Pick the seat and measure the wall. You get how many people it seats, how high and deep the bench should be, where the table goes and how big it is, and whether your room takes it, from the NKBA's seating rules and the makers' own nooks.
Your seat
A 96″ banquette seats 4, and 4 more on chairs acrossseat 18″ high · a 96 × 36″ table, its edge 16″ from the wall · 84″ (7′) from the wall to anything behind the chairs
Quick answer: a banquette seats one person per 24″ of bench (the NKBA’s space per diner), so an 8′ (96″) banquette seats 4. Make the seat 18″ high and about 18″ deep from its front edge to the backrest, and let the table’s top come 3–4″ over the seat. With chairs across, an 8′ banquette needs about 84″ (7′) from its wall to the wall behind the chairs.
How to use the banquette calculator
- Pick the seat: a banquette along one wall with chairs across the table, a booth (two benches facing), a corner nook, or a window seat.
- Measure the bench’s length (each bench of a corner nook, from the corner) and its depth from the wall, back included. Add the floor in front of it — or, for a booth, between its two walls — and, for a window seat, the sill’s height.
- You get how many it seats, the seat’s height, the table’s size and where it goes, whether the chairs fit with room to pass behind them, and the seat drawn from above.
The rule behind the numbers
People: the NKBA’s Kitchen Planning Guidelines give each diner at a 30″ table “a 24″ wide × 18″ deep” knee space. So a bench seats one person per 24″, and a table with diners on both sides is at least 36″ wide.
The seat: 18″ high. Fine Homebuilding’s three built-in banquettes all finish at 18″ with an 18″ seat depth; Countryside Amish’s Glenview breakfast nook prints “Seat Height: 18″”. Built in, that is a 16″ base under 4″ of foam that settles about 2″. Countryside’s rule of thumb: a bench should match a chair, “16” – 18” tall and 18” – 24” deep”.
The table: as long as the bench, positioned so “3-4” of the tabletop overlaps with the diner’s legs” (Countryside Amish). Behind the chairs across from it, the NKBA asks 32″ from the table’s edge to a wall where nobody passes, 36″ to edge past and 44″ to walk past.
A window seat: This Old House puts it at 16–20″ deep, 30–50″ long, about 18″ high with a 2–4″ cushion, with a 10–20″ backrest; Fine Homebuilding runs the backrest up to the window’s stool.
The sizes at a glance
| What | Size | Whose rule |
|---|---|---|
| Bench per person | 24″ | NKBA, Guideline 9 |
| Seat height | 18″ | Fine Homebuilding; Countryside Amish |
| Seat depth (front to backrest) | 18″ | Fine Homebuilding (Countryside: 18–24″) |
| Table over the seat | 3–4″ | Countryside Amish |
| Table height | 30″ | NKBA; Countryside’s nooks |
| Table width, diners both sides | 36″ | NKBA: 18″ deep a diner |
| Behind the chairs | 32″ / 36″ / 44″ | NKBA, Guideline 8 |
| Window seat depth | 16–20″ | This Old House |
| Window seat backrest | 10–20″ | This Old House |
Five worked examples
An 8′ banquette in an 8′ (96″) breakfast area. It seats 4, and 4 more on chairs across a 96 × 36″ table. It needs 84″ with nobody passing behind the chairs: 12″ to spare.
The same banquette where people walk behind the chairs, in 7′. The NKBA’s 44″ walkway makes it 96″: 12″ short. A booth, or a spot nobody walks through, fits.
A 5′ booth between walls 64″ apart. It seats 4, two a side, but the benches leave a table only 32″ wide — the NKBA asks 36″ for diners facing. It needs 68″ between the walls.
Countryside Amish’s Glenview nook: benches of 73″ and 59″, 21″ deep. It seats 4 on its benches, with a table up to 56 × 42″; the set comes with a 54 × 40″ table.
A 48″ window seat under a 36″ sill. 18″ high and 18″ deep, it seats 2, with an 18″ backrest up to the sill.
Common mistakes
- Counting the corner seat. In a corner nook, the second bench seats only what is left past the first bench’s depth.
- A table that stops short of the seat. With the table’s edge at the bench’s front, diners perch; let 3–4″ of top come over the seat.
- Four legs at the corners. People slide along a banquette; a pedestal or trestle table keeps the legs out of the way.
- A thick cushion on a standard bench. 4″ of foam on an 18″ box makes a 20″ seat: build the base to 16″.
- A long, unsupported bench. Fine Homebuilding adds a support at least every 48″.
Size the table with the dining table size calculator, the light above it with the chandelier size calculator, and draw the kitchen to scale in the free 2D planner.
Dining table sizeRead next
- DIY banquette seating designs
- Breakfast nook ideas
- Cozy dining booth ideas
- Family-friendly kitchen nooks
- Window seat ideas
Banquette and window seat questions
What are standard banquette seating dimensions?
A seat 18″ high and about 18″ deep from its front edge to the backrest, 24″ of bench per person, and a 30″ high table whose top comes 3–4″ over the seat.
How many people does a banquette seat?
One per 24″ of bench: a 6′ (72″) banquette seats 3, an 8′ (96″) one seats 4, with as many again on chairs across the table.
What are breakfast nook dimensions?
Countryside Amish’s Glenview nook has benches of 73″ and 59″, 21″ deep, with an 18″ seat and a 54 × 40″ table: 4 diners on its benches at the NKBA’s 24″ each.
How much room do you need for a banquette?
With chairs across: the bench’s depth less the 4″ of table over it, a 36″ table, and the NKBA’s 32″ behind the chairs — about 84″ from the wall with a 20″ bench, 96″ if people walk past.
What are window seat dimensions?
This Old House: 16–20″ deep, 30–50″ long and about 18″ high, including a 2–4″ cushion, with a 10–20″ backrest.
How high should a window seat be?
About 18″, cushion included — the height of a chair seat. Under a window, the backrest runs from the seat up to the sill.
How deep should a window seat be?
16–20″ to sit upright (This Old House); deeper makes a seat to curl up in, with cushions behind your back.