One of the first DIY projects we ever did in our current home, was do a built-in banquette seating in our kitchen nook. We have a galley style kitchen that has now been opened up to the living room. When the flippers who redid our house did the kitchen, they left this small space for a table and breakfast area. Honestly, there was no way that was going to be a functional breakfast nook without some sweat and creativity. This is the space we were working with.
In this picture, you can see the space in the back left corner. Super small.
This is an up close picture of the nook. It does look bigger here, but the space is narrow because of the door frame to the laundry room.
I was determined to get a seating area in this space. So in order to make that happen, I needed to create built-in seating on the wall by the window and the wall by the door. Here is how we did it.
DIY Banquette Seating
Supplies:
2x4s (Cut to size of your space)
2x2s (Cut to size of your space)
Kreg Screws or Construction Screws (Depending on how you want to build the frame)
Plywood
Beadboard
Trim
Paint (I used Pure White by Sherwin Williams)
Fabric (My fabric came from JoAnnes)
Pillows (My pillows came from World Market)
Upholstery Foam - You can get this from a fabric store or get a cheaper version from Home Depot which I did
Directions:
1. Build a frame for the length and width of the banquette using 2x4s. We attached these using a Kreg Jig and pocket holes, but you can do this with regular construction screws.
2. Find the studs on the wall and attach the frame to the wall using construction screws.
3. Attach plywood to the front of the frame.
4. Attach beadboard and trim to the front of the frame. You can also mix up the front part with different kinds of trim if you don’t like the beadboard.
5. Paint the color of your choosing. We picked white for ours!
6. Cut a piece of plywood to match the frame. We added 2x2s to the bottom of the plywood to make sure the tops don’t slip.
7. Cut foam to match the top of the plywood. Attach the foam to the plywood using spray adhesive.
8. Cut fabric to fall over the length and width of the foam. Pull and tighten over the foam and attach to the back of the plywood using a staple gun.
9. We also added board and batten to the wall to make the space looked more built-in.
Want to see the end result?
What do you think? Matt also custom built a table for us because we could not find one that fit this space.
Do you have an awkward space like this in your home? What have you done to transform that space?
Caroline
This post contains affiliate links