5 Tips for Including a Breakfast Nook in Your Custom Home Design
September 5, 2019Custom kitchens come in all shapes and sizes. Some are eat-in kitchens featuring islands or counters that allow for seating. Some kitchens are large and open enough to feature a small free-standing table while others are adjacent to the dining room area of a home. Yet another popular feature in many custom home designs is a cozy breakfast nook in or near the kitchen. Breakfast nooks are a great addition to a custom home design because they can serve to tap the potential of otherwise underutilized space. They also provide plenty of functionality in addition to looking great! Here are few tips for including a breakfast nook in your custom home design:
1. Think About the Style of Your Breakfast Nook
It’s important to consider the style of your breakfast nook. To incorporate the layout and design of the breakfast nook into your kitchen and ensure it will flow with the rest of the home, it is important to consider the décor and aesthetic of your kitchen, dining room, and other adjacent areas of your new home. A custom breakfast nook is an opportunity to do something creative, but the end result should be a design that “fits” with the rest of the interior design style in your home.
If you’re trying to create a farmhouse kitchen in your custom home, you may want to design the counter of your breakfast bar to look like a heavy wooden butcher block. At the very least, you’ll want to make sure your breakfast nook follows the farmhouse theme of the rest of your kitchen. The seating you choose will also be determined in part by the theme you choose. Whether you choose chairs, stools, a bench, or combination seating may depend on the height of the breakfast nook’s countertop. Plus, the style of those seating options should be congruent with the rest of the design theme.
2. Consider Who Will be Using the Breakfast Nook
The size, and even the location, of your custom breakfast nook will depend on how many people live in the home. The type and amount of seating may also be driven by how many people will be using the nook at one time. For homes with large families, a larger space should be allocated for the breakfast nook.
In addition to considering who will be using the breakfast nook, it is also important to consider how it will be used. For instance, is this an area for multiple children to eat before heading off to school each morning? Is the intent for the breakfast nook to become a place for quiet morning meditations over a fresh cup of coffee?
These factors will influence the size and shape of the breakfast nook, the type of seating you choose, and even the materials used to build and decorate it. Perhaps your four-legged companion(s) will accompany you during your time of morning solace? In this case, your breakfast nook should include a designated space for a comfortable pet bed.
3. Include Natural Light from a Window
The benefits of natural lighting are many. First, adequate natural lighting in a home can improve both mental and physical health. Second, natural lighting can provide energy-saving benefits too. A window in the breakfast nook area can illuminate the area and decrease the need for artificial light during portions of the day.
A window can also help provide the benefits from those morning rays, which are nearly impossible to artificially replicate. Oftentimes, breakfast nooks are smaller, cozy spaces. The addition of a window will help open up the space and provide a view of the outdoors without diminishing the intimate feel of the area. If you decide to add a bay window, you could even use it for some extra seating; this is one of the useful bay window ideas that can also help you upgrade your breakfast nook.
4. Add Another Lighting Option
Even breakfast nooks with adequate natural light sources will need to have some additional lighting options. During the times of the year when daylight is scarce, you may often be using this space before natural light is available. The great thing about adding lights to your breakfast nook area is that the lighting choices you make can serve to enhance the look and feel of this area of your new home.
There are many light fixture options from chandelier style lighting and pendant lighting to wall sconces, recessed lights, and beyond. The style of lights and lighting fixtures you choose can enhance the décor theme within your home and provide an even more comfortable atmosphere. Lights can be installed on dimmers so that the atmosphere of the breakfast nook can be maintained while also offering the option of a very well-lit space.
5. Make Sure it’s Easy to Clean
Ensuring that the breakfast nook area is easy to clean and maintain is imperative. This is an area that is likely to receive a high volume of daily use. As such, it is a good idea to have the breakfast nook in your custom home constructed of durable and easy-to-clean surface materials. Chairs, stools and built-in bench seating may feature cushions or fabric coverings, which add comfort to the breakfast nook. It is, however, important that the fabric choices are such that they are easily washable and stain-resistant.
The counter surface material should be of good durability and resistant to scratching or denting. This type of wear and tear results in these surfaces becoming harder to clean and maintain over time. Plus, surface damage also makes the area look less ideal. It is also important to consider cleaning when it comes to the layout and design of your custom breakfast nook. A cozy booth-style breakfast nook with a permanent table may be harder to clean than one where the table can be removed from the seating area to allow for a more thorough deep cleaning.
Breakfast nooks are popular custom home design ideas. After all, there are many benefits of a breakfast nook. They can go a long way to enhance the function of your kitchen or dining areas while providing a unique accent to your home design.
Whether you are including a breakfast room vs formal dining room or both in your custom home design, it is important to carefully plan out this area of your new home. These tips for including a breakfast nook in your custom home design can help. But, the best way to make sure your breakfast nook is properly integrated within your home’s layout and provide you with maximum benefits, efficiency, and enjoyment is to work with an experienced custom home builder with an in-house design/build process.
If you would like to start the conversation about making your dream home a reality, we would love to help. Give us a call today at 717-284-4090!