If a kitchen island is the glamorous centerpiece around which you gather with friends, then a breakfast nook is the unassuming staple that quietly lifts your everyday experience.
Seeing you through the first meal of the day, your afternoon coffee perk-up, and perhaps a work meeting or two, this everyday hero deserves a little design love — and these schemes demonstrate how it can quickly become a clever modern kitchen idea with a well-chosen palette and a few unexpected twists.
From banquette seating to small space solutions, these breakfast nook ideas show how designers turn this functional element into a design moment.
1. Table Manners
Without a point of focus, a breakfast nook can fade into the background of a kitchen scheme — but not in this space by Studio MUKA. Centering it around an eye-catching Dirk van der Kooij table, partners Zabie Mustafa and Neda Kakhsaz made sure that this corner packed a punch.
2. In Suspense
As far as kitchen lighting ideas go, including a pendant "creates interest, warmth and human scale to bring the focus down to the table height," says Jennie Bishop, founder of Bishop Studio.
"This pendant felt appropriate for the 1960s-era home and is simple enough to not overwhelm the space. The kitchen's stone countertops are of a quartzite that reminds us of a Japanese watercolor, so the textured pendant complemented that perfectly."
3. Perch and Partake
Make it easy to edge right up to the action with a chic breakfast bar — brilliant for everything from an intimate dîner à deux to sociable soirées that allow the cook to chat to guests, the space-savvy example seen here by Sucher Studios make a brilliant case for including one in your kitchen design.
4. Space Station
"Banquette-style breakfast nooks allow for a space-saving mix of chairs and built-in seating," says Susie Atkinson, founder of Studio Atkinson, who included her own Craftmaker's chair alongside fixed seating here. "Banquette seating hugging the wall is often a better use of space than rows of chairs on either side of a dining table."
5. Bijou Bistro
Small kitchens can still have space to sit — it just takes clever design planning. "A breakfast table should take up little room while still being comfortable and easily accessible," explains Rudy Faissal, one half of Milanese-based design firm Lit Studio. "In this case, we made use of the niche between the units and inserted a bench, pairing it with a simple round table and striking red and black stools."
6. Add an Icon
If you like your breakfast sprinkled with pizzazz, add an iconic photographic print as a backdrop. Interior designer Jessica Schuster chose an image of Jackie Onassis in a ski mask and sunglasses, captured by Harry Benson on the slopes in 1968. As with anything that involves Jackie Onassis, we're taking notes.
If you're considering a built-in seating arrangement for your breakfast nook, then it's worth knowing the banquette seating design mistakes that people often make, so that you can avoid them when planning, as well as understanding what designers suggest you do instead.