Banquets in the hallway: what are they and how to choose?

No one will argue with the fact that a person's home should be as comfortable as possible. The atmosphere of coziness often depends on the choice of the right furniture, and for the hallway it is not only a dressing room, a rug at the doorstep, but also a bench. The material of this article will tell you what it is, what are the varieties of this accessory, how to choose it correctly.

A bench in the classical sense is nothing more than a pouf for the convenience of putting on and taking off shoes. This is an element of furniture that does not take up much space, but significantly increases the convenience of households and all those who enter and leave the house. Depending on the type of construction, it can be very diverse. Basically, it is 2-in-1 furniture that has a seat for the user and is often equipped with internal storage systems.

Translated from French, the banquet means "bench". For the hallway it is a contemporary piece of furniture.

A modern approach to furniture design opens up many opportunities for creating practical products. Manufacturers offer buyers a wide range of banquets, differing in the degree of functionality, size and shape.The products are characterized by mobility and optimal dimensions, which means that they do not take up much space. Some of them are capable of replacing a sofa, others provide for one seat.

From the point of view of the nuances of designs, they can be divided into several varieties. Each type is different in appearance, and it may also provide for the presence of its own accessories. For example, other options can be equipped with removable covers or mattresses, as well as small pillows.

Classic models are nothing more than square ottomans without a back. These products are distinguished by soft seat upholstery, but otherwise the shape may vary. For example, if some modifications are a closed cube, then others are somewhat similar to low stools. Still others resemble a goat sports equipment, having the same seat shape and laconic supports.

Banquet poufs do not have legs; their upholstery can be either leather or textile. The storage compartment for household items is a convenient storage system for hallways with limited usable space.

An alternative to the two varieties is the bench-bench. It differs from stool models in the number of user seats... The upholstery remains soft, the number of seats ranges from 2 to 3. Support legs can be 4 or 6, while the model can be divided into 2 categories: without a backrest and with it.

The first modifications are convenient in that they fit more tightly against the wall, and therefore can save the area of ​​the hallway. Analogs with a backrest are good where there is enough space for freedom of movement. Products of this group can be not only soft, but also hard. However, models may have a soft seat and a hard back.

Equip armrests bench models... In this case, the shape of these structural elements may vary. Somewhere they are quite low and curved at the sides, sometimes straight, often high. There are also hard ones, which is typical for models without soft upholstery and inner filler. Their width also differs: they are narrow and moderately wide. Somewhere they are a kind of restraints, not allowing the soft mattress of the bench to move along the sides.

Models in this category are externally similar to compact cabinets. They differ from poufs in the variety of storage systems. If classic banquets often have a hinged lid, under which there is a spacious drawer, then the manufacturer can equip such modifications with drawers. Wherein the storage system can be located on a wood platform, under which the minimum length supports are located.

Products may have shelves located under the seat. Depending on the opening mechanism, some shelves form vertical shelves when closed.

Rails should be understood as lattice shelves. Such structural elements are convenient for storing shoes. In this case, the lattice shelves can vary in the width of the rungs themselves. As a rule, such products have only one shelf. Rails are often made metal, they can be tubular, narrow or wide flat. As a rule, these models are open, they are distinguished by their laconic design. Depending on the needs of the buyer, you can purchase a shoe rack with one or two shelves.

This group includes models outwardly resembling a reduced version of an ottoman or sofa. They purchase this furniture for arranging spacious hallways. These are not sofas, you cannot lie on them, but the models are quite comfortable and comfortable. Depending on the design idea, they may imply the use of not only soft mats, but also removable covers, which is very convenient and practical in the conditions of use of hallway furniture. You can sit comfortably on them.

Sometimes manufacturers delight buyers with completely extraordinary types of designs. For example, on sale you can find products with a bench base, the upper part of which is supplemented on one side with a pair of drawers. In fact, these modifications have an impromptu table that can be used for storing, for example, a landline phone. Other models may have open shelves at the bottom on one side, and a closed storage system on the other.

Sometimes the model has a soft seat and a closed box with fronts, like a chest of drawers. Some, instead of armrests, are equipped with restraints provided for the location of soft mats. Knegt is considered one of the most comfortable types of benches. You can store in such a product not only shoes, but also other things (for example, scarves, hats, gloves, mittens).

These products are duets that make up a furniture ensemble. In fact, these are compact benches with the same shelves that are used to equip hallways in small apartments. The products are convenient and practical, in most cases they do not have unnecessary decor and unnecessary elements. They can have a hard or soft seat, a removable mattress. Outwardly, they often resemble a kind of boxes or cabinets with spacious inner drawers or compartments.

