I Love A Beautiful Banquette

If I had to pinpoint one single designer who has had the most influence on me, it would be Candice Olson. Chance are, if you own a television, and you’ve ever watched HGTV, you know who Candice Olson is.

I love her use of space, her use of fabrics and window treatments, and her use of banquettes. It’s no doubt that her use of banquettes greatly influenced the design of my little condo. I haven’t watched her show in quite some time (maybe even two or three years), so I don’t know if she still uses banquettes regularly, but she certainly used to.












You can especially see her influence on my little condo design in that last picture. I’ve had that picture etched in my mind for years now, and knew that someday I wanted something similar in my own home. Now, I’m on my way!


With the exception of my own home, I’ve only had one other opportunity to completely design a room the way I wanted it–without having to consider what a client wanted, or having a client influence the design in any way (well, with the exception of the carpet, which was selected by the builder). And that was this room I designed for the 2008 Waco Symphony Designer Showhouse. And you’ll notice, I jumped at the opportunity to use built-in banquettes!



On a couple of occasions, I’ve recommended banquettes to clients; but to this day, I’ve had no takers. I really can’t imagine why people are scared of built-in seating. It’s a fantastic way to utilize space, it gives opportunity for extra storage, it minimizes the space required for seating, and it’s an opportunity to bring in beautiful fabrics and color where you might not have it otherwise. And by the way, for a DIYer, a banquette seat is pretty easy to build!

I hope to have mine finished up this weekend. I can’t wait to see the finished product!!

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7 Comments

  1. I had to design a banquette for a client that lives in a unit right next door. I was pretty clueless and thankfully had a good carpenter working on it. I did the area around it with beadboard. Wish I had "known" you then–I would have passed it on to you! 🙂 I found inspiration from one of Christopher Lowell's books. I have a pretty large decorating book library, but not one by Olson, oddly enough.

    The fifth photo with the round table like you posted yesterday reminds me of your design. That room is gorgeous.

  2. When we gut and redo our kitchen (sometime in the 5-10 year range…) I want to put in a banquette in the kitchen by the lower windows. Since we're in Waco, I'll give you a call!

  3. I really like the half egg table, the Walnut(?) table with the breadboard ends, and the blue/green cabinets with the open basket spaces above. Sweet color harmony with the painted cabinets. Thank you for the post

  4. I really like the half egg table, the Walnut(?) table with the breadboard ends, and the blue/green cabinets with the open basket spaces above. Sweet color harmony with the painted cabinets. Thank you for the post