35 Welcoming Eat-In Kitchen Ideas For Any Space
There’s no place in the home that gets used quite as much as the kitchen. It’s where casseroles are cooked, snack times are savored, and late night swipes of leftovers are procured. If you’re lucky, you have a dine-in-kitchen which only allows for more cherished memories to be developed in the space that’s the heart of every home.
Dress up Kitchen Nooks
HECTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ STYLING BY: HOLLY SMITH
Designer Laura Kay has found that her family loves a breakfast room. She created the illusion of a costly corner banquette by building an L-shaped wood bench and fitting it with French-style cushions. “They are dense enough that the back cushion can stand up on its own when placed between the seat cushion and the wall,” she explains.
Find Dual Purpose
Brie Williams; Styling: Kendra Surface
In lieu of a traditional island, repurpose unused furniture. Here, custom home builders Mary and Troy Ludemann outfitted their farmhouse kitchen with an original kitchen table and added a marble top to match the perimeter countertops. With extra seating it functions as the family’s casual dining space, food prep area, and a serving station.
Double it Up
For more flexibility, consider pairing two smaller tables together like designer Cortney Bishop did in this cheerful kitchen. The banquette is outfitted with twin bistro tables to take you from a single morning coffee drinker to a large dinner party.
Don’t Sacrifice on Comfort
Hector Manuel Sanchez
When renovating her 1920s Tudor cottage, designer Catherine Branstetter selected high-backed kitchen stools to ensure comfortable seating in the popular spot.
Max Out Small Spaces
Credit:
HECTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ
Get creative with tight corners like designer Jeremy Clark did here in this Nashville condo. In the galley-like kitchen, he wasted no space by creating a breakfast nook that doubles as a bar for entertaining.
Give Your Peninsula Versatility
Larsen & Talbert
When adding onto their home, Ben and Erin Napier wanted the kitchen addition to feel like it belonged with the rest of the 1930s house. With a family dining table just off the kitchen, the peninsula is used for casual dining and serves as a buffet or bar when entertaining.
Tuck in Your Table
Don’t like dangling your feet from a barstool? Instead of using bar seating at the island, tuck a dining table underneath the bar ledge as seen in this house. A large table not only helps an open-concept kitchen feel cozier, but also makes room for more than a few stools.
Think Diner-Style
A built-in booth takes advantage of tight and obscure spaces. To keep things laid back, use vinyl or washable materials on the benches for easy cleaning.
Tie it Together With a Color Palette
With an open-concept kitchen and dining space, use a selection that ties the spaces together. White paint and pretty blues create a cohesive space between the casual eat-in kitchen counter and seated dining table.
Create a Colorful Breakfast Nook
If the focus of your kitchen isn’t cooking, turn your attention to carving out an intentional and useful space to share meals, do homework, play games, and more. In her home, designer Alexis Simpson opted for a built-in banquette and table big enough to fit her whole family.
Forgo the Kitchen Island
Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Elly Poston Cooper
For a casual and cottage feel, bring in rustic and worn elements. In place of a new-feeling kitchen island or large dining room, an antique table and miss-matched chairs lend a vintage feel to the simple kitchen and is the perfect spot for dinner for two.
Use Built-In Window Seating
When working with a smaller space, a window seat is the perfect solution to add extra seating. The throw pillows make this space even cozier and perfect to sit while you enjoy a cup of coffee.
Use a Mix of Seating
Use an eclectic mix of seating styles, like benches and dining chairs (with and without arms), around your table for a perfectly-imperfect look.
Balance Functional and Formal
Maximized every square inch of open-concept living areas so they work for all types of entertaining. In designer Anna Braund’s house she “wanted to create harmonious movement throughout the space so the whole home can be used, not just parts of it.” The close-knit island and dining table ensure seamless hosting and family dinners alike while a vaulted, beamed ceiling helps define the dining area as its own space.
Turn Antiques into Highly-Functional Pieces
In this home, designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas wanted to include an old piece of furniture in every room. The French antique trestle table in the center serves as an island, a prep station, and a dining table thanks to the short stools that can easily be pushed underneath the table and pulled out as needed.
