When it comes to smart interiors, there’s always room for a trusty banquette. Essentially an upholstered bench with a back, this armless wonder takes on many forms, all designed to provide extra seating in frequently challenging spaces. More for perching than lounging, the banquette usually plays a featured role in cocktail settings, eat-in kitchens, and other nooks where its open sides permit easy access and circulation. Apart from these practical considerations, a banquette can also inject some welcome variety into an otherwise staid seating arrangement, providing just the pop that the design doctor ordered.
In this NYC loft, we used a banquette to create a visual divider between the home’s living and dining areas. The piece’s compact scale permitted an easy flow of movement while its bold color and geometric pattern created a focal point, as well as a connection to repeating design elements throughout the space.
In this antiques-filled living room we devised a custom corner banquette. With deep tufting and boullion fringe, it suggests luxe Napoleon III comfort, while the corner design is perfect for intimate conversations.
Photo: Art Gray
For this modern, Manhattan kitchen, we designed a banquette that serves double duty. In addition to providing comfy, easy-care seating thanks to a fresh turquoise ultrasuede, it’s walnut base contains a hinged lid enabling hidden storage – the holy grail of city living!
Photo: Steven Wilson
For a dose of punch in this English-inspired living room, we deployed a small banquette with big personality. In keeping with the more traditional furnishings in the room, we created a simple, tailored banquette, but we covered it in a large, swoopy floral linen to introduce a brighter, more modern element to the space.
Photo: Phillip Ennis
At the storied Carlyle Hotel, we upped the glam factor in this lobby space with a swank banquette in shimmering silver and gold. Taking its cue from the crisp, horizontal lines of the wall treatment, the banquette almost becomes part of the architecture – its rectilinearity serving as a beautiful counterpoint to the subtle curves of the Art Deco armchairs that flank it.