The banquette seating ideas in today’s post are a design dream I never want to wake up from. I hope they get you inspired to install a banquette in your own dining room, or another pocket at home that’s crying out for a seating overhaul.
I love a booth when I go to a restaurant or cafe, don’t you? I hate sitting on the side with the chair, with my back to the room. I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.
Not only do I not like the idea of someone coming up behind me unannounced (weird, I know), but I also love the cushy comfort banquette seating brings with it. There’s nothing more glorious than curling up on a plush seat to devour a meal with a red wine in hand.
As you’ll see in my showcase of banquette seating ideas for dining rooms below, variety is king. There are just so many ways to make this seating shine. I’ve counted almost 40 different looks in this post alone! So scroll on through and take in all the banquette seating goodness.
Banquette Seating Ideas for Larger Dining Rooms
If you have a large family you need to get around your dining table (or you’re a big entertainer), a dining room banquette seat is great idea.
With a regular dining chair, you have to allow for a lot more space between each person. But with a banquette seat, you can push your nearest and dearest a little closer together when needed. Just remember to seat the person who always needs to use the bathroom at either end of your long banquette seat!
Larger banquette seats look great running along walls with a gallery wall of art above, or you can install one along a wide window to really make a feature of it.
Corner Banquette Seating for Small Dining Rooms
I love a banquette seat in a small dining room. Sometimes your space that just won’t fit the full six-seater table. There are zones I’ve been in that would struggle to accommodate even a four-seater dining table (tables for small dining rooms are here if you need them, btw).
Enter the corner banquette seat. It’s a godsend in a small dining room because it uses every inch of available space. And you can squeeze more people into them thanks to them running right into the corner.
Consider something like this if you have a small meals area in your kitchen that just won’t fit a table with four independant chairs around it. The added beauty of this solution is that you can include storage underneath the seat – a godsend in a small dining room.
Curved Banquette Seating Ideas for Your Dining Room
I’m so thrilled that dining room banquette seats have come as far as they have. Sure, I love the more traditional styles you see in some of the images here. But I also love that were seeing a surge in different shapes and styles. The curved banquette seat is one of my faves.
Not only does the shape of a curved banquette seat look more interesting that your standard option, but it perfectly hugs around a circular dining table. Plus it solves the conundrum of how to successfully fill in a dining room nook where there’s a bay window.
With a corner banquette seat, there can sometimes be an issue for the person who has to sit wedged in the corner because you need a lot of cushions to stop them falling back. But with a curved banquette seat nobody puts baby in the corner (a little Dirty Dancing reference for those of you playing at home!).
Banquette Seating Ideas for Dining Rooms with Storage
Now, when it comes to designing your dining room banquette seating, you’d be mad not to include some storage underneath. Not all of the images in this post depict this concept but as an interior designer I can assure you that you can never have too much storage.
You can use the storage drawers to hold things like placements and coasters, additional scatter cushions or throw blankets, and even board games if this is a zone you might gather with the family for games night on the weekend.
Be mindful of the handles you choose for your drawer-fronts. People will be getting into the banquette often, so you don’t want them to be knocking their ankles on hard knobs or handles every time they sit down. Push-to-open drawers might be a good idea. They create a super minimal, clean look.
Leather Banquette Seating for Dining Rooms Are Super Low-Maintenance
If I had a dollar for every time one of my interior design clients asked me to include leather seats in their dining room! It’s a request I get all the time, and the reason is obvious: it’s a low-maintenance material that’s easy to wipe down and keep clean.
Consider it for your dining room banquette seating. It’s an idea that provides options galore on the colour front. Go for a dark and moody leather, keep it light and tan, or cover your banquette seating in a coloured leather for a bit of added drama.
You can also include tufted buttons or vertical panels if you want to bring more visual interest to the seat back. The sky’s the limit.
Mistakes to Avoid with the Height of Your Banquette Seat
Sometime to keep in mind when designing your banquette seat is the height. If the base of your seat is made from timber, ensure the height of the timber sits slightly lower than the height of a traditional dining chair (or the chairs you have in the space already).
