For some people, mornings can be a difficult time of day. Prioritising a quiet moment of calm can go a long way towards helping you fully wake up. But carving out a space to enjoy life’s little pleasures, such as a cup of tea or coffee, can be a balancing act. The dining table is too formal, the kitchen too transient and the bed too, well, sleepy. You need a space that is intimate enough to not feel overwhelming yet big enough to avoid feeling squished. That’s where casual and cosy breakfast nooks come in.
While breakfast nooks are perfect for casual meals with family, or a peaceful moment of solitude, they’re also functional. Whether you have an awkwardly sized corner or just empty space at the end of your kitchen which is too small for any other purpose, breakfast nooks are the perfect solution.
This curated collection of the most stylish breakfast nooks to grace the pages of Home Beautiful proves the point: no matter the layout of your home or the style of your interior, breakfast nooks are right at home. Read on for 14 inviting, clever and brilliant breakfast nook ideas.
1. A circular breakfast nook area
When Rachel and Ryan Carr of ‘The Block‘ fame began renovating their holiday house, they knew they wanted to sacrifice the dining area for a more welcoming, casual breakfast nook. The round James Lane table is surrounded by built-in banquette seating upholstered by Art Trim. It provides a clear alternative to a corner breakfast nook, which is a popular and common shape for these spaces. Pendants from Beacon Lighting draw the eye up while Jane Lane dining chairs offer a touch of texture.
2. A colourful nook for a busy family
People often can’t believe that this new build home isn’t an original heritage Queenslander. And that’s all thanks to the charm and architectural flourishes found throughout the home, including in this colourful breakfast nook. It functions perfectly, helping to create calm, casual mornings for homeowners Josh and Maggie (pictured, with their two sons), plus the couple’s newborn daughter.
The custom banquette was built by Laneway Furniture Co, topped with a seat cushion in Land ‘Painted Medium Stripe’ outdoor fabric in Sangria. Lashings of green create a serene feel with the banquette profile in Porter’s Paints Bayleaf and a green vintage pendant from Josh’s family home.
3. Comfy and casual built-in banquette seating
When it came to designing her own family home, Lauren Mahoney of Studio Trio knew a traditional dining room and dining table was too formal for her. But a breakfast nook still provided the necessary space to come together as a family for meals. She upholstered the banquette seating with ‘Colorado Chintz’ leather from Pelle Leathers and nestled a custom table among Cantina ‘Barcelona’ chairs from Lincoln Brooks.
4. Wicked colour combinations
Interior designer Brooke Copp-Barton knew just how to solve the dilemma of an awkwardly sized space off the kitchen of this historic Arts & Crafts home in London. And she did it all with a wickedly stylish colour combination of pink and green.
She had banquette seating upholstered in pink leather from Whistler Leather to line the small space, then placed a dining table custom-made by British designer Ed Keyser in the middle. And with that, a cheerful and cosy breakfast nook was born. Panelling is finished in the soft and sweet pink Farrow & Ball Setting Plaster, with flea market artworks displayed on top. Deep green extendable wall lights from Skinflint work well with the sloping ceiling. They also complement the green tones of the Birdie Fortescue cushions.
5. A charming breakfast nook with classic farmhouse style
Homeowner Georgina teamed up with designer Carlene Duffy to renovate this century-old cottage. The corner seating breakfast nook feels at once charming and inviting, while cleverly maximising space. The ‘Newport’ round pedestal table from Abide Interiors is the hero of the home’s dining zone, while chairs thrifted on Facebook Marketplace are painted in Resene Raging Bull. Decorative plates atop the panelled walls and cafe curtains complete the modern farmhouse style.
6. A galley kitchen with a breakfast nook
When Kate Bath from Blue Tea Kitchens & Bathrooms renovated the galley kitchen in this Sydney terrace home, she knew just what to do with the empty corner beside the hallway.
“The corner space offered a nice, cosy nook,” shares Kate. The benefit of using this space was two-fold: it made use of an awkwardly sized area and fulfilled the owner’s request for a casual eating space. The built-in banquette, was upholstered in Thomas Maxwell ‘Langham Leather’ in Spruce, supplied by Warwick. The dark fabric complements the dark tones of the ‘Crescent’ wall lamp from Allied Maker, with a Black Walnut bracket.
