First, you want the materials of construction for the kitchen island to indicate that it is a piece of furniture rather than a butcher’s block. For example, the bottom of the kitchen island should be stained or painted to match other pieces of furniture in the kitchen or other rooms of the house. The kitchen island is often located in a part of the kitchen that opens out into another room so it is important that the façade that faces the other rooms in the house is as decorative as possible. In addition to the bottom, the counter top on the kitchen island can also help to contribute to its furniture qualities. Marble has a lot of color and texture and looks more like what you might find on the top of a piece of furniture than Formica or tile.

A second trick that kitchen island designers use to make kitchen islands that look like kitchen furniture is to put the island up on legs rather than have the cabinetry go all the way to the floor like the other cabinets in the room. The simple act of putting the kitchen island on four decorative legs can go a long way toward making the island look like a piece of furniture.

The piece of furniture that many designers are trying to personify in the kitchen island is the kitchen table. To that end, many kitchen islands double as breakfast bars or eating counters. To facilitate this double use, the kitchen island may have two levels. The level that is closest to the other rooms in your house that can see the island and farthest away from the work triangle for the cook, is usually higher than the rest of the kitchen island. The higher surface on that part of the kitchen island hides the rest of the island work area so that the island resembles a table more than a work surface for someone preparing food or washing dishes.

Another piece of furniture that a kitchen island designer may be trying to go for is a sideboard or buffet. In order to make the kitchen island look like a piece of storage furniture, you will want to have storage areas on the side of the kitchen island facing the rest of the house. For example, you might install a wine rack or a small storage shelf area that is accessible by someone other than the cook who is working behind the kitchen island. The entire kitchen island might look like a wine rack if you set it up correctly. Most people will be distracted by the wine and will not notice that the island is actually a kitchen work space.

Kitchen islands that look like furniture are a great way to get some of the specialized storage and functionality in your kitchen that you have always desired. The point of making the kitchen island look like furniture is so the kitchen is a more inviting place where your guests are comfortable gathering. Gusts are much more likely to gather around a handsome kitchen table or buffet than a cutting board or sink.

The first variety of storage bench is one that resembles a large storage chest. In other words, the storage area goes all the way to the floor and gives you a very deep storage container. One example is the Hampton Bay breakfast nook set by Home Decorators Collection. This kitchen nook set is a corner breakfast nook with storage in the corner bench seat. The lid is equipped with safety hinges so that is closes slowly and you do not run the risk of little fingers getting caught in a closing lid. The furniture from Home Decorators Collection comes in a hazel brown color pictured here as well as white and natural wood. The corner breakfast nook style turns a square table for four into a table for five or six because of the spacious corner bench seats. The biggest benefit of this variety of breakfast nook with storage benches is the large amount of storage space. However, the chest like benches are large and bulky and would not work well in a modern kitchen where open space is a theme.

Another kind of breakfast nook with storage benches is one where the storage does not go all the way to the floor. Instead, the breakfast nook benches with storage are only four to five inches of storage. One example is the Soho Delfino breakfast nook set. This breakfast nook with storage benches is also a corner nook style. The corner bench setup actually comes in three pieces. The corner piece does not include storage, but the two and three person bench seats include storage. This breakfast nook with storage comes in a variety of colors for the microfiber upholstery. The picture below shows the eggplant color but it also comes in red, brown, and white as seen to the left. While you do not have as much storage space, this variety of breakfast nook with storage benches is more subtle. It is not as obvious to the common observer that there are storage compartments and that can be important for a modern kitchen nook.

Soho Delfino Corner Seating Set Ii, 35.5″H, EGGPLANT The Delfino Corner Seating Set has all you need to provide plenty of additional seating and bonus storage space. It includes one corner unit, a two-seat storage bench and a three-seat storage bench.Each piece in this set is constructed of durable solid wood framing. The padded seat cushions and backs are covered in velvety, stain-resistant microfiber. Order your set today. Actual size is 35.5″H

What Makes a Room a Breakfast Nook?

