Need help finalizing our banquette plans, please!

9 years ago

We are building an L-shaped banquette out of cabinets to maximize eating space for our family of 6. I have a few questions I need to answer before we can finalize things.

- We are using fan cabs. If we put a plywood board on top to give us room for our behinds, this will also create an overhang that our feet can kickback under. But, do we cantilever the board? If the cabs are 13" deep, we can't have 5" or more hanging off the front, can we?

- DH wants to splurge and get a back cushion made. But, that eats into our seat space. Or, we need to make the seat bigger (which ties back into my first question). But, making the seat bigger also takes up more floor space, which is the whole point of doing the banquette!

- if we don't do a back cushion, should we still build a slanted back? Or just use the wall and some decorative throw cushions?

Thanks for your advice. We are redoing the entire kitchen ourselves, and with 4 kids from 1-9 years old, we will need to get the kitchen functioning ASAP!

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Comments (5)

dilly_ny
9 years ago
We really struggled to design our banquette. In the end, we used poster board to mock up the shape /size (ours is angled which made it quiet tricky).

I didn't do a slanted back, but if you are having it professionally upholstered, they can shape it with foam. In my area, professionally upholstering is very expensive, so we just DIYed the seat for the time being. I tried to use throw
Pillows, but they always ended upon the floor. Now I'm thinking of velcroing them in place.

Plywood top is the way to go. An overhang is common. Mine probably has a 3" overhang. I wouldn't go more than 5" personally because you may create a weak point that could break (if someone stands on bench).
nmjen
9 years ago
We have a 3" cushion on the seat itself, but do not have a back, just throw pillows, and so far, it works out very well for us. When we're eating, the pillows are a nice (but not necessary) option, but I find their adjustability to be especially wonderful when I'm curled up in the banquette corner with a cup of coffee and a good book. :)
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a2gemini
9 years ago
We have ours under a window also and it has a fold down back so I can operate the window or just leave it down
Pictures later or search a2gemini final reveal

I don't think you could fold all :3 but maybe
jess1979
9 years ago
We put in I think a 3 inch overhang all the way around. We did not slant the back. We did put down a real nice thick piece of wood for the seat, so it is very sturdy.
eam44
9 years ago
What did you decide to do with your banquette? Slanted back, or no slanted back? I'd love to see pics!