23 charming design ideas for kitchen nooks
There’s something fun about a kitchen nook; having one in your kitchen gives the feeling of being in a bar or a diner booth even while you’re still at home (in that sense, it’s a little like having a built-in bar in your house, except about a million times more tasteful). They are both comfortable and informal, and provide structure and a focal point for a room’s social goings-on. They’re particularly ideal for those whose kitchens tend to act as the main living space in a house, as the banquettes naturally encourage lounging around for hours, reading newspapers, drinking coffee and chatting. If you have a small kitchen without space to pull out chairs on every side of a dining table, banquette seating can be a practical solution, and they can easily be squeezed in on one side of a counter that extends into the room.
There are all sorts of ways to “do” a nook, and you can find examples of all of them here, taken from the House & Garden archive.
Paul Massey1/23This modern kitchen in an apartment by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay combines built-in seating with a vintage dining table from Pamono and John Vogel chairs for West Elm. The adjustable pendant light helps to define the dining are and is from Hector Finch.
Sarah Griggs2/23You don't necessarily need built-in seating to create a kitchen nook - it can be more flexible to buy a banquette-style bench. On the high street, we love OKA's ‘Stafford’ model, which comes in a range of colours, but the example in this kitchen/dining room in a Chelsea house by Studio Duggan is absolutely delightful.
©Joshua McHugh3/23In this Manhattan apartment, Katch Interiors has created a cool cork-lined corner nook. It features a custom-made triangular table on castors, which is designed to be rolled out of the way to allow easy access to a useful concealed storage area under the bench seat.
4/23In her own London flat, Emma Burns, of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, has designed seating to fit under the built-in bookshelves. The ‘Nomos’ glass table, by Norman Foster for Tecno, feels light and modern, while the mix of chair styles adds interest.
5/23In this large kitchen extension, there is enough space for a wraparound seating area, bathed in light from the picture
window. Beata Heuman’s ottoman-style banquettes with storage are both playful and practical; the scatter cushions are in her ‘Palm Drop’ viscose/linen.
6/23In this project by Salvesen Graham, curved seating acts as a divider between the kitchen and a garden room. A grid display of botanical art makes the area feel like a tailor-made space, while including an arm on the banquette helps to contain the mass of cushions.
7/23A dual-aspect corner makes a pleasant spot for a dining area. In a Californian house designed by Wall for Apricots, this one features vintage folk art chairs and banquettes with drawers underneath and bench cushions covered in Zak+Fox’s ‘Oyo’ cotton.
Alexander James8/23Built-in seating can feel modern, as exemplified by this dining space in an Edwardian villa by William Smalley. His floating bench maintains the airy feeling of the kitchen, while the uniform material palette of the dining furniture creates a sense of visual calm.
9/23A bay window has been put to good use in Matilda Goad’s London house with extensive built-in seating. Furniture like Eero Saarinen’s ‘Tulip’ table and Gio Ponti’s ‘Superleggera’ chairs were designed to appear light and streamlined, so these pieces – and designs like them – are excellent choices for a dining nook
© Matt Clayton10/23Cath Beckett has replicated the space-saving feel of a nook by positioning a dining table in a compact area (which is sometimes used to dry laundry). The eye-catching wall-paper is Pierre Frey’s ‘Plein Été’ and the blue bench was found on Ebay.
Stephen Kent Johnson / OTTO11/23Designer Billy Cotton has fitted banquette seating round a table in the light-filled corner of this kitchen. The Soane pendant light, rush matting and bamboo roll-up blind harmonise with the chairs, while the gingham tablecloth makes the scheme feel more lighthearted. The area is further delineated by the plates displayed on the walls.
Sean Fennessey12/23A playful bench upholstered in Ralph Lauren fabric gives the breakfast nook in the house Australian designer Tamsin Johnson designed for her sister a retro feel. Paired with Bill Henson photographs and vintage dining furniture, the nook is unlike any other.
13/23Natural light dictated the layout of the compact eat-in kitchen in fashion designer Morgane Sézalory's Paris apartment. “In the winter, the light is less nice than the summer, so we positioned the table as close to the window as possible,” explains Sézalory, who complemented the custom, curvy bench with a vintage travertine pedestal table, wood chairs by midcentury Swiss designer Bruno Rey, and embroidered floral cushions from Les Composantes.
Alexander James14/23The banquette seating on one side of the table in Nicole Salvesan’s Victorian home faces onto a large, bright kitchen extension.
Owen Gale15/23Under a roof light, Honor Devereux has built in a banquette upholstered in ‘Japura’ by Christopher Farr to create a bright dining nook. On the other side, vintage ‘Carimate’ chairs by Vico Magistretti, sourced from Vinterior, match the rug from Etsy, the tones of which are themselves picked up by the green wall lights that are from Mullan Lighting.
Paul Massey16/23The kitchen nook in Henry Prideaux’s Bermondsey house is comfortable, if also somewhat minimal. Uninvasive but still unique, it’s a characterful addition to a home that Henry renovated from the ground up.
Ngoc Minh Ngo17/23In Manhattan’s West Village, the kitchen of Jos and Annabel White’s six-storey town house makes for the heart of the house; they were inspired to create their nook, with its green banquette and neon sign, by old-fashioned American diners. “We have lunch in the nook,” Annabel explains, “and dinner at the table.”
Simon Brown18/23The addition of a mezzanine can create an ideal recessed area for a dining nook. In this flat by Banda’s Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, a wall of mirror glass creates an illusion of extra space when combined with tailored, button-back upholstery in mustard velvet.
Paul Massey19/23A curved banquette makes the most of the bay window in this London flat by Virginia Howard. The banquette’s upholstery is Lelièvre’s raspberry-pink ‘Mogador’ velvet; it complements ‘Borgia Rojo’ from Claremont on the blinds and Christopher Moore’s ‘Aquitaine’ from Turnell & Gigon on the chairs.
Simon Upton20/23Reclaimed materials are key to the philosophy behind Patrick Williams’ London flat. In this case, pews from a salvage yard become the seating around a dining table to effect a sense of rustic charm in the kitchen.
Christoper Horwood21/23Rather than a banquette-style kitchen nook, Lucy Williams installed a long seat along the side of her kitchen – perfect for guests to lounge on with a drink if Lucy’s hosting and moving around the kitchen.
Jonathan Bond22/23A long dining table is given extra seating courtesy of banquettes at this Notting Hill house by Barlow & Barlow; the kitchen was designed and installed by Herringbone Kitchens.
Jason Ingram23/23Adam Sykes’s wonderful 1960s London home features a U-shaped kitchen nook that is both cosy and elegant at once; all one would expect from the owner of fabric house Claremont.