People use the term breakfast nook to refer to a wide variety of rooms, so there is no hard and fast rule for what constitutes a breakfast nook and what doesn’t. In general, if the room holds a breakfast table and some kind of seating, it can be referred to as the breakfast nook.

Breakfast nooks usually have windows. While not a requirement, natural light and lots of windowed walls are quite common in breakfast nooks. Studies have shown that some people actually feel less depressed and are more productive if they are exposed to sunlight during the day. What better way to start your day than in front of some windows letting in natural light. Please keep in mind that if there are windows in your breakfast nook, you must have window treatments of some kind. You do not want the harsh light of a sunrise or sunset to be in someone’s eyes as they eat. The window treatments are actually a plus because they give the homeowner or decorator a way to decorate the breakfast nook. In a room with little furniture except a table and chairs and no extra room, the window treatments are one of the few opportunities to add color and texture.

Another characteristic of most breakfast nooks is that they are actually little nooks or areas not common to the rest of the house. Many breakfast nooks are square footage that juts out away from the rest of the house. Again, this is not a requirement, but it allows for the extra windows and it means you do not have to give up kitchen counter space to have kitchen seating. This feature is particularly nice if you want a breakfast nook for a round kitchen table. It is easy to make the breakfast nook octagonal in shape with windows on each side of the half octagon. Rooms that are actually circular are harder to build and would be much more expensive if you are remodeling or building a home.

Yet another attribute of breakfast nook is that they should just flow from the kitchen. There is rarely a wall or even a change in flooring between the kitchen and the kitchen nook. It really is not a separate room and that is one reason that some people call it an eat in kitchen rather than give the area a separate name. Those people are usually referring to a breakfast nook set when they say breakfast nook.

Characteristics of Breakfast Nook Furniture

Breakfast nook furniture is pretty simple because it mostly consists of a breakfast table and some seating. However, there are different options for seating and the materials of construction and styles of breakfast nook sets are quite varied. No matter how the rest of your kitchen or home is decorated, there is kitchen furniture for you.

Your first option for seating in the kitchen is a set with a breakfast nook bench. Bench seating has many advantages over chair seating. First, you can fit more people at the table if you use benches than if you use chairs. A good estimate is that you can fit approximately one and a half people for every chair. Large families will appreciate the extra seating space without having to get a larger table. Second, benches often come equipped with under the seat storage compartments. A breakfast nook with storage is very helpful to a homeowner because the kitchen is one room where you can never get enough storage. People use this space under their breakfast nook furniture to store small kitchen appliances that they do not use every day like bread makers or rice cookers. They also use it to store things like table linens, extra food, or art and school supplies.

Your second option for breakfast nook seating is chairs. If you do not have an especially large family that you have to seat very meal and you use your breakfast nook set to entertain guests, then chairs are a good choice. Chairs are a bit less informal than benches and it is more comfortable for a guest to sit in their own chair than to share a bench with someone they do not know well. Benches force an intimacy that many people are not comfortable sharing with strangers. In addition, chairs are more comfortable for the most part than benches because a good chair will have a seat that is shaped to a person’s body. I find that it is best to have a little of both worlds. Breakfast nooks with a combination of chairs and benches are quite popular because they give you the extra room and storage of benches but still allow guests to feel comfortable at your table.

A third seating option is stools. If you have a high top breakfast table or a pub table in your kitchen, then you will be forced to use stools rather than chairs. Stools are also popular if you plan to use your kitchen island as a breakfast bar. Some kitchens are too small for large pieces of breakfast nook furniture so they use rolling kitchen islands that come equipped with a drop leaf a few stools.

