A Before & After of Our Breakfast Nook

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A few months ago I showed you the beginnings of our breakfast nook transformation and I thought I’d give you a quick update on what we’ve done so far. It all started with the idea of enclosing a corner of our kitchen with an L-shaped bench to maximize seating and create a cozy pocket where we can all hang out with the cook. This is how it all started, five years ago (picture from open house):

…and here’s the starting point of building the bench. We had help from our go-to handyman, Oscar, and the process was quite seamless.

The guys did a lovely job of building a sturdy seat and cutting out a rough profile of the sides, and after some sanding, everything was smooth and the bench was ready for paint.

The idea for the design came from a couple of antique benches I had seen on auction sites. I loved the curved profiles of the armrests and I knew I wanted a similar look.

Initially there were no back slats and I thought the bench looked a bit unfinished, almost like something was missing.

So, to give it more weight and set it apart from the rest of the wall as a stand-alone piece of furniture, I decided to add two strips of 1×3 trim onto the shiplap paneling, spanning the width of the bench on both sides (picture below). The table & chair set was an Overstock purchase that has been with us through all of our moves for more than a decade. I still love it but at 36″ in diameter the table was too big for the space. Plus, I had been fantasizing for years about a beautiful antique I had seen on Chairish and luck was on my side because…

…as you may remember, I found my perfect little table a few months ago, around the same time as the bench was being built, on the side of the road of all places. The pedestal table was exactly what I had been looking for to fit this nook; it had the right shape & size & design, and the wood grain was lovely. However, the top needed some serious cleaning and refinishing, and I had a fun time doing both. (If you’d like to find out more about that process, you can read all about it HERE.)

The two dining room chairs I ended up using are from our basement storage stock – a very unnecessary (at the time) lockdown purchase of four dining room chairs from Facebook Marketplace – and proof that hoarding may eventually, someday, years down the line, pay off! 🙂

Before I show you our progress, here’s a look at the same kitchen corner furnished with some lovely pieces that belonged to the previous owners (and which they sadly took with them when they moved), as we found it five years ago during the open house:

And here it is in its current state, with the first bouquet of peonies from the garden:

Now that the nook has come together and the details are nearly finished, this is really the heart of our home, the place where we eat all our meals, where I drink my coffee every morning and check my to-dos list while everyone else is sleeping and the house is quiet and still. The bench feels cozy and sheltered but at the same time overlooks the fields behind our house, where a lot of wildlife action happens at all times of day & night.

Still on the to-do list: a seat cushion for the built-in bench (fabric still to be decided upon); and possibly new matching upholstery or slipcovers for the chairs. I have a few contenders for the fabric but I’m picky and hard to please and I need to think about it some more 🙂 The chairs may be swapped for something either painted or a different wood tone, but for right now they satisfy our needs. What do you think? Any suggestions for bench cushion fabric / color / patterns?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed today’s story! To read more about what feels like the world’s slowest home renovation, make sure to check out the following Café Design posts:

Designing a Built-In Corner Bench

Decorating Dilemma: Form Over Function?

New Curtains for the Family Room

A Colonial Style Fireplace Makeover

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