, blog redesign…you all make us look bad! :-)
Seriously though, I love the idea of a cozy area in the kitchen (where everyone always hangs out anyway) in front of the fireplace…sounds like heaven!
Keep up the awesome work!
jo says
Okay no time to read through all the comments (how do you y’all keep up with it all?), but reading a few I had a “lightbulb” (Dispicable Me reference). What if you had a banquette, but instead of using the L-shape which separates it a bit from the kitchen it was open on both ends. Basically, like an island with the bench attached facing the fireplace and then the option of pulling up a chair on ether end (the kitchen side and frame wall side). In my head I get the same cozy feel of the banquette, which I love, without making you have to walk around it from the kitchen.
YoungHouseLove says
Always another possibility! Love Despicable Me, haha.
xo,
s
Jeanine says
I’m normally a “Team Kitchen Island” person, but the banquette idea has me drooling slightly. I love the idea of eating dinner in front of the fireplace.
I’ve been staring at my ho-hum kitchen for almost 3 years now and I think this post may have lit a fire under my toosh to get moving on making the kitchen workable. I love the idea to talk to someone at HD or Lowe’s about floor planning. Keep the great ideas coming! You guys are such great inspirations!
-Jeanine
Elizabeth says
LOVE this idea…was never really sold on the island idea…this seems much better suited to the space and the use you want out of it.
deanna says
Have you considered closing off the door between the picture hall and the kitchen. When you break through to the dining room you will have three entries/doorways in a not so big space. If you were willing to close that doorway you could reposition the banquette by rotating it so the back is against the now hall/door wall. It might make the kitchen feel bigger and would be easier put food, plates, cups from counter to table and not have to walk around the the bench seat. Also, if you are baking, or preparing a big meal the table could do dual duty as an island and you have the best of both worlds. Hope this makes sense! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve thought about it, but for the time being want to try to leave it open because it’s very functional for us – and we love the view of the hallway frames! But it’s definitely an option we’ve got in the back of our minds.
-JOhn
Crystal says
I love it. We built a banquette in our kitchen, in our much to too small for any traditional table & chairs set nook area. It’s a great solution and adds a softer touch, plus now our tiny kitchen can seat 5 instead of 3. We do have to fight the urge to lay down after eating though! Love the floating aspect of your concept!
Jenb says
Put me down for a yes for the banquette also. I like how it integrates the fireplace into the kitchen design instead of just having it off to the side but not a focus area. And I also love the coziness of a banquette. I am hoping you go this way so I can see how it turns out.
Dara says
I think its a great idea and not something you see everyday. I know ya’ll can rock it though. I love that you can put storage behind it, genius.
Sara says
I love this idea, and I do think it would look better than an island!
But I have two concerns…
1) When Clara is old enough (2-3) to sit down and eat there by herself while you’re washing dishes or whatever, you probably won’t be able to see her, or she won’t be facing you. Know what I mean? I find it nice to be able to keep an eye on my kids while they are in the “breakfast nook”
2) When people come to visit, they will be either facing the fireplace or the other wall when you are busy in the kitchen… that might be kind of awkward seating arrangements?
Just my two cents… feel free to ignore!
I do love the new blog by the way! It’s showing up fine for me and I use Firefox…
YoungHouseLove says
We’re definitely considering flipping it so people look into the kitchen, so you raise good points!
-John
YoungHouseLove says
Always good things to consider! As for the height, i’ll only be the height of lower cabinets, so it won’t be a tall booth or anything. Unless we’re crouching down we’ll be able to see everyone just like we can see over all of the lower cabinets in the room! Well, we won’t see feet or waists, but definitely necks and shoulders and all that. Haha. As for the people visiting thing, we’re not sure if we’d use the booth for casual kitchen hanging out (usually everyone stands around or goes into the living room so our current kitchen table doesn’t get much use that way either) but we’ll definitely have to think a bit more and see where we end up!
xo,
s
Luisa says
You had me at nook.
Ps. Consider marmoleum for flooring. It fits with many periods of housing.
