Bring Breakfast Back With Eat-In Nooks and Tables
Have the most important meal of the day with easy-access dining spaces attached to your kitchen, breakfast bars and nooks
Nutritionists have been telling us for long enough that starting the day with a good breakfast sets us up for healthy eating. A well set-up breakfast spot in the kitchen will help create a good morning routine. Check out how to create a quiet sit-down spot for a breakfast smoothie while you catch up with family, a welcoming bar for the kids to eat and run, and a place for efficient lunch-box assembly. And on the weekends, these corners are ideal spots to spread out for a leisurely brunch as you read the newspaper.
If you are lucky enough to have a home with a bay window, this is the perfect spot to tuck in a window seat without eating into precious floor space. Keep the look modern with crisp white paint and a row of industrial-style light fittings to brighten up dark mornings.
2. Elevate your space
A bar-height table is great for the ‘perch and run’ crowd to come and go. If you prefer the see-through airiness of a table rather than a chunk of cabinets, then a custom bar-table is the answer.
For household members of different heights – kids, short adults, tall adults – be sure to choose stools that are comfortable and safe for everyone to climb on and off before you specify the height for the bar. A selection of un-matched stools, cheerfully painted in complementary colours, is a great compromise for a cool, un-studied look.
What to look for in kitchen stools
A bar-height table is great for the ‘perch and run’ crowd to come and go. If you prefer the see-through airiness of a table rather than a chunk of cabinets, then a custom bar-table is the answer.
For household members of different heights – kids, short adults, tall adults – be sure to choose stools that are comfortable and safe for everyone to climb on and off before you specify the height for the bar. A selection of un-matched stools, cheerfully painted in complementary colours, is a great compromise for a cool, un-studied look.
What to look for in kitchen stools
3. Split the difference
Bi-level bars and kitchen counters are a great way to make a single area multi-purpose. The kitchen island is a comfortable height for the cook (and lunch-box filler) while the table welcomes the sit-down eaters. Make the most of the change in levels with a change in materials. Wood emphasises that this is a dining table, contrasting with the crisp resin of the prep bar. A pendant light creates a focal point, and a welcoming pool of light on a gloomy morning.
Bi-level bars and kitchen counters are a great way to make a single area multi-purpose. The kitchen island is a comfortable height for the cook (and lunch-box filler) while the table welcomes the sit-down eaters. Make the most of the change in levels with a change in materials. Wood emphasises that this is a dining table, contrasting with the crisp resin of the prep bar. A pendant light creates a focal point, and a welcoming pool of light on a gloomy morning.
In a tight space, you can go super stylish with the level split, pushing the island bar up to a built-in bench seat. Again, the contrasting materials – warm wood, cool stainless steel – indicate the different functions of prepping and eating.
4. Revisit the classic table
If your idea of breakfast is the full-on farmhouse cooked breakfast, then this is the set up for you. Many older houses once had a large, scrubbed table at the centre of the kitchen that functioned as a prep area, family eating space, somewhere to do homework or take a tea break.
After years of being cut off from the kitchen by an island or a bar, the table is reclaiming its place in the kitchen. Re-establish the joy of sitting down rather than perching on a stool, and find room for a generous table in the heart of your home. Look for a wipe-clean surface (no precious formal materials here), and drop stylish lighting low over the table for a cosy centrepiece.
Bringing back the kitchen table
If your idea of breakfast is the full-on farmhouse cooked breakfast, then this is the set up for you. Many older houses once had a large, scrubbed table at the centre of the kitchen that functioned as a prep area, family eating space, somewhere to do homework or take a tea break.
After years of being cut off from the kitchen by an island or a bar, the table is reclaiming its place in the kitchen. Re-establish the joy of sitting down rather than perching on a stool, and find room for a generous table in the heart of your home. Look for a wipe-clean surface (no precious formal materials here), and drop stylish lighting low over the table for a cosy centrepiece.
Bringing back the kitchen table
You can mix it up with a combination of a closed-in kitchen counter for food prep, and an open-legged table to give you the warm, casual welcome you’re after. Increase flexibility with a bar on wheels, which you can move around for serving, or shuffle the table to suit the crowd when you’re feeding more than three.
5. Wrap seats around the island
Sitting along a bar, side by side, is not conducive to conversation and eye contact, nor does it help when you need to convince reluctant eaters to spoon in that last mouthful of cereal.
Sitting along a bar, side by side, is not conducive to conversation and eye contact, nor does it help when you need to convince reluctant eaters to spoon in that last mouthful of cereal.
Where there is no room for a separate table, recreate the sit-around family-style table with a peninsula off your kitchen counter. Same face to face benefits, only taller.
6. Make breakfast for one matter
If your morning routine is breakfast for one, treat yourself to a proper spot. Forsake an under-counter cupboard or two to free up knee-room where you can pull up a stool. Even better, set it near a window to get your day off to a pampered start and confirm the day’s weather forecast.
Solo seating spots to sink into
If your morning routine is breakfast for one, treat yourself to a proper spot. Forsake an under-counter cupboard or two to free up knee-room where you can pull up a stool. Even better, set it near a window to get your day off to a pampered start and confirm the day’s weather forecast.
Solo seating spots to sink into
7. Tight space solutions
A long, slim galley kitchen often doesn’t have space for extra seating, or extra people trying to juggle room at the sink or fridge. Widen the galley bench outside the kitchen (use a contrasting material to create a focus) so you can slip stools around the side. If you’re on a budget, look for old table tops you can re-finish and recycle, and sling pendant lamps on stylish cords from existing fixtures to create a welcoming pool of light.
TELL US
What’s your favourite spot for breakfast? Tell us about it and share a photo in the Comments.
MORE
Designs for Living: Cosy Breakfast Corners
9 Creative Eat-in Kitchens
Bringing Back the Kitchen Table
A long, slim galley kitchen often doesn’t have space for extra seating, or extra people trying to juggle room at the sink or fridge. Widen the galley bench outside the kitchen (use a contrasting material to create a focus) so you can slip stools around the side. If you’re on a budget, look for old table tops you can re-finish and recycle, and sling pendant lamps on stylish cords from existing fixtures to create a welcoming pool of light.
TELL US
What’s your favourite spot for breakfast? Tell us about it and share a photo in the Comments.
MORE
Designs for Living: Cosy Breakfast Corners
9 Creative Eat-in Kitchens
Bringing Back the Kitchen Table
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A bench seat is the modern interpretation of the ’50s breakfast nook banquette. Cushions on a padded bench seat next to the kitchen table give you extra seating if there is a crowd. (You can squeeze more bodies along a bench than on individual chairs.)
To deal with accidental spills (on those mornings when you are still half asleep) use washable fabrics or indoor-outdoor cushions on the bench seat. Indoor-outdoor cushions are moisture and stain resistant, while removable cushion covers can be thrown in the washing machine, so spills aren’t a problem. A padded bench also makes a soft lounging spot for coffee and papers when things are less hectic.