In the classical sense, the banquets have a standard shape. Those that are designed for 2-3 users can be not only linear, but also angular. Often they are ordered privately, choosing the length and width, taking into account the features of the hallway design protrusions. Therefore, models can also form protruding corners. Often, models include a connecting corner element.

Moreover, they can be both traditional on legs and in the form of pedestals with closed storage systems and a convertible top. On sale there are products of round and semicircular shapes. Other modifications are so narrow that they look like benches or long pedestals. In some hallways, they are made according to the width of the wall at the front door.

As for the sizes, they are individual and are selected depending on the needs and preferences of buyers.

On sale there are models with a height of 50 cm. Buyers find them more attractive and easier to use: they are comfortable to sit on, take off and put on shoes, tie and untie the laces. In general, when buying, they usually try to try on: the height at which the legs of the sitting person bend at right angles is considered sufficient. In order to ensure the convenience of all household members, additional footrests are often purchased for the banquets.

The width of the banquets can vary: the narrowest modifications are usually 25-30 cm. Of course, these are not the most convenient options, but they greatly simplify the life of a family living in a small apartment. Moreover, the length of these models usually does not exceed 80-100 cm.Wider counterparts can be up to half a meter wide.

Non-standard products can be 38 and 55 cm in height. As a rule, a lower height is usually found in laconic design options without shelves or drawers. More functional modifications are higher, because in storage systems located under the seat, you have to maintain the desired height of shelves or drawers.

The shape of the models can be very diverse: simple products have rounded edges, others may differ in different widths of the sides. Others are equipped with only one armrest, but have an asymmetrical back and a high armrest on the other side. The design of individual modifications is somewhat reminiscent of a smaller version of the changing table.

Hallway furniture manufacturers are trying to use in production only high quality raw materials. The most popular type is wood: products from it are strong, reliable and durable. Such models look respectable, they raise the status of any interior. At the same time, today we have the opportunity to choose the type of wood, taking into account the most demanding preferences. The priority is oak, beech and walnut products.

Metal is used not only for roof rails, but also for supports. In addition, the banquet in the hallway can be wrought iron. The metal laces on the supports and armrests make the furniture especially elegant. And also the banquettes are made of rattan (dry stems of palm branches). By heat treatment, they are given the desired shape, which the stems remember as they cool. Such products are characterized by strength and durability.

In addition to the materials described above, in the production of banquettes they use plastic. Such furniture cannot be called practical and durable, because plastic is afraid of accidental mechanical damage and quickly becomes covered with scratches. It is not designed for heavy weight, and therefore it makes no sense to purchase such products with the expectation of several users.

As for the material used for upholstery, among the most demanded raw materials it is worth noting natural and artificial leather, flock, tapestry, velor, boucle. Often, textiles used for furniture production are treated with a special compound. Elite models are trimmed with tapestry and leather. Budget ones are made out with leatherette, sheathed with a soft seat.

Velor models look status, this material has an original texture, pleasant to the touch. Boucle is distinguished by the presence of knots, it can decorate furniture, however, it requires particularly careful care and operation.

The colors of the banquettes can be different, which is selected based on the color of the interior composition. Often, furniture is chosen in a single tone, which allows the banquet to fit into the furniture in the most harmonious way. Most of the store's assortment is represented by products in woody tones, and shades can be either bleached light or dark.

Besides, chrome and bronze tones of metal finishing of products are relevant.

Sometimes the seat is made in gray, black and brown, while the legs often contrast in tone with the upholstery of the material used. For example, white and gray, blue, turquoise, walnut and metallic, wenge and marsh, white and beige, light gray and beige can be combined. The unity of such contrasts as black-brown and milky, sand and beige, white and bronze, red-brown and gold looks no less harmonious.

Despite the unification of the banquets into a single group with a mass of branches, the products cannot be called universal, suitable for all interior styles indiscriminately. Like any piece of furniture, the bench must comply with certain rules of a particular interior style. For example, today a large part of the assortment is made up of models of laconic forms with a focus on practicality and functionality.

These are rectangular products without twisted legs and carved decorative elements, equipped with hidden or open storage systems for shoes or other items that can be removed from view in the hallway. They seem simple, but at the same time they are convenient in everyday life and perfectly relieve the interior of the hallway, leaving space in it for placing the necessary interior accents.