Lean into an Open Floor Plan
Eat-in kitchen setups shouldn’t mean sacrificing on style or statement. In this Birmingham house, a show-stopping bubble glass chandelier and custom lacquered table set the scene for entertaining and everyday use.
Bring on the Benches
Instead of cluttering the kitchen with too many stools, consider counter-height, slipcovered benches. To accommodate large families and various activities an additional breakfast nook is outfitted with a window seat.
Leave the Bar Stools Behind
Forget barstools and turn the opposite side of your kitchen island or countertop into a banquette. Instead of an overhang of the island, a comfortable bench can seat many for casual dinners and hang-out perch alike.
Don’t Bother With Built-In’s
Create your own nook-style casual dining space by using a free-standing banquette and chairs around any shaped table that best suits your space. This is a great way to offer maximal seating in tight spaces.
Don’t Limit Seating to One Side
LAUREY W. GLENN
Prioritized practicality by adding seating to more than one side of your eat-in kitchen island.
Opt for a Spacious Banquette
Furthering her plan to enhance the room’s architecture, designer Suzanne Kasler turned one corner of the kitchen into a cheery dining area with an L-shaped built-in bench that mimics the cabinetry. To keep the dining nook cozy (not restaurant-like) she surrounded the metal bistro table with slipcovered armchairs and hung a sparkly chandelier above.
Give it a Distinct Feel
In her 1960’s ranch style-home, designer Meg Kelly distinguished the dining area within the open-concept layout from the kitchen with a unique vintage rug. “It was also important to drop a light fixture here so it feels like its own little room,” she says.
Consider Vinyl Upholstering
To combat inevitable food spills, use a linen-and-rayon fabric coated with polyurethane in your kitchen.
Make Room for Conversation
Create more than one in-kitchen dining space to facilitate connection no matter the time of day or amount of company.
Anchor with Accents
Create a special space within shared kitchen and living areas with lighting and artwork. Here, a unique fixture and attention-grabbing painting ground the space to distinguish it from the hardworking kitchen.
Turn it into a Gathering Space
Take advantage of good views and create a gathering space with minimal details to focus on the surrounding natural beauty. Here, stained-wood shelves and sleek concrete countertops highlight the center table’s importance while a large pendant hangs above to center the space.
Don’t Sacrifice Style
To cultivate connection and highlight your home’s design, choose a large farm table as your kitchen’s centerpiece in place of an island. While it can be used as extra space for preparing food, it’s also a prime spot to sit with friends and family no matter the occasion.
Add in Clever Storage
In this house hardworking spaces look different. Instead of a center island this breakfast nook with bonus storage beneath is the backbone of the kitchen. From storing cookbooks and the whole family piling in for Saturday breakfast to quick weeknight dinners and late-night leftovers, the tucked-in booth does it all.
Keep it Light and Airy
Though breakfast nooks are most often thought of as cozy and simple spaces for the morning, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t allow for plenty of natural light and comfortability for all-day use.
Bring Formality to Unexpected Places
Credit:
Brie Williams
Take a hint from formal dining rooms and give your eat-in space a dose of tradition. The glass table and antique caned-back chairs help the bay window dining area from feeling too dark.
Maximize Liveablity
For small families, an L-shaped banquette paired with a cozy table is the perfect solution for day-to-day dining.
Add Seating to Prime Spots
Make the most of your kitchen and popular spaces by optimizing tight corners. While the space might be too small a slew of chairs, a custom banquette does the trick.
Make Room for Crowds
As the busiest spot in the house, a kitchen needs ample seating. Outfit a bay window alcove with a three-sided banquette so you can seat the whole family plus a few guests.
Give the Nook its Own Personality
Give your kitchen eating area unique character with wallpaper, paint, or textiles. This one strikes a balance between old and new.
Don’t Let Seating Get in the Way
Brian Woodcock
When they’re not in use, simple wooden bar stools can easily be tucked away under the deep kitchen island to maximize work space or turn the countertop into a serving station.
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