Banquette Design for the Goose Hollow Manor Project

Today we talk banquette design for the Goose Hollow Manor project! (If you're just joining, you can see all the before photos here.) Our client wanted a built-in area in their kitchen for family meals, art projects/homework and a spot for the family desktop computer and printer. Their kitchen was generously sized and its style fit perfectly in their historic home. Our job was to make sure the new banquette felt as cohesive in the space as possible.

Two tricky things were in our way: the wall ovens and the edge of the kitchen island. You can see both in the below photo.

After playing around with different ideas, we all agreed that the run for the bench should be along the back wall. By putting a bench directly below the window, there would be just enough space for a bench with table and chairs in front. And by just enough we mean that there would be 4 feet of space (the bare minimum you want for a circulation path) between the table and the edge of the island. It would also push seating as far away from the ovens as possible.

However, if we built a bench below the window, the desktop computer couldn't stay in its current location. The bench would run right into it and it would be impossible to work on the computer. We were also concerned about having an electronic device, especially one so sensitive to temperatures like a desktop, located so closely to the ovens. It made sense to move it.

So we turned our eyes to this corner: