From the Sutherland Designer Profile section
Banquette Dining Design
Designers are seeing an uptick of banquette dining areas in recent years due to many benefits. A "breakfast nook" is an easy yet visually interesting option for clients with children, or for clients with smaller spaces. Discover the pros and hows of designing a chic and functional banquette.
The word “banquette” comes from the Germanic word for “bench,” and can be traced back to 15th century France. Royalty and nobility used banquettes as a cozy window seating option, adorned with cushions and tapestries. These days banquettes are still often surrounded by windows and accessorized with bright throw pillows. But now banquettes are much more family friendly with Perennials 100% solution-dyed acrylic fabrics. Ideal for sticky fingers and sloshed wine, banquettes upholstered in Perennials can stand up to the chaos of modern life. Learn how banquette seating can transform a casual dining area.
Maximize Seating
Clients with families favor bench seating because you never know who might be joining for lunch or dinner. Did little Davey invite four friends over for spaghetti night? Fret not. A banquette will hold them all. And a banquette in Perennials will combat sauce stains. The banquette below, situated in a dining room designed by Bandd Design, is perfect for large gatherings.
Sara Barney, interior designer behind Bandd Design, explains her use of Basket Case, “When designing the banquette seating for the dining room, we knew that we wanted to use a fabric that felt cool and fresh, but also had interesting texture and detail to give the room a little extra something. The Basket Case fabric was the perfect fit for what we were looking for.”
Not only does it look stunning, but it’s stain resistant, so the client won’t have to worry about their young kids spilling on it!
Youthful Energy
A banquette provides a casual dining option where anyone can plop down for a quick meal or snack – or homework! At a time when many of us are working from home, a breakfast nook easily transforms into a home schooling station. Whatever the use, a banquette offers youthful energy to a space. Forget a formal dining room. Bring on the hot dogs and cheetos (not recommended on non-Perennials cushions).
The design below from Austin-based designer Lauren Ramirez packs an extra punch by incorporating bright colors! She used a coral Perennials fabric, similar to Chameleon in Red Coral, to beautifully contrast blue built-ins. The bold colors jazz up what might have been a previously unused area.
“I love using Perennials in areas where there is high traffic and high potential for spills, like a built in banquette. The fabric is amazingly durable and having it in my own home (with two kids and a big dog), I can attest that Perennials allows me to find the intersection between style and durability that many of clients need in the hard-working areas of their home.”
Remedy for Small Spaces
Revitalizing a corner of the kitchen with a bench and table is an easy dining solution. Banquettes are customizable to any space and provide kitchens with a seating area, no matter how awkward in size. City-dwelling families benefit from breakfast nooks as urban spaces may not allow for formal dining. Clients can also inject a pop of excitement with fun Perennials fabrics. Dining in style has never been more fun.
Comfortable Living
Perennials pioneered the “performance fabric” industry by redirecting emphasis to indoor durability. Perennials saw an influx of projects using Perennials in places like the kitchen and dining room. As we enjoy life at home more than ever, banquette dining is pivotal for busy families on the move. “It is important to us to provide our clients with durable and livable fabrics especially with small children,” says Southern California designer Kate Lester. “Perennials is really a go to for us for sofas and cushions like you see in this built in. We want to make sure the clients can easily clean their investment pieces!”
