Kitchen seating is becoming more of a priority. With many people choosing to upgrade their kitchen into a place of socialisation and family time, comfortable seating is paramount to a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere. Incorporating the correct seating can be rather tricky, especially if space is limited or when you are hosting.
Your choice of seating and where you locate it is a key focal point of the design. Wrongly placed seating can cause a variety of problems: sitting too close to the working area can seem very crowded, and sitting too far away will seem distant and make it hard to hear or focus on your guests. You need to work out what seating you need depending on how and when it is used. For example, will the seating be used for breakfast and drinks, or for big family meals and entertaining?
Kitchen Seating at a Glance
There are four main options. Stools suit an island or peninsula and work for breakfast, drinks and homework, with gas-lift versions adjusting to your worktop height. Dining chairs suit freestanding or integrated tables and can be stacked away when not needed. Banquettes and booths are built-in, seat the most people in the least space and can be shaped around a corner. Benches are the most versatile, working freestanding or built in, often with storage under the lid, and they fit neatly into a window recess. At Handmade Kitchen Company we design and hand-build bespoke seating to match your cabinetry.
The four main seating options
Here is a breakdown of different seating options which will help you decide what is right for your kitchen.
Simplistic stools
Stools are a great option for breakfast, snacks, light meals and drinks. They go well with an island or peninsula and are great for keeping family close and encouraging children to do homework and get involved with crafts or baking. Gas-lift stools are increasingly popular as they can be height adjusted to suit the level of your worktop or bar. You can also lower them when not in use and tuck them under the worktop overhang to save space. Stools can be just as comfortable as chairs, as you can opt for ones with cushioned backs and arm rests. Static bar chairs are another option, but it is important to check they suit the height of your peninsula or breakfast bar before buying.
Flexible chairs
Dining chairs are great for freestanding tables, low-level surfaces and integrated tables. These are perfect for bigger family gatherings and home-cooked meals. A great benefit of low-level dining chairs is that you can choose stackable ones, which makes it easy to tidy them out of the way when your dining area isn’t being used. This helps to maximise space and use the surface for other purposes. Dining chairs are available in a wide variety of styles, and you can choose padded or wipe-clean chairs to minimise cleaning.
Luxury banquettes and booths
A banquette or booth is a permanent seating arrangement which can be designed as part of a central island unit. It works in both smaller and larger kitchens, as it can be tucked into a corner to save space. A banquette or booth can be L-shaped or a curved design and is perfect for keeping family and friends close together, with the option of an overhead bulkhead and different coloured lighting. A banquette can be made in almost any colour, material and style you want. You can opt for furniture that matches your cabinets and have padded or wipe-clean seats. Read more about our bespoke banquette seating.
Benches
Benches are a very versatile addition to your kitchen. They can be freestanding or built in, and paired with chairs and islands. Benches can be made in any size or style which suits you, and there are even options to have lift-up lids and drawers for storage. Another great benefit of a bench is that it can fit almost anywhere. Some people love to sit near the window but those with smaller kitchens struggle to fit seating in that area. A bench is great for this purpose, and installing a small window seat can be the perfect solution, with the option to integrate a small table into the area.
Kitchen Seating FAQs
What is the best seating for a kitchen island?
Stools are the natural choice, as they tuck under the overhang when not in use. Gas-lift stools adjust to suit your worktop height, which matters because island and breakfast bar heights vary. If you are buying static bar chairs, check the seat height against your worktop before committing.
What seating works best in a small kitchen?
A banquette or a built-in bench, because both seat more people in less floor space than individual chairs and can be shaped into a corner or a window recess. Benches with lift-up lids also give you storage you would otherwise lose.
How much space do you need behind a kitchen stool?
As a rule, allow enough room to pull the stool out and walk behind it comfortably. Seating placed too close to the working area feels crowded, and too far away makes conversation awkward, so the position matters as much as the seat itself.
What is a banquette?
A banquette is fixed, upholstered bench seating built into the room, often running along a wall or wrapping around a corner in an L shape. It can be built as part of an island unit, matched to your cabinetry, and finished with padded or wipe-clean seats.
Where does Handmade Kitchen Company design kitchen seating?
We design and hand-build bespoke kitchen seating, banquettes and benches at our workshop in Essex and hand-paint them on site, for clients across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London.
For more on planning seating into the room itself, see our guide to fitting a seating area into a bespoke kitchen.
Here at Handmade Kitchen Company, we can help you plan and design your bespoke or integrated kitchen seating. You can choose from different materials, shapes, colours, styles and padding to give your seating area comfort and practicality. Whatever your kitchen size or style, we have a seating option to suit you.
If you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can also visit our showroom to view our kitchen and seating options in a fully functioning display. We look forward to hearing from you.