Often, an element of modern design (for example, high-tech, art deco, brutalism, loft, grunge) is the use of metal. Many of the directions are focused on the fact that furniture should appear both simple and elegant at the same time. However, the elegance here is special: it is the unusual forms, sometimes the dominance of metal in the construction, the presence of mirrored facades on the sides of the banquet, a combination of metal and leather, metal and wood. Besides, modern models should be ergonomic and include transformation systems.

Products of the classical type (styles of classic, neoclassicism, classicism) are nothing more than options with a craving for elements of palace elegance. These are necessarily twisted legs, the presence of gilding and stucco decoration. Wood modification is a priority: it looks expensive and is a favorite of raw materials for furniture. The upholstery is usually leather with a carriage turnbuckle, the filling can be latex.

The classic type of products can be with or without a back, furniture can be decorated with carvings, the shape of the supports can vary from simple to complex. The color is matched to other elements of the furniture.

Products of current styles country and provence have a lighter design. There should be a rustic simplicity coupled with an emphasis on romanticism. Products can be rigid, made of wood painted in white or in a color contrasting pastel color palette. These are benches with a hinged lid and standard leg heights.

And also it can be models with drawers and textile upholstery, decorated with a simple floral print. A contrasting piping can be used along the edge of the upholstery. Textiles should be chosen to match the curtains or upholstery of furniture purchased in the room next to the hallway. The model can have a soft seat and back, it can be equipped with a pair of shelves or a row of drawers.

The fittings for the banquets should not be ultra-fashionable, since it is important to point to a certain time era in which there was no high technology. These are wooden handles, possibly rounded.Wicker rattan boxes, which can be placed on existing shelves or directly on the floor (if the bench has high legs and no internal drawers), will become an excellent completion of these products.

Style furniture baroque is distinguished by a craving for decoration. It is necessary to use soft structural elements, the choice of textile upholstery, as well as a lot of decorative elements. The color scheme should be light, accentuation of the decor with gilding is encouraged.

Models of a rustic or hunting style are distinguished by a deliberately rude design.

Choosing your own version of a banquet for arranging a hallway, you have to take into account a lot of nuances. For example, initially it is necessary to determine the size, which is especially important for premises with a shortage of usable space. Besides, you need to decide on the purpose of the product... Some accessories are purchased solely for the convenience of putting on and taking off shoes, others, in addition to this function, do an excellent job of storing any things, for example, the same umbrellas, hats, scarves.

The size of the product is selected based on the total footage of a particular hallway. The bench should not clutter up the space and interfere with movement around the room. At the same time, the place for it is looked after in advance, paying attention to which way the doors open, how much space is needed for the location, pulling out the drawers (if any). All the necessary measurements are taken at home in advance so that the store does not waste time thinking about whether the model will stand in the designated place.

When selecting a specific option it is important to bear in mind that the bench should not completely replace the wardrobe. It is not designed to hold almost all the things that you want to keep in the hallway. It is necessary to consider the type of material, because this will affect the durability and reliability of the structure. Fiberboard options are designed for no more than 5-6 years of careful operation, the best products are those made of wood.

Models can be sold with a high back and even a mirror. Others are equipped with a compact drawer, some options are sold with a compact table, which is barely enough to hold a phone. It is located above the seat, which is convenient for use.

However, in general the optimal depth of the bench is considered to be 50 cm. This is enough to comfortably sit on it and, for example, lace up your shoes. The shape is selected so as to exclude injury from furniture. If practicality is important, you can look at the options with the possibility of changing the cover or models that provide for the removal of soft seat mats. This will make it easier to wash or clean, which will allow the bench to retain its aesthetic appeal for longer.

We bring to your attention 10 examples of original banquettes that fit well into the interior of the hallway:

• a laconic banquette looks favorably against a brick wall;

• corridor model with restraints, cushions and compartments for baskets;

• version in the form of a compact sofa with a back and metal supports;

• classic style product, decorated with gilding and carved sidewalls;

• a bench with a bench design, which makes up a harmonious ensemble, coupled with a hallway and a mirror;

• a model with rails and thin supports that fit appropriately into the interior of a loft-style hallway;

• an example of a successful arrangement of a niche with the selection of a model without a back to match the general concept of stylistics;

• compact modification with a hinged shelf and hooks, which together form a single furniture ensemble;

• option with a carriage coupler and a touch of antiquity, which looks appropriate in a minimalist design;

• a designer model of a fancy shape that can decorate the interior of an apartment in the Art Nouveau style.

How to make a bench in the hallway from scraps, see below.