A breakfast nook set is not complete without a table. The shape of the table should match the shape of the room so that you can utilize the space in the most efficient way possible. The table should also be as big as possible so that you can accommodate as many people as possible. When measuring for your breakfast table, make sure to measure the entire breakfast nook and then subtract three feet from each dimension to allow for an eighteen inch buffer around the table. Those eighteen inches are to allow room for chairs to be pulled in and out. One way to increase the size of your table is to purchase a corner breakfast nook set. That will decrease the buffer to about twelve inches or less on two sides.

Breakfast Table

Perhaps the most obvious and popular type of kitchen furniture is the kitchen nook furniture or breakfast nook furniture. The breakfast or kitchen nook is an area off the side of the kitchen where you put a table and chairs. The kitchen table is the most important part of the kitchen nook set because it is likely the largest piece of furniture in the kitchen.

Materials of construction for a kitchen table can be diverse. The most important thing is to follow the design of the rest of the kitchen. For example, if your kitchen is a traditional country kitchen with wooden cabinets, then a wooden kitchen table set would be a good choice. Putting a glass table in a traditional kitchen would not look right. However, a modern kitchen with sleek lines and a two tone color scheme would be the perfect setting for a glass table with metal legs.

Breakfast tables come in all shapes and sizes. You just have to find the one that is right for your kitchen shape and size. For example, if your kitchen nook is the shape of half of an octagon, then a round kitchen table would work really well in order to maximize the use of the space available. However, if your kitchen nook area is just an extension of the rectangular kitchen, the kitchen furniture sets with rectangular tables are the appropriate choice.

Once you have determined the right shape, you need to start measuring to find the right size. You will need approximately eighteen inches of space to pull out a chair and sit down so you need to subtract approximately three feet from the dimensions of breakfast nooks to find the maximum dimensions of your breakfast nook table. The main way to increase these dimensions is to change the seating arrangements form chairs to benches.

Breakfast Nook Seating

There are three options for seating in the kitchen. First, you can use chairs. This is the most traditional form of kitchen seating and is most appropriate if you have a smaller family or you entertain guests often. Bench seating is better for large families with many children or for people who want to fit lots of people at the kitchen table. The reason that bench seating is better for large groups is because you can usually fit more people on a bench than in the chairs that would occupy the same amount of square footage. In addition, benches do not need to be pulled out as far to sit on them so you can have a larger table to begin with.

Another advantage to bench seating is that many breakfast nook benches come with under the seat storage compartments. A breakfast nook set with storage is a great way to increase your kitchen storage space. Every kitchen needs more storage for things like table linens or small kitchen appliances that are not used every day. One of the best solutions to kitchen seating is to use a combination of bench seating and kitchen chairs. That way you can fit more people at the table and your guests will be comfortable in their own chairs.

The third type of kitchen seating is stools. Whether you use your kitchen island as the table or if you have a high top table, stools are great for sitting and eating at higher elevations than the typical kitchen table. Some kitchen stools will have backs and others will not. Just be prepared for the fact that it is difficult to sit on a stool with no back for long periods. Stools and high kitchen tables are great for parties and entertaining because some people can sit and others can stand around the table and everyone can be included in the conversation easily.

Kitchen Island Furniture

If your kitchen is not large enough for a separate kitchen nook set, then you might consider using your kitchen island as an eating surface. Kitchen islands that look like furniture include not only the island itself, but also the kitchen island stools that you can use for seating around the kitchen island. Kitchen islands come in many shapes are sizes so it is important to find the right one for your kitchen space.

Kitchen islands with seating are a unique kind of kitchen island because often the counter top is larger than the cabinets underneath. This is so there is room for your knees when you sit at the counter. In addition, sometimes the edges of the kitchen island bar are higher than the main body of the island so that the surface that you eat off does not run the risk of coming into contact with any unprepared foods.

