Reader requests - banquettes

Mary Anne of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia wrote us with a request for a post on banquette dining/eating areas. She found the post I did back in '07, but wanted some more ideas. So here are more banquette seating for your viewing pleasure.

Canadian House & Home	Gaelle Le Boulicaut
Gridley + Graves	Amie Weitzman
Amie Weitzman	Turquoise
Sunset	AT Casa
New York Social Diary	Loyall Sewall
Wendy Blount	James Merrell

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Dining in the kitchen

Stacy emailed us recently asking for some inspiration for her sis: "We live in a very expensive "city" in the US, full of retirees, so the only affordable houses are either falling apart or brand new cookie cutter subdivision types. My sister and her husband are in the process of buying a new house and have chosen the new option. The kitchen, of course, consists of an L shape ...counters, cooktop, fridge, sink, dishwasher etc with no island or even room for one. I was wondering if you have a collection of rooms where the eating table is inside the kitchen? I would like to show her how she can make it look less boring in there." Hopefully the following photos of small-ish kitchens with mini dining areas will help Stacy's sister spice up her blah kitchen.

Svenska Stylistgruppen	John Loecke
A Beautiful Living	Apartment Therapy
design*sponge	Domino
Apartment Therapy	Apartment Therapy
COMMA	design*sponge
Domino	New York Times
Sofie Lawett	Zege

Apartment Therapy
design*sponge
Kate Hume
Elle Decor
Sköna hem
Stadshem
Marie Claire Maison
atelier zürich
Marie Claire Maison
Folio
Beckers

It's all in the details

What can you do if you've got a space (or in my case an entire house) that is totally lacking any sort of architectural feature? How about some beadboard, trim, chair rail, paneling, moldings! A friend at work has been hitting up my twin sister and I for some decorating ideas for her blah dining room and she mentionned wanting to do some molding on the bottom half of the walls. I told her to got for it as her dining room is a square, with a window, and that's it. I thought I'd dig up some dining rooms that have some sort of molding or paneling on the walls so she could get some ideas on how to go about it. I'm including some living rooms too because this idea is great for any room in your home (I'm pretty certain I'll be trying a chair rail in my main bathroom as soon as I get around to renovating it).

Apartment Therapy	Apartment Therapy
Frank Roop	Bolig Magasinet
Homes & Gardens	Sköna hem

Michael Partenio
BKSK Architects
Stargo
Homes & Gardens
Steven Gambrel
Apartment Therapy
Kate Hume
Alexandra Angle Interior Design
Ideal Home
Sunset
Marie Claire Maison
Inspace Locations
design*sponge

design*sponge	Alexandra Angle Interior Design

design*sponge
David Jimenez
Burcu Avsar
Nicolas Tosi
Living Etc.
Homes & Gardens

Small dining spaces

Continuing on the "small" theme, today I thought I'd showcase some small dining spaces. My favourite small dining space includes a built-in banquette - preferably in a nook. LOVE THAT. I am determined to one day buy a house that perfectly suits such a thing. I would spend every waking moment there - eating, blogging, reading mags etc. There's a few banquettes below (and in this post), among other seating arrangements.

Apartment Therapy	Colorama
design*sponge	design*sponge
design*sponge	Gridley + Graves
Residence	Polly Wreford
Sivkraft	Sköna hem
design*sponge	Turquoise

Living at Home
Kelly Hoppen
Cottage Living
David Jimenez
design*sponge
Apartment Therapy
Living Etc.
Living Etc.
Living Etc.

Some favourite dining rooms of 2009

Emma Lee
James Tse
Meyer Davis
Jordi Canosa
Reed Davis
Turnbull Griffin Haesloop