Back height, the gap under the table and knee room are on our bench seating dimensions guide.

• How the storage opens, and what to check
• Banquettes with storage worth buying
• The downsides of banquette seating
• Building your own banquette with storage
• What is a bench with storage called?
• Questions people ask

How the storage opens, and what to check before you buy

Find out how the storage opens before anything else, because storage you cannot get into is wasted.

A lift-up seat is hinged and swings up like the lid of a chest. Look for lid supports (arms that hold the lid open) or soft-close hinges (hinges that lower it slowly), so it does not drop on your fingers.

On some benches, like West Elm’s Shelter, you lift the seat cushion off and the storage is underneath. Others have drawers in the front, and drawers and their slides eat into the space inside.

• For a lift-up seat, find a photo of it standing fully open with the cushions in place, or ask the seller. The way the upholstery is added can stop a lid short.
• For drawers, make sure your table legs will not sit in front of them, or you will be moving the table every time you need something. If they would, choose a lid.
• Decide what goes in before you buy, then check the inside measurements. Patio seat cushions need a lot more room than placemats.

Banquettes with storage worth buying

Buy the Castlery Callie. Get the West Elm Shelter if you want to choose the pieces, or have MyCornerBench build one if nothing off the shelf fits your wall.

Best banquette with storageCastlery Callie Storage Banquette

• Castlery $769, Storage Banquette Bench
• Castlery $1,497, Slipcover L-Shaped Storage Banquette

A back, storage under the seat and covers that come off, in a box you put together.

Buy the Callie if you want a banquette with storage and no carpenter. One owner said it turned a space into a dining nook in their apartment, and “the storage is a big bonus.”

If orange juice goes over at breakfast on the L-shape, the slipcovers come off and go in the wash. The straight bench’s cushion covers come off too, but Castlery says to spot clean those.

The seat is a little high for a banquette, so skip the extra seat pad, which would only lift you higher against the table.

It needs full assembly, so leave yourself an afternoon for it. If your order comes with Castlery’s White Glove service, they put it together in the room.

Before you order, ask Castlery how you get into the storage and whether anything stops it opening all the way. The Castlery review covers the brand and its other furniture.

47.2 x 28.3 x 31.5 inSeat height 19.5 inSeat depth 19.5 inBackrest 13.4 in2 compartments, each 21.3 x 16.5 x 13.4 in insideMax bearing support 2 x 330.7 lbRemovable cushion covers10-year frame warranty30-day returnsFull assembly

Best for choosing your own piecesWest Elm Shelter Storage Banquette

• West Elm $649 to $1,199 a piece

A banquette you lay out yourself, piece by piece, delivered and put together for you.

Buy the Shelter if you want to decide the length and the layout yourself. You pick armless singles, armless benches and benches with an arm at one end, and alligator clips join them into one run.

Only the armless pieces have storage, so build the run from armless pieces if you want storage the whole way along. West Elm calls it contract grade, made to stand up to commercial use, which is a good sign on a seat that gets used at every meal.

The seat is high and shallow, so it suits sitting up straight to eat more than lingering after dinner.

Armless bench 58 x 24.25 x 31.5 inSeat height 20.25 inSeat depth 14 inStorage 50.25 x 15.5 x 10 in300 lbKiln-dried, FSC-certified wood frameZip-off, reversible cushion coversDelivered in 1 to 4 weeksWhite Glove, fully assembled

Best made to your measurementsMyCornerBench Shaker Storage Bench

• MyCornerBench $1,366.20 on sale, straight bench with a lift-up seat
• MyCornerBench $1,386 on sale, straight bench with front drawers
• MyCornerBench $1,821.60 on sale, L-shape corner bench

If your corner is an odd size, MyCornerBench builds a storage bench to fit it, in real wood.

Have one made if nothing off the shelf fits your wall. MyCornerBench builds it to your measurements, and when it arrives there is nothing to put together.

You choose lift-up seats or soft-close drawers (drawers that slow down and close gently) in the front, and I would take the lift-up seats. Drawers eat into the space inside, and at a kitchen table the table legs can end up right in front of them.

It is made to order, so it cannot go back. Measure the wall twice before you send in the numbers.

Real wood and cabinet-grade plywoodLift-up seats or Salice soft-close drawersShips in sectionsFree shipping6 to 10 weeks to build, then 3 to 7 business days by freightMade to order, no returns

For less money

If a backless bench against the wall will do, two affordable Wayfair benches have lift-up seats with storage underneath.

The Lark Manor Eslick is a two-piece corner bench for under $500, with lift-tops on soft-close hinges. Its seat is on the shallow side, so pull the table in close. Here is the full Eslick review.

The Three Posts Maniscalco is the one for a straight wall. It is a tufted flip-top bench for under $250, and it seats two.

It is the least expensive bench on this page with storage under the seat. Here is the full Maniscalco review.

The downsides of banquette seating

The real problem with a banquette is getting out of the middle seat.

On a larger banquette, whoever sits in the middle may need others to move to get out, and over a long dinner that gets old, as Pringle & Pringle founder Sophie Pringle told Homes & Gardens.

Choose a pedestal table, one on a single central column, and getting in and out gets much easier.

Building your own banquette with storage

Build one if your corner is an odd shape and you are comfortable with a circular saw. Both plans below put the storage under a hinged seat.

Ana White’s flip-up storage banquette is the plan I would start with. It is a 2×4 frame covered in plywood, with hinged plywood seats, and you cut each piece to fit your room as you go. The same plan makes a straight bench, a corner nook, an angled nook or a window seat.

You will be buying 2x4s, 1/4-inch plywood for the sides, 3/4-inch plywood for the seats, trim boards, and surface-mount hinges with lid supports. The tools you will lean on are a circular saw and a brad nailer.

Finish it with a durable trim or door paint, which she recommends for anything that gets heavy use. Hers is in a short-term rental, and she says it still looks brand new after a couple of years of guests.

Fine Homebuilding’s built-in breakfast nook is the more finished version, with an angled back and lids on piano hinges (one long hinge running the length of the lid).

Build the deck lower than you want to sit, because 4 inches of foam squashes about 2 inches under you.

Put a support under any span longer than 4 feet, whatever plan you follow.

What is a bench with storage called?

Built along a wall with an upholstered seat, it is a banquette. Another name for the storage kind is a deacon’s bench. Its hinged seat is the lid of a storage box underneath, just like a lift-up banquette.

You may also see settle, an old word for a long, high-backed bench that often has storage under the seat.

Questions people ask