Portable Kitchen Islands and Kitchen Carts

If you have a very small kitchen that does not even have room for an island, then you might consider a portable kitchen island or what some people call a kitchen cart. Kitchen carts are usually on wheels rather than stationary allowing you to wheel them away from a wall where they are stored and to the center of the kitchen when you are using them. Sometimes the kitchen island arts have a drop leaf that you can put up to make the cart larger for eating meals or preparing food. You might even find some carts with stools stored underneath so you can use them when you want to sit down to a meal.

Storage Shelves, Cabinets, and Sideboards

Another kind of kitchen furniture is not for eating or preparing foods. Instead, they are storage shelves, drawers, and cabinets where people can store extra table linens, food or small kitchen appliances. Other homeowners use the space for displaying pictures or houseplants. The shelved kitchen furniture usually has shelves that are deeper on the bottom than on the top for aesthetic purposes.

One special kind of kitchen storage device is a sideboard. Sideboards are more popular in formal dining rooms, but you can find informal pieces that fit well into kitchen furniture ideas. A sideboard is a thin piece of furniture that sits against the wall. It usually has some drawers and maybe a cabinet or two where people can store china or table linens. Sometimes the sideboards come with a mirror like on a bedroom dresser. The sideboard can be made of a variety of materials and painted or stained any number of ways. Try to make sure that it matches the style and color scheme of the other kitchen furniture as much as possible.

Pantry Cabinets

Some kitchens have walk in pantries and others have pantry cabinets instead. A pantry cabinet is usually about the height of an average person and opens to several shelves where you can store canned and other dry foods. The advantage of a large pantry cabinet over using other kitchen cabinets is that they are often not very deep. That way it is harder to lose cans of food in the back of a cabinet. In addition, you rarely waste space the way you do if you keep your spices or canned goods in other deeper cabinets.

Breakfast nook furniture usually consists of a table and chairs. There are lots of possibilities for both, but let’s discuss the tables first. Most breakfast tables are rectangular. The dimensions can vary but most are between 34 and 48 inches wide and 50 to 65 inches long. The typical table height is between 29 and 34 inches. Most rectangular tables have legs at all four corners. Typically the legs are connected by a trestle at each end of the table to provide extra support. There are also square or round breakfast tables. A typical size for a square or round kitchen table is 42 inches by 42 inches for a square or a 42 inch diameter for a circle. These tables, unlike rectangular ones, usually have one center leg to support the entire table. It is common for the leg to have a tripod or four prong bottom for extra support.

Breakfast tables are made of many different types of materials. Wood is probably the most common, but by no means is it the only material readily available. If you do have a wooden breakfast table, then chances are it is distressed wood. Since most breakfast nooks are less formal than dining rooms, you often find distressed wood that looks more casual. To distress the wood of a table, the edges are darkened and flattened. The corners are usually rounded so there are no sharp edges. Other than wood, you might find glass, ceramic tile, metal, plastic, Formica, or cork used as materials of construction for your breakfast table.

No matter what your table is made out of, it should be large enough to accommodate your entire family and perhaps a few guests. Try to use as much of the space as possible. There are a few ways to create extra space or make the most of the space you have available using different seating options.

The most common seating option for kitchen furniture is chairs. Chairs are probably most appropriate if you have a smaller family and only need to accommodate four to six people at any one time. Chairs can come in any of the same materials that the breakfast tables come in. Most likely the materials will match the material of the table. For example, if you have a wooden table then wooden chairs would be most appropriate. The matching could be less subtle, as well. For example, you might have a table with chrome legs and chairs with a leather upholstery and chrome trim.

The seating option that provides the biggest capacity for sitting and one that is very popular in breakfast nook sets is benches. You can have separate benches for each side of the table or L-shaped benches that wrap around two sides. It is quite common for the benches to have high backs. The high backs can fit into a corner with a corner breakfast nook set or they could offer a way to separate the breakfast nook area from the rest of the kitchen. Most breakfast nook benches have cushions and are quite comfortable. Another plus is that many come equipped with under the seat storage. A breakfast nook with storage is a welcome addition to any kitchen.

