Window Seats & Breakfast Banquettes

Seating that earns its space twice

A built-in bench does two jobs at once: it provides seating and it hides storage in the base beneath the cushion. A window seat turns a bay or a niche into a reading nook; a kitchen banquette wraps a corner to seat more people around a table than chairs would in the same footprint. Because the seating is built in, it uses space chairs can’t — tucking into a bay, running the length of a wall, or fitting an angle — which is why banquettes are such an efficient way to add casual dining.

Get the proportions right

Comfort comes down to dimensions. A bench seat around eighteen inches high and eighteen or more inches deep is comfortable for dining, with a bit more depth for a lounging window seat that takes cushions and pillows. For a banquette, the relationship between the seat height and the table height matters — the same as a chair to that table — and the table needs to sit close enough to reach comfortably. Getting these numbers right for the actual people and table is exactly the kind of tailoring built-in seating allows and standard furniture doesn’t.

• Roughly 18 inches high for a dining bench; deeper for a lounging seat.
• Coordinate seat and table heights as you would a chair to a table.
• Hinged tops or drawers below for hidden storage.
• Cushions and a comfortable back for a seat people actually use.

The storage underneath

The base of a bench is valuable storage that would otherwise be lost. A hinged seat top lifts to reveal a deep bin — good for seasonal items, table linens, games, or bulky things you don’t reach for daily — while drawers built into the base give easier, everyday access to what’s inside. Which you choose depends on how often you’ll get into it: lift-up tops for deep, occasional storage; drawers for frequent use. Either way, the seating pays its way by storing as well as seating.

Fitting the awkward spot

The best argument for a built-in seat is the difficult space it solves — a shallow bay, a corner too tight for a full table and chairs, an angled wall, a nook under a window. Custom cabinetry is built to that exact geometry, so the bench follows the bay or wraps the corner precisely. Finished to match the kitchen or the room’s millwork, a window seat or banquette reads as part of the home’s architecture, and it often becomes the spot everyone gravitates to — which is a lot of return from a modest piece of built-in cabinetry.