7. Breakfast nooks that maximise space
For homeowner and founder of Heatherly Design, Georgie, making the most of space in her two-bedroom Melbourne apartment was an important, though difficult, task. “All you really need is a comfortable bed, a dining table to share with friends and a room with a view,” she says. Intended as a bolthole for Georgie, husband Will and their two adult children, the abode didn’t have to fulfill the role of a dream home. Still, it needed serious work to ensure comfortable (and stylish) living befitting a bespoke bedroom furniture queen.
As the tight layout couldn’t be altered, a dining nook with banquette seating was the ultimate space saver. Tan leather cushions from Heatherly Design adorn the built-in seat, also from Heatherly. The Sarah Ellison table, situated beneath a Klaylife pendant light, provides flexibility with its round design.
8. Breakfast nooks with antique charm
Homeowners Annabel and Thomas were waiting for council to approve their building plans when Alex Stritt of Stritt Design & Construction started work on a build right next door. Impressed with the construction, they asked Alex to create a Hamptons style in their weatherboard cottage once he’d finished the project. The kitchen, which features a generous island and a breakfast nook, is Annabel’s favourite area. “It’s just so practical and works so well,” she says. “It’s got this beautiful little kitchen nook. Every morning, I get up and make myself a coffee and then I sit in that nook in the kitchen and just look out of the window. I do that before everyone else in the house wakes up.”
Here, the breakfast nook didn’t just fill an awkward space or provide casual dining options. It created a space to enjoy a relaxing morning ritual. Stritt Design & Construction made the custom bench seat for this breakfast nook. They decorated it with cushions from The Classic Outfitter that fit the classic Hamptons blue and white colour palette. A French antique dining table, sourced from Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds Antiques adds charm and character while commanding the space. Alfresco Emporium chairs, complete with blue upholstery on the seat, perfectly match the deep timber tones and the Hamptons blue hues within the breakfast nook.
9. Casual bistro-style dining
Interior designer Greg Natale knew that he wanted to include banquette seating in this family getaway on NSW’s Central Coast. But, as if often the case, the space itself dictated how he was able to incorporate this feature. The only available space in the kitchen was right up against the far side of the kitchen island. This placement could end up feeling far too close to a workspace to be truly relaxing and practical. To delineate the kitchen and breakfast nook zones, Greg installed a reeded glass upstand from Glo Rite Glass. This acts as both a room divider and also a splashback for the kitchen island. “That’s one of the areas that the clients use the most,” he shares. “More than the dining room!”
This breakfast nook, like the home itself, features a colour palette of crisp whites and deep blues befitting the coastal location. A lacquer finish in Porter’s Paints Dark Denim was used on the base of this banquette seating. The ceiling is light and bright, with VJ panelling and exposed beams drawing attention upwards. The upholstery on the banquette seating is Edelman Leather, introducing a grounding warm tone to the space, complemented by ‘Fouquet’ Maison Louis Drucker bistro chairs and an antique dining table from Restoration Hardware.
10. Breakfast nooks with cosy comforts
This breakfast nook is effortlessly welcoming. It’s made for leisurely get-togethers over food and wine (as indicated by the flourishing display of food and and tipples). The ‘Laurent’ dining table in Biscuit from Wisteria aids flowing conversation due to its round design. Seating is a hodgepodge of styles with the ‘Emery’ dining bench in Blue and White, ‘Emery’ dining chair in Blue and White and the ‘French’ dining chair, all fom Provincial Home Living. A pendant from Lighterior hangs above, freeing up the available table space for for plates and tea towels from H&M. A botanical motif brings this tableau to life, with the Cole & Son ‘Florencecourt’ wallpaper in Olive, sourced through Silk Interiors, and Vickie Liu’s delightful ‘Zen Gum Leaves’ artwork, from Bluethumb.
11. Compact yet colourful modern breakfast nook
Set in London’s hustling and bustling north, this apartment has enough boisterous colour to brighten any grey English day. That’s thanks to interior designer Sean Symington of Sean Symington Design. While a total redecoration was on the table, the owner of the two-bedroom apartment was pleased with the bones of the home. As such, Sean had to work within the confines of the tight layout. The inclusion of a breakfast nook in this kitchen was one of the ways he made the most of every bit of space. As the homeowner lives alone and isn’t interested in hosting guests, Sean was able to focus on ensuring the nook was perfectly sized and placed for one person to enjoy.
