I don't think it has to include seating. I think they often *shouldn't* include seating, because it's redundant seating that is often a bit shoe-horned in to the space allotted.

So I don't think it's odd at all to have a peninsula without seating.

I just removed my peninsula seating in the remodel to have 16 inch deep cabinets on the eating area side. Finally, a place for placemats and tabletop item storage. Two charging drawers for electronics. The hot beverage and breakfast materials center is on that side with an undercounter refrigerator and a drawer for coffee/tea making materials beside it. I don't have a huge eating area so I can't get to the undercounter fridge if someone is sitting on that side of the kitchen table, but then I just ask them to open the fridge for me to access whatever I need. In the morning I usually get everything out and ready before those chairs get occupied, so it is rarely an issue. I even have a long toekick drawer on that side which can house my small stepladder that I need to get things off the top shelves.

Previously, that overhang was never used for seating since we just did not have the space. These extra drawers are wonderful in my small kitchen and tremendously declutters the kitchen table area.

Agree with palimpset. Always strikes me as odd when seat back abutt each other like that.

It's called a buffet. Great serving and storage space. Doesn't strike me as odd. Go for it.

AvatarWalt:

In a related note, I've removed bar seating on three separate jobs in the last year.

I got rid of mine the year before.

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Sun, Nov 30, 14 at 20:17

I don't think it's weird at all. I didn't do it. I had no interest in shrinking the size of my dining room any more, and my table is right there. People were continually surprised by my decision, but I have no idea why I would.

We were very happy to get rid of this unused feature in our remodel.

Same here. Our peninsula came with a six inch overhang. That is not enough for sitting, and our dining room is RIGHT there, and there isn't room at all to have both types of seating back to back.

Our old peninsula had seating which crowded our dining table. The DR side of our new peninsula has 12" deep cabinets on both ends, where we keep our china and bar glasses. The center section has six cubbies for cookbooks and pottery. Getting rid of the raised bar drove the remodel.

We just renovated our kitchen last year. We went with a peninsula without seating to replace one with seating. Our breakfast area is right across from it and we had no need for more seating but a lot of need for a great space for a buffet.

Not odd at all IMO. The back of my peninsula has open shelving for storage.

I just removed the overhang and seating in my recent remodel. In my case, I was able to push the peninsula out a foot by getting rid of the overhang. This gave me more room and cabinet space in my kitchen while keeping the dimensions of the breakfast nook the same. The peninsula houses the faucet and sink so it was never a really good place to sit anyway with the water splashes, etc. no regrets. The counter depth was sacrificed a bit on the run where my sink is, which took a little to get used to, but it's not a major drawback for me, and the extra space in the kitchen allowed me to expand the range top to a 36" from the previous 30", a much appreciated improvement.

Not odd at all, my peninsula is 4'-4" away from our dining table, and it is also the main traffic flow from living/entry to family room. Stools in that area would be an obstacle course to say the least... and I also use it a convenient buffet and plate up area.

Our old peninsula had a raised bar with stools that no one ever sat on. I couldn't wait to change the peninsula to a single level without seating. I loved it that way.

Sochi, you aren't supposed to steal photos off magazines' websites and post them here. ;). (If if wasn't obvious, your kitchen blows me away.)

I'm loving Sochi's kitchen as well. Stopped me dead in my browsing tracks. Amazing window....

Oh, and as far as the seating on the peninsula goes, I think has been answered by all the amazing photos that look just fine/better without it. I do think it depends on how you want/need your kitchen to work. I don't have that set up, but if I did I'd be tempted to have seating if the space was available. Only because I think my family/guests would really want it. It would be where they hung out with me without being in my cooking way.
But if the seating made the adjacent dinning area cramped or I really needed the storage in order for the kitchen to function properly, I'd probably forgo it.
So, the answer to your question seems to be, "no". Seating is not a must have for every peninsula. It really depends on whether you want the seating or the storage more. Personal choice. Yeah!

I have a peninsula with a useless 9" overhang. I call it "leaning" vs. "seating." It is, however, right before the porch slider, so it's not even comfortable for that. I'm moving the base cabinets over 6" to get more accessibility to the wall cabinets and deleting the rest of the overhang completely.

Sometimes rooms just need definition. and functional definition like a buffet or cabinetry is great.

Many thanks for all the comments and photos. I don't think we're pressed for storage and there'll be ample distance between the peninsula and the dining room table, so I'm really just weighing display shelves (which would be nice) vs seating (that I don't think we'd use much). Hearing that going without seating isn't as unheard of as I'd feared makes me more comfortable with the idea.

As I get older, I find I really appreciate the chance to sit down while doing certain kitchen tasks. I don't always remember to move around to the other side of the peninsula, but when I do, I love to be able to sit and peel or zest or do other tasks that do not require standing.

The stools and small overhang at our peninsula don't get a lot of use, but I'm glad to have them!