Ideas for a Living Room Banquette

A banquette is a creative way to set up a dining area. Banquettes were originally used in kitchens for informal dining and were the forerunners of modern breakfast bars. Today, banquettes are a popular design choice because many new homes, apartments, lofts and condominiums do not have formal dining rooms. Banquettes allow you to be more casual and take a free-style approach to creating a dining setting. You can also be versatile and even eclectic in your choice of furnishings. Does this Spark an idea?

Living and Dining

Not every home has a dedicated or formal dining room. Many modern floor plans have one large and open space for the living room, and give occupants the option to dedicate a space for dining, or not. The openness of such a floor plan is a good way to create a living and dining space without interrupting the flow of the open design. You can also be creative in where you position the banquette. The banquette can have a back wall, with a custom-built seating unit and combined with a medium-size dining room table. Or, you can select banquette-height sofas and shape them in an L-shape to create a banquette dining area within the living room.

At-Home Diner

If youre into retro dcor styles a living room, banquette is a good way to display your love for vintage finds and collectibles. For examples, you can have a custom wall unit built thats covered with vinyl to mimic the look of a diner from the 1960s. Then you can combine one or two Formica tables to create the dining tables. If you need additional seating, look for vinyl-covered chairs with chrome legs at vintage stores. There are also companies that make replicas of chairs from the 60s that you can find on the Internet. Frame items such as album covers and restaurant menus as artwork to complete the at-home diner style.

Corner High-Rise View

A corner space is a perfect space to set up a living room banquette. You can use windows on one or both sides to create a defined space, complete with window treatments and a view. If you live in an urban high-rise apartment or condominium, the backdrop of night lights and the skyline during the day will make add to the enjoyment of dining.

Before and After Dinner Delights

There are many stylish and sophisticated furniture choices for banquette-sized sofas. This creates interesting options for a banquette area in a living room even if you have a formal dining room. You can use the banquette to serve cocktails and hors doeuvres before dinner, and for serving deserts and beverages after dinner. By using the living room banquette, you can transition guests from one room to another to give dinner parties and gatherings a mix of settings.