Approach the Bench

We had thought early on about having some sort of a breakfast nook at the end of the kitchen. Sooz and I kicked around a lot of ideas but never settled on anything. When we bought our little round table, we thought we'd tuck it into that corner, but frankly it's been moved around a lot during our stays there, and rarely stays in that corner anymore. When we bought our big teak outdoor table, we found ourselves eating outside the majority of time.

I don't have any specific photos of the area in question but here's a couple from last summer. I've added yellow arrows for clarity:

We've hit upon the idea of building a bench along that wall. The space is 140cm, or about 55 inches wide. Luckily, this is a good length. It's a standard size for bench cushions (although there are a number of custom shops out there, too). It is also just wide enough for 4 IKEA baskets to fit underneath. An extra advantage of a bench is that it's simple enough for me to make myself.

I like the idea of under-seat baskets, as we accumulate recycling and various other stuff in that area (just look at the photos to see what I mean). We could easily keep those things neat and out of the way.

When we go at Christmas, I think we'll bring along a couple of baskets (with Marcia, of course, doing the actual shopping for us) and measure everything carefully so I can be ready to get the wood and install next spring. I'll leave the cushion choice to Sooz, though!