Okay, but Marissa, didn’t you just add built-in bench seating in the living room?! Yes, I did, but can you ever have too many built-ins? Just kidding, you probably can, but I don’t think this will be too much. Our dining room is just made for this with a large window running perpendicular to the longer side of the dining table.
A lot needs to be done in this dining room. For one – we have no chairs. A built-in bench will solve half that problem. It’s currently covered in my kids’ art which I love, but it’s currently all taped on the wall in a not-so-elegant fashion. I have a plan to keep the art, while making it more aesthetically pleasing, but that’s a post for another time.
Let’s dig-in to some fun ideas for dining room built-ins, when to use them, and how to decide if they’ll work in your space!
Why Install Dining Room Built-ins
Give Your Home a Custom Look
I design custom built-in spaces for a living (my other living) for a small local company here in Idaho. We do custom closets, pantries, laundry rooms, offices, and even living and dining room built-ins. Every time we do an install, the room looks instantly more high-end.
In a land of boring tracks homes everywhere, people like to put their personal stamp on theirs. Shelving and cabinetry in any room (as long as it’s properly built-in) will make your home look more custom and sophisticated. To me, nothing beats the combination of homey and custom than installing built-ins in common areas like hallways, living rooms and dining rooms!
Extra Storage
In a dining room specifically, built-ins are a great way to house overspill from the kitchen – think seasonal dishware, tablecloths, and other kitchen and dining items that aren’t needed on a regular basis.
If budget isn’t a big concern for you, then you can really go for it with glass cabinetry to display China, vases, wine glasses and the like. I love this black on wood breakfast nook by Ashmore Builders (pictured below right) with a matching floor to ceiling glass cabinet – so beautiful!
Get Rid of Blank Space
Besides adding beauty and storage, another benefit to dining room built-ins is getting rid of a big empty wall that is so common in builder-grade homes these days.
If you have wainscoting or large windows in your dining area, you may not need the extra character. But if you have a large blank wall, built-ins can solve this problem for you. You can also choose a contrasting color for your cabinets to stand out from your white/beige walls to give the room even more visual interest.
Will Dining Room Built-ins Work in my Space?
Extra cabinets and window seats in a dining room or breakfast nook are great, but won’t work for every space. How can you figure out if they’re right for your room?
Do you have the space for them?
If you have a lot of moulding features, large windows, or other dramatic focal points that draw the eye, the good news is you won’t need built-ins to add character! Both dining rooms featured below are perfect as they are. There is no need for built-ins… aaand also no place to put them.
Another obstacle in finding space, is the actual size of the room. If it’s only small enough to fit the right size dining table for your family, fitting in 12-24 inch deep lower cabinets might not work. You could opt for upper shelving though.
Do you have a layout that will work?
If you have the increasingly common open concept living room, kitchen dining room combo and your dining area sits in the middle out in the open, there will be no adjacent walls to attach built-ins to.
Types of Dining Room Built-ins
Cabinets and Hutches
When most people think of dining room built-ins, they think of cabinets and/or hutches. These replace the more traditional free-standing China cabinet. In truth, they accomplish the same thing as far as storage and display, but the built-in aspect is what makes your home feel custom, and adds value to your house in ways that freestanding furniture can’t.
The examples below feature the same depth floor-to-ceiling and incorporate glass cabinet doors. If you don’t have that many things to display (I sure don’t) then closed cabinetry can look just as good, and is more cost effective,
Built-in Bench Seating
My personal favorite! This is what I hope to do in my own dining area, but we’ll have to see. If building in a bench seat seems to daunting, you could also buy a storage bench and make it look built-in.
There is something extra cozy about a built-in breakfast nook bench. I’ve had freestanding dining benches in the past, but if they aren’t at least 48 inches wide, they were hardly ever used by more than one person at a time. Size-up to make sure at least two, or ideally three people will actually sit there at a time. Don’t skimp on the bench cushion either (another past mistake of mine).
Open Shelves (of course!)
Shelves are certainly more affordable than cabinetry, so there’s a huge plus there. But there are other reasons to opt for open shelving over cabinets. They take up much less space with usually only 6-8 inches of depth, whereas your slimmest upper cabinet will likely be 12 inches deep.
They also offer the opportunity to decorate behind the shelves, with shiplap or wallpaper. More options to customize your walls! You can’t customize so much with cabinets. So there are benefits to each option. Here are some open shelving dining areas I love!
Well, off I go to get started on my own dining room. Stay tuned to see the plans!