This is because you’ll be placing a thick piece of foam on top of it to act as a base cushion. This can add inches to the top of your seat, which doesn’t seem like an issue until everyone gathers around the table.
What ends up happening if you’re not careful is that the people on the banquette side of the table are sitting significantly higher than the people on the dining chairs opposite. It creates a job-interview vibe which is not what we’re going for!
Mistakes to Avoid with the Depth of Your Banquette Seat
Similarly to the potential issues around height of your banquette seat, the depth is equally important to consider.
The main thought to ponder is whether your banquette seat has a hard backing (like timber) that needs scatter cushions added for comfort, or if you’ll build padding into the fixed back so additional cushions aren’t needed.
In short, a banquette seat that needs scatter cushions added will need to be deeper to allow for the extra depth with cushions included. If the padding is already built into the back, you can have it sit shallower in the space.
Credits for above, clockwise from top left: decorpad, breakpr, pinterest and decorpad.
Credits for above, clockwise from top left: imaginebc, hgtv, redmotif and driven by decor.
Banquette Seating Ideas Outdoor Rooms
Oh how I love the idea of taking the banquette seating for dining rooms concept outside. How good is this moment above from styling by homies? It ticks all the boxes in giving the zone maximum seating.
It keeps the entire space feeling cosy with all of that under-bum cushioning paired with soft pillows for your back. Pass me some sunglasses and a cocktail.
Now, I’m not entirely certain if there’s storage inside the seating you see above, but it makes perfect sense to incorporate it if you can.
Outdoor areas can get so full of mess and clutter than you just don’t want to store inside. What better way to keep it close but not seen than by popping it inside the banquette?
Credits for above, clockwise from top: hgtv, house and garden, and musicments.
Credits for above, clockwise from top left: country living, house and home, AIID, and sugar and charm. And credits for below, clockwise from top left: hgtv, 3 beaches, pinterest and apartment therapy.
Bonus Inspo: Banquette Seating Ideas for Under Windows
It’s not all about banquette seating ideas for dining rooms. Nah-uh! You’d be mad not to consider a banquette for under a window if you have the space for it.
Just look at the glorious image above on the bottom right, and then right below this text. Two beautiful window moments made all the more stunning thanks to the installation of a banquette seat. How good would it be to curl up here and watch the world go by?
The image above also showcases how wonderful it can be if you can work drawers into the banquette. I’m loving the clean lines of those black handles on white drawers.
Banquette Seating Ideas for All Design Styles!
It doesn’t matter if you’re mad for Hamptons, can’t get enough of Scandinavian design, or go batty for boho; banquette seating can be tailor-made to work with any home’s design style.
That’s what I love most about it apart from how functional it is, and how ideal it is for a small dining room.
Have you had a banquette seat installed at your place? I’d love to know how it’s improved the space, both in terms of how you use it and what it looks like. Drop me a comment below and share.
And if you’re planning a more considered dining area as part of a home revamp, our Melbourne residential interior design services can help you bring it all together – beautifully and practically.
Fantastic post Chris! I love this idea but is it still possible with angled walls?
We relocated our kitchen and now have a dining ‘nook’ area in this oddly shaped space. A large round dining table that doesn’t fit all the way back into the nook, a coffee station trolley, a buffet and two tall display cabinets but they all look disconnected as the two walls recede back to an angled point in the middle. Wondering if the banquet bench seating could be the magic solution in making this space come into its own.
Great site! Great ideas beautifully presented.
Hi Chris, I’ve been searching everywhere for a free-standing banquet style bench, like the ones in some of the pics in your post – but can’t find them anywhere in Oz. They seem to be everywhere in the US, any ideas where to purchase here?
Hey Joanne, a lot of these benches are going to be custom or made to order. Otherwise you could repurpose a bench seat made for another purpose but that may not be ideal.
Great blog post! Thank you, Chris! Keep crushing it!