Rick S says
I like the idea and love how it lines up with doors and is “aimed” at the fireplace. The one idea i had is to angle the corner of the L so the person sitting where the sides meet has a back to lean against and is closer to the table edge if using round or oval table. the corner angled would open up the walkway from diningroom through kitchen too. One less corner to stub toe on going to fridge. :)
rick s
heartartz says
oh and one more premade banquette style
http://www.janneyscollection.com/j%20woods/slides/White%20Vinyl%20%20Banquette.html
YoungHouseLove says
Cute!
xo,
s
Anna @ The Owl and The Phoenix says
I love the idea – I think it would really incorporate the fireplace into the room!
Sarah says
Hi there! LOVE the new layout/banner. I esp love the background – wallpaper inspiration much? ;)
Hope you don’t mind me saying but, I’m not in love with the banquette idea. I think it’s precious and cozy, but I’m nervous about an l-shaped banquette just kinda hanging out in the middle of everything – especially when there’s no wall at all behind it(smell ya later, wall!)
If I may, and I hope I don’t make your head explode, I want to suggest something else. Of course, I’m just a random fan so no worries if you hate this idea. But ever since I first saw the full layout of the house I thought “this is what I would do”: Take out the dining room/kitchen wall as planned. But keep going and take it out all the way to the hall. This will make the kitchen open to both the dining room and the hallway(and I love that hallway!) essentially making it part of the kitchen. THEN(here’s where it gets crazy), put a wall up in between the kitchen and the living room. Now, I know what you’re thinking: you like the good kitchen/living room access. But with a wall there, you’re free to add more storage along that wall(up to or almost up to the fireplace). Heck, you can even extend an appliance out onto that wall and perhaps giving you more counterspace. Likewise, you’ll be able to add your originally envisioned island for breakfast/homework/extra food-prep counterspace/whatevs. But you wont have to worry about lining it up with anything because there’s just the fireplace on that wall, not a doorway to contend with. Also, I love the idea of the kitchen being open to the dining room even more. And with the hallway wall down, you wont have to walk all the way down the hall to get to the living room. Although you may have to put a cool-looking post there if it’s a load-bearing wall.
So there it is, longest comment ever from crazy rabid fan. Just my thoughts on the matter. Hope I didn’t totally confuse you! Keep up the awesome work!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, what an imagination! I love it. Sadly the wall that runs between the kitchen and the dining room is a huge load bearing one, so we can only open it around 5 feet wide at the most to maintain structural strength. You’re right that we also love that entryway to the living room too! But it’s really fun to think about other possibilities!
xo,
s
tamaracks says
I would never have thought of a floating banquette, but I think it sounds neat! Especially when the door to the dining room is opened. The only thing I wonder is if it would be annoying to have to walk around it when coming through the door from the hallway.
I agree that it might be slightly odd that it faces the other way, but I think it could work anyway, and with the fireplace, that’s the only orientation that makes sense.
YoungHouseLove says
Well we’ve been walking around our kitchen table when we come in from the hallway for the last 8 months, so maybe we’re used to it! Haha.
xo,
s
Eve says
I actually really like the banquette idea. I think, though, that if there’s any possible way I’d like the half-circle banquette with a round table even better than the L. Maybe two split curved pieces? I’d have to draw a picture (which I can if you’re curious). But it looks excellent in my head. :)
YoungHouseLove says
We thought about rounded banquette possibilities but thought it might be too much with the big round table in the soon-to-be-adjoined dining room. Who knows where we’ll end up though!
xo,
s
Briel K. says
I think this is a great idea! I love nooks and breakfast nooks are no exception. :) Do you think you’ll try to build it yourselves or have someone build it for you?
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to DIY it!
xo,
s
Meagan says
Oh Em Geeeeee! I am so jealous! I love love love banquettes and have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate one into my kitchen. Alas, it will never work. I will live vicariously through your banquette. You better do it!
Haley says
I’m thinking a inset jacuzzi would be fantastic!
No really, I like the idea of the banquette. There are so many options like creating transformer cabinetry and hiding something fun it in. Maybe a “bat cave”, a mini slide or mini kitchen for Clara. The possibilities are endless!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- I’m in. Jacuzzi it is.
xo,
s