Last week I shared a tutorial covering part one of our upholstered banquette seat in the dining room. Today, I’d planned to share part two. Turns out, I used the exact same process, to a tee. So… that would leave for one incredibly boring and repetitive post if I were to cover it again. Instead, I’ll just share some after shots along with ‘befores’ (dating back to this time last year), and a quick recap of the progress we’ve made so far. And you can check out tips and tricks on how I did all of the upholstering by referring back to this post.
First, the before. Just minutes after closing on our house. (Feb. 2012)
Here’s the view looking straight into the dining space from the kitchen (below). Cray-cray.
Hours after closing we went into full-on demo mode. It looked a little like this, minus all the electrical wire pulled. Pretty sure this is the point at which Ricky went into a mini panic attack.
We had to do some maneuvering of the walls to accommodate our bench seat/built-ins plans, as well as our 8′ long dining table. I know what you’re thinking… Who does that for a piece of furniture? The girl who’s dad built her a kick-a$$ dining table, that’s who.
I’m pretty sure I’ve covered the cove ceiling saga before, but just in case, here’s a quick run down. The dining room had them, the kitchen did not. Once we removed the header separating the two spaces, it was either add cove to the kitchen, or remove it from the dining space. Obviously, we chose the latter of the two. I LOVED the cove, and we still have it in the living/entry space and hallway, but it was going to cause more problems than good if we put it in the kitchen too. Moving on.
New flooring and installing the base cabinets for the built-ins.
Then we fudged up by installing upper cabinets.
But redeemed ourselves by replacing them with open shelving and installing crown molding!
I had a great time DIYing a little stencil art.
While Ricky began constructing the frame for the banquette seat.
Finally, I tackled upholstering the seat cushions.
Which leave us with today!
And the completed banquette 
We still have a few more updates in mind. And you know me, I’ll always be swapping decor in and out.
I’m thinking, new rug (this one is just a temporary fill-in from our previous house), DIYing a light fixture someday, and craiglisting our current chairs for others we’ve had our eyes on (hoping to do this sooner rather than later!).
So there we are. The evolution (so far) of our dining room. Not a bad place to be in after a year in our home. It sat on the back burner for quite some time, as we tackled other projects in the house. So it feels so good to finally be calling this one mostly done.
Hi! I'm Jessie, a wife, mother of two girls, and an interior design fanatic. My husband Rick and I just purchased our second home, a 1950's ranch in dire need of some TLC, in our hometown of Cincinnati, OH. To find out more, click 
I love banquettes, I’d love to have an excuse to build one at our place. Sadly, I don’t. It’s too bad you’re thinking about swaping the rug, I really like the texture it adds (then again I could be biased since we have the same one).
I’m so back and forth with the rug, but in the end I think we’re going a different direction with the new chairs we’ll be bringing in. We’ll definitely be using it somewhere else in the house though!
xo,
Jessie
Love this. We have a sofa at our table, but it’s not quite working. I think something like this might be the solution.
What chairs did you have your eye on? I love the ones you have!
We love our chairs now too, just looking to switch it up for a few reasons
We’ll keep everyone posted as soon as we have it nailed down to one option!
xo,
Jessie
Please just come to my house and decorate
Haha, thanks Michelle
xo,
Jessie
I love everything about this little space including the chairs and rug so even if you didn’t swap them out it still gets an A+++ in my book!!
I love it! Fab job! The grey linen is gorgeous! You have a great eye for design.
Does your dad take orders, cause that’s a gorgeous table! I’ve wanted one similar to that for ages. I’d knock down a wall or three to accommodate an idea, makes sense to me! The room looks beautiful. I love the colors (I’m slightly biased as my dining room is called Vessel Grey
I wish! I keep telling him to get into the business. He’s more of a ‘do it for fun’ kinda guy though. Trust me, I’m working on him! Haha.
xo,
Jessie
Such an amazing transformation! I love the banquette!
We’re doing our own reno on our first house and I’m loving the inspiration on your blog. Come by and see our progress if you’re bored!
Jenny
http://simcoestreet.blogspot.ca
Looks great Jenny! Those nursery floors are to die for!
xo,
Jessie
We have a breakfast nook with built-in benches similar to yours and I’ve been waiting to make the pads for them. I don’t sew, so I was going to hire a seamstress to make removable covers with zippers…but since it’s now going on 3 years of me waiting, perhaps I should take your route instead!
How did you attach the plywood to the back and base of the bench??
We had plans to attach the plywood with some simple velcro strips, just something to keep it form wiggling around, but after a week or so living with it I don’t think it needs anything. The cushions both seem to stay put on their own! We’ll add something down the road if that every changes
Hope that helps!
xo,
Jessie
Where are your table and chairs from? Or did you build the table?
The chairs are from West Elm (the scoop backs) and my dad built the farmhouse table based on plans from Ana White. Hope that helps!
xo,
Jessie
Your dining space looks amazing! The banquette seating is so awesome!
I use to read your blog randomly, but a few weeks ago I discovered google reader and have subscribed to your feed. So excuse me if I say this (I may sound like I’m wwwaaayyy behind)… but wow. I never knew how outdated your house really was and how much work you guys really have put into it. Your home tour page is beautiful, but this post really shows how much work you guys have done! Awesome job.
Thanks Autumn! We’ve definitely put some serious love into our house, that’s for sure!
xo,
Jessie
Ur guys house is amazing
Thanks, Justin!
I live in Kentucky just south of you and will gladly buy your chairs from you when you decide to get rid of them! No Craigslist needed! Just email me! I have almost purchased similar ones from amazon twice! Love your whole house!!