8 Great Dining Settees

Here’s a trend that’s just catching on – dining settees. I’ve seen photos around the web of living room sofas used as seating in the dining room. It often looks great, but fails in the translation from living room to dining. Why? It’s the seat height.

Typically, sofa seating is lower than dining. A dining chair is 18-inches to 19-inches high. It keeps you from feeling like a 3-year-old when you’re eating your spaghetti. Go for an option that’s specifically designed for the dining room and you’ll have to think of a different reason to start a food fight.

Here are my 8 Great top dining settee picks.

1. Henredon’s Adrian Settee

The mix of woven and wooden materials on Henredon’s Adrian Bench gives this dining bench an ethnic-meets-contemporary look. I want to see this outside, under an awning. Don’t forget the hot, hot sun and please, pass the tanning butter.

2. Vanguard’s Alton Settee

Care for an Old Fashioned anyone? The sleek, buttoned up style of Vanguard’s Alton Settee brings out the Don Draper in me (even though I’m a girl).

3. William Sonoma’s Gillow Bench

The Gillow Bench is a Winterthur reproduction, from William Sonoma ($1,850). It’s shown all matched up with chairs. I’d go with a different style of chair to keep the mix more lively. Make sure the seat heights match up and the scale works with the table.

4. Jessica Charles’ Kensington Banquette

Is it okay to have a favorite? I love this one! Anyone who reads DH regularly knows I’m in love with the Near East. And Jessica Charles’ Kensington Banquette is playing to me like a charmer does to a snake in a basket.

5. Hickory Chair’s Farm Wing Settee

This is really the perfect settee because it’s so versatile. It looks traditional in this photo, but imagine it with a bold, contemporary print and it becomes modern. Keep those nail heads! Love those. Best of all, Hickory Chair’s Farm Wing Settee comes in any length you want, from 28-inches to 120-inches wide. Lose the arms if you like. That’s a pretty good idea, if you ask me.

6. Annie Selkie’s Eddie Settee

Cute! Sooo Anthropologie. So 1930′s English breakfast room. It reminds me of the set designs in Atonement. Annie Selkie’s Eddie Settee was, in fact, designed for Vanguard. I have to say, they really have the widest range of styles in this genre. Bravo!

7. Barbara Barry’s Etiquette Banquette

Here we leave the English countryside and move to Hollywood in the 1940′s. Barbara Barry’s Etiquette Banquette is all about what I call Hollywood Elegance. And she does it very well.

8. Vanguard’s Settee

Actually, this settee is named Vanguard’s FL592. Someone really slaved over that one. Not. It needs a proper name, like The Spencer. I really like this style. I can see it dressed in wool flannel for a masculine look. Mmm… Toasty. But I can also see it with a subtle floral – maybe just two colors.

Time to vote. Which one is your favorite?

If you’re interested in prices, I’ll be happy to get them for you. Just shoot me an email.