Maximizing your Eat-In Kitchen with a Banquette

My sweet sister has a family of 6 and sadly only 5 of them can sit up to the kitchen table! Tragedy. No, not really, the 1 doesn’t eat in their bedroom, they have an island they can sit up to also. It just isn’t the same as having everyone gathered around the kitchen table. And not to mention the family and friends they often invite over for dinner. It is one thing to not have the room for a larger kitchen table and seating, but they actually have the space, it just wasn’t maximized….yet!

Kevin and I decided to give Brittany a new kitchen table and a built-in banquette for her birthday. She more than deserves it, we love her to pieces and wanted her to be able to have everyone she loved around her kitchen table every night.

Thank you Walmart for sponsoring this post

Eat-in Kitchen Before-

Yes, that table is so cute. It actually was my table when we lived in Utah, but it really isn’t the most comfortable. The little details around the table would stab your leg, not cool. And the metal yellow chairs are really fun, but again, not very comfortable (she can use those as extra chairs outside). Notice how there is a lot of open space around the table? It could handle a rectangle vs a small round. Typically the space will determine the shape of the table. Rectangle space, rectangle table. 

Eat-in Kitchen AFTER with Banquette 

Now this eat-in kitchen is maximized to the max! With room to spare. We decided to do a built-in banquette all along the railing vs just matching it up to the table size. This way people can just sit and talk without being up to the table. Or when she has a large dinner party she can add a small folding table with a long table cloth and make it look like one large table.

My Inspiration-

I was actually inspired by all of the new fresh home decor pieces at Walmart.com. The table was buy starting off point, I was searching for a light white-washed table to complete their floors. Then I saw all the pillows, which are all under $20!!! And it got me thinking how fun it would be to pile in a bunch of pillows and create a cozy spot, in their most lived in space. I know for us our kitchen is the hub of the home and it is for her family as well. You can get this same look for what some might pay for just a dining table! I love Walmart.com for on-trend home decor pieces that everyone can afford! 

Click on an image to shop it- 

Building the Banquette-

I didn’t do a tutorial on the banquette because we have one on this blog post (the only difference is we didn’t do storage and we added a back). We actually did this banquette last minute before we went back home to Connecticut, wish we had more time to document the entire process and take more pictures!! 

After the frame was built we “skinned” it with MDF. You can actually have these large pieces of MDF cut down to size at a home improvement store, if you know the exact size before you go (which I recommend). Then Kevin and my Dad added some molding. The back has a pieces of MDF also and is painted white so it blends in with the railing too. See a picture of the back below….

Paint on Banquette- Valspar Ultra White in a semi-gloss

Really this new set-up is a welcome change for the New Year! Brittany said “it makes me want to cook dinner for my family!” Ha! I love that. It is so true tho, when we update a space we want to spend more time in it. So really if you get a new dining table it will then make you a healthier person because you will eat out less! WIN!!!!  

You can see how nice the eat-in kitchen area now plays off the rest of her kitchen. I will say that having her backless barstools really make this work and feel less crowded and easy to get between the stool and the dining chair. And we did spray paint her “EAT” letters black vs the red, which she had zero red anywhere else in her home.

Love THIS cute floor planter from Walmart.com. It fills in the space really nicely.

Personally I like to keep what is on the center of the dining table really practical. They don’t have to move this arrangement when they sit down to eat. Everyone can see over it to talk too. Or if they do decide to move it they can just pick up the cutting board and it’s out of the way! (All of the decor is linked below).

Dining Table-

I really wanted to do a light dining table for her to play off her gorgeous new wood floors. I felt like a wood table would just compete. This dining table is even better than I thought it would be!!! So affordable and such a pretty finish. 

Pillows-

Now not only do they have great seating up to their dining table, they basically have a sofa in their kitchen! With all the comfy pillows, it adds so much. They could eventually add a cushion, but for now with young boys it works great without it. 

Kidney pillow // Fur pillow // Tufted loop pillow

Dining Chairs-

These dining chairs are absolutely amazing!!! And such a good value from Walmart (they come in other colors too, I did the off-white for her). I have similar dining chairs and love them. Plus they are 10 times more comfortable than the yellow metal chairs they had! 

Look at all these people gathered around the table!! We had everyone pile in for a quick picture. This is what it looks like when we come to visit. Lots of shared dinners and games around her table. Now more can fit! 

Click on an image below to shop the look-

Similar Chandelier (we did paint her chandelier white awhile ago)

Wood Floors are actually Laminate- Dove Gray Ash Random Width from Floor & Decor

Dining Table

Dining Chairs (in off-white)

Similar Bamboo Shades (actually better than what she has because those linked are cordless)

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