How To Get Your Living Areas Summer Ready

As we head towards the warmer months, now’s a great time of year to focus on getting your living areas summer ready. Your choice of décor and furniture will depend on how your living spaces will be used and by whom. When it comes to seating, there are lots of innovative ways to create intimate seating areas or to open up spaces to maximise seat numbers. We look at the different ways that you can improve your kitchen and dining areas this summer.

Before you make any decorative changes to your home, declutter your living spaces. This will help to create a more open and airier feel to your rooms. Next, carry out a spring clean and open windows to thoroughly air any rooms. Consider the existing colour palette and whether a change of wall colour or furnishings might enhance the room aesthetics. The Pantone Colour of the Year for 2025 is Mocha Mousse, which is a soft luxurious brown.

Think about how you can control the amount of natural sunlight coming into your home. South-facing living spaces can become too hot in summer so consider adding thermal blinds or shutters. On the other hand, if it’s a north-facing room, then you might want to take advantage of the increased sunlight. In this instance, consider positioning mirrors or objects with reflective surfaces within the room to reflect the incoming light.

Before you focus on the furniture, consider locations in the room where you could add a touch of greenery to freshen up the space. One of this year’s trends is to create a seamless harmony between outdoor and indoor spaces by incorporating plants and natural materials. Ideal for kitchen-diner spaces, especially if you have bifold doors opening onto a patio area.

Upholstered Dining Bench Seating and Booths

There are plenty of furniture options available that will enable you to enhance both the aesthetics and functionality of a living space. Starting with the dining area in your home, think about how this space is typically used in the summer months. If you are looking to replace a tired dining table and chairs, consider whether a different style of dining room furniture might enhance the room.

If you have an open-plan living area with a dining zone, one idea is to create a ‘snug’ style nook. This could feature upholstered dining bench seating, or a booth fitted directly into the room corner. The seat cover and cushions can be coordinated with your existing furnishings to create a cohesive, curated look. This approach is ideal for a compact home with a family, where you might want to maximise floorspace.

Booth seating for the dining room has the additional potential for built-in storage hidden beneath the seat. This can be a practical space-saving solution for families or if you live in a compact home. You can then store a variety of items that you don’t use on an everyday basis. Whether you prefer linen, leather or velvet, this style of seating can be upholstered in a material to suit your needs and the interior design of your dining room.

Alternatively, if you regularly entertain, then your aim might be to maximise the number of seats in your dining space instead. You could combine a fixed dining bench along one wall with freestanding chairs and a table. This approach will help you increase seating within the dining area, and it can be a useful solution for kitchen-diners too.

Bespoke Kitchen Benches

If you have a kitchen-diner that opens directly into the garden, this is likely to become a central entertaining zone in the summer months. Therefore, the seating in this room needs to reflect how this space will be used and by whom.

Kitchen benches can be a versatile addition if you’re likely to have large gatherings of family or friends. Alternatively, you could consider fitting a booth-style seat along two walls to open up the kitchen floorspace. This can be useful when entertaining, especially when people are constantly coming in and out of the garden. Booths can also incorporate hidden storage areas, ideal for storing summer utensils such as BBQ tools.

Booth seating can bring the charm of restaurant-style dining into your home, while also providing a smart solution for extra storage. Transform an awkward kitchen corner into a useful cosy nook with custom-designed seating. The materials and upholstery can either blend in seamlessly or become a focal point for the room. 

Whether you choose a booth or bench in a kitchen, your overall aim should be comfort and practicality. It’s important to stay open to new ideas and fresh perspectives when you are designing for a kitchen-diner. There might be a more innovative way to use the space.

For example, Craftwood designed bespoke booth seating for a client’s newly renovated kitchen. While the original brief specified L-shaped banquette seating, a site visit to their London home led to a change of approach. The final booth design worked better with a sleek, straight run and clean, modern lines. To enhance functionality, we incorporated a discreet storage compartment beneath the luxurious, removable seat pads. Read more…

Handmade, Bespoke Kitchen and Dining Room Seating

When you are looking to improve your living areas, there are various ways to upscale your kitchen or dining room. Your choice of seating should align with how the room will be used. Booths and benches offer different solutions, including space-saving benefits and the ability to optimise the number of seats. Furniture can be handcrafted to echo your décor scheme.

Ideal for smaller homes, booth seating can provide inbuilt storage. For busy family homes, durable or easy-clean fabric covers are ideal for maintaining the look and longevity of your upholstery. Soft curves and smooth edges can also make it easier and safer for little ones to climb up and down.

If you’re a couple who loves to entertain, then you might prefer more luxurious upholstery such as plush fabrics. Coordinate the seat covers and cushions with your existing décor to create a cohesive, curated look that blends effortlessly into your home.

Before you approach your designer to discuss seating designs for your living areas, compare booth seating with bench seating to understand the different styles. Our designers can create bespoke seating for your living spaces. We will visit your home and offer advice on different solutions depending on your needs, including various styles, colours, seasonal fabrics and trending materials. Your seating will then be handcrafted to your specifications.

Craftwood can design, manufacture and install beautiful bespoke furniture for your living areas, including your kitchen and dining room. Contact us to discuss your requirements.