With so many hues and patterns layered throughout the home, creating a common thread and sense of flow was pivotal. Sean did this by repeating tones, such as the terracotta walls in the kitchen, which also appear on the front door. The floor of this kitchen and breakfast nook was painted in a checkerboard pattern usin Farrow & Ball’s Mahogany and Pointing. The sink skirt and blind fabric is made from Pierre Frey ‘Greuze’, creating a flounce of florals beside the ‘Iconic Leopard’ Schumacher fabric which was used on the dining chairs. This was a cheeky nod to the homeowner’s South African heritage. The star feature is the celestial-inspired pendant light by Pooky.
12. Casual, coastal cool breakfast nook design
Located in Vancouver, Canada, with views out to the ocean, a picturesque park and the mountains beyond, it seems like there’s nothing this idyllic abode doesn’t have. But the interior didn’t always match the grand exterior. Enter interior designer Kelly Deck of Kelly Deck Design. She introduced a nautical colour scheme to the interiors. No where is this more clear than in the breakfast nook. Situated just a few steps away from the kitchen and island, the breakfast nook benefits from blues, white and natural timber.
While the sizable table is rectangular, the curved edges of the tabletop and cylindrical legs help to soften it. Banquette seating benefits from large windows that let in an abundance of natural light. On the walls, blue and white pottery in the form of plates add a decorative touch. Charming lampshades are the final flourish.
13. A functional breakfast nook with plenty of form
Interior designer Ariel Okin‘s home is delightfully whimsical. It’s just as you’d expect from someone with a proclivity for layering textures, prints and colours in her interiors. “This house is a true relection of our family and how we live,” she shares. Located in Westchester, New York, the home is filled with colour and pattern, especially the breakfast nook. This space, photographed by Donna Dotan, makes the most of cool shades of blues and greens, paired with a crisp white.
This breakfast nook, which is positioned just off the kitchen, is where the family spends much of their time. “Kitchen banquettes are often some of the most-used spaces in the house, so making them really functional for families (with a wipeable table that’s still chic, for example) is going to get you a lot of longevity out of this space,” shares Ariel. Here, stripes of soft blue cover the banquette fabric while the table is decorated with a mix of tableware in varying shades of blue. Green is introduced into the space on the dining chair pads, pendant light and cushions.
14. Breakfast nooks with cafe curtains
Breakfast nooks don’t have to be built-in to look oh-so inviting.
This pretty cafe curtain dresses up the steel windows behind this breafast nook, offering privacy and polish with Liberty ‘Shepherdly Meadow’ fabric in Ivory from Tuiss Blinds Online. An Emerald Hill ‘Paxton’ tension curtain rod expands to perfectly fit the window recess, while a Castlery ‘Callie’ storage banquette in Beach Linen is topped with velvet Città cushions.
Breakfast nook dimensions
To ensure functionality and easy flow as people slide in and out, the maximum length of banquette seating should be roughly 1850 millimetres – enough space to comfortably seat three people. A seat height of around 450 millimetres suits Australian standards.
Storage solutions
Adding storage into your breakfast nook is a clever way to maximise space. Planning on utilising built-in banquette seating in your breakfast nook? Simply ensure you have a hinged seat top for flip-up storage. You could store table linen, seat cushions or a cosy throw blanket in there. You could even use the extra storage to create a party cupboard.
Popular breakfast nook seating options
1. Banquette seating
Banquette seating is incredibly popular. It often looks bespoke, largely because most banquettes are custom built for the space they are in and also often upholstered in a luxe fabric. They maximise space, make use of awkward corners or unused areas and can even provide additional storage thanks to hinged seat tops.
2. Freestanding banquette seating
If a built-in banquette doesn’t suit your home then don’t worry, freestanding options are also available. Freestanding banquette benches offer more customisation and flexibility if you can’t commit to one area for a permanent breakfast nook. After all, we don’t all live in our forever homes but we still deserve to have the interiors we love.
3. Built-in corner nook seating
Kitchen corners are perfect places for breakfast nooks. Whether you opt for banquettes along the wall, or dining chairs around a small dining table, you can put this baby in a corner no matter what Patrick Swayze’s Johnny from Dirty Dancing says.
This article originally appeared on Home Beautiful and is republished here with permission.
