Bay Window Banquette

This one has been on my mind for years! I had already built a window seat in the dining room but for the kitchen, I wanted to make something different.

Since it's a space for eating, it needed to be a banquette. Since there will be a table in front of it, I figured the best storage solution would be drawers. First of all, there is an outlet and a vent in the way so I had to plan for both.

I started by building up a very short base, since the drawers I bought were only slightly shorter than that of an average seat height.

I decided to use an under-the-furniture vent cover to redirect the air flow under the seat. To stop it from moving around, I caulked it to the floor.

Next, I cut the windowsills down to add a back before installing the seating.

Later, I changed my mind on the yellow and installed new trim that I stained the same color as the seat.

Then it was time to set the drawers in place and plan for the rest of the storage.

After I purchased the drawers, I realized I planned things wrong. In order for them to line up, I needed to pull the side drawers forward a bit, which left a pretty big space behind them. That's too much space to leave for nothing so I added a space for baking pans on both sides.

There was also extra storage space between the cabinets, so I decided to have a flip-up piece to take advantage of that.

Once I added the seat top, I decided to change the trim as well.

At that point, all that was left was finishing touches.

Before I got to this stage, I noticed how terrible the orange-stained table looked next to it. And the chairs still needed refinishing. That was a job I had started three years ago but never finished.

I wasn't able to get it to stain the same color as the seat, despite it also being pine and having used the same stain. However, I'm happy with the results.

Here's how it turned out.