One final seating option is stools. These are not appropriate if you have small children because they are much easier to tip over and do not provide as stable a base. They also do not work well unless you have a higher table. High top tables are usually only made for two to three people, so if you have a large family then a breakfast nook table with stools is probably out of the question.

The Santa Fe breakfast nook set is the perfect solution for a family that needs a lot of seating, but has limited space. This set consists of a table and seating for eight to nine people. The seating is a combination of benches. There is a three seat bench with no back running down one side of the table. Then, there is an L-shaped bench that wraps around two of the other sides. The L-shaped bench is made up of a corner piece, a two seat bench, and a three seat bench. There are no chairs, so if you and your family are not comfortable in booths and on benches then this set is not for you. Keep in mind that not only do the benches mean you can fit more people at the table, they also mean extra storage space. There is under the seat storage in the L-shaped bench where you can keep anything that you need to.

This breakfast nooks set is made of distressed poplar wood. The combination of the distressed stylizing and the dark stain give the Santa Fe breakfast nook set a very earthy and country feel. One way that this manufacturer has elected to keep costs down is by combining solid poplar with poplar veneer. You cannot tell the difference from the outside, but the veneer lowers the cost significantly. The other material of construction used in this furniture is slate tiles. There is a row of inlaid slate tiles along the back of the L-shaped bench. These tiles are sealed into place and give the furniture a touch of color and character. The wide variety of colors and patterns in the tile make every version of the Santa Fe breakfast nook original.

One clever feature of this furniture set is the drop leaf that fits between the wall and the corner part of the L-shaped bench. The drop leaf provides a little shelf above head level where most people put some flowers, pictures, or other decorations. Yet another good feature is the fact that the set is reversible. You can put this furniture in any corner and make it work.

The cost of the Santa Fe breakfast nook set can be anywhere from $789 to $1,035 depending on where you shop. All in all , I think it is a great value for the money.

Furniture is the easiest way to get your 50s style breakfast nook. One of the most popular choices is the diner table with booths. When you think of a diner table then you probably think of a Formica table with an aluminum edge. Most likely, it will be rectangular with one center base rather than four legs in the corners. You can find tables like this in many specialty furniture stores. One great place to look is at yard sales and estate sales where people will be selling old furniture from their homes. These are very authentic. The most common seating choice for the diner table is vinyl booths. Red and black are popular colors. The vinyl is usually durable and very easy to clean. I have seen very nice sets that have a three-piece booth that fits in the corner with a high back. It is constructed of a short piece, a corner piece that is at a 45-degree angle with the other pieces, and a long piece. The high back sits against the walls. The other long side is usually a bench with no back or chairs. Most 1950s breakfast nook sets do not put seating at both of the small ends of the table so that it is more reminiscent of a Diner booth. If you do not use booths for seating, another option is aluminum chairs with vinyl seats. These chairs are usually bright colors like red or pastel colors like pink, green, or yellow.

A second option that is very retro is the high table with backless counter stools. Most 1950s soda shoppes or diners had counters where people could sit to eat. You can recreate that feeling by choosing a tall table with the stools around it or using your kitchen island as a counter. The stools are usually aluminum or some other metal and the seats are usually vinyl. Sometimes, the stool will swivel. This is also very authentic.

In addition to the furniture, there are other touches that you can make to make your retro kitchen and breakfast nook more genuine. Laminate floors were very popular back then. They are considered a little low brow these days, but if you really want your space to feel like a different time then it just would not be right to have wood or tile floors. Another trendy style in the 50s was wood paneling on the walls. Many times the wood paneling would go half way or three quarters of the way up the wall and the rest of the wall would be covered in very garish wallpaper or painted a pastel yellow or burnt orange. People were not afraid to use color when decorating in the 1950s. Curtains are more appropriate than blinds because they were more in style then. The small details are what make the difference between a cute imitation and a real retro room.