If your family loves to do paperwork (or homework) in the dining room, this is a great solution for keeping everything tidy.

At first glance it's a cozy built-in banquette... which is already really cool... but wait, there's more!

​It opens up to reveal a hidden "secretary" desk where you can stash your papers and books.

We started by building the case in our studio. As you can see, the benches are also hollow, with flip-top lids to hide large objects. You could even hide a computer router in here, and stash the laptop behind the seat, to make a home office that's invisible when it's not in use.

The dining room we installed it in was fairly small...

...so the built-in banquette seating made efficient use of the space.

You may notice that there were a few changes to the design. For example, we added two doors to the back instead of one, and painted the bottom kick to match the baseboard. That's what sets custom furniture apart: the ability to customize it to your preferences.

With cushions and pillows, the built-in windowseat became a comfortable place to relax with a book and a mug of tea.

If you've got stuff all over the dining room table, this banquette could help you reclaim your eating area but still have a place to stash things out of site. Give us a call to get one for your home, so you can be beautifully organized.

We're starting a fun new project this week: built-in dining room banquette seating in a home in Montford.

Check out the interactive 3D model which we made for our customer. Click and drag to rotate it.

For those of you who can't load the model, here's a still picture:

The banquette is for a writer who loves to do her work in coffee shops and would like to have a similar set-up at home.

​This is the first draft, and the final version will have a few small changes. One feature which we're definitely going to include is a hidden fold-out "secretary" on the back to hold books and papers when they're not in use.

The seats will also have flip-top storage which will be perfect for larger items such as blankets or wifi equipment.

The extra storage allows this dining room to double as a home office, and it will also be a great place for our customer to meet clients.

If you have a room that needs to serve several functions, custom furniture may be the best option to maximize storage and get exactly what you're looking for.