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A Reading by MaggieBanquette & Kitchen Nook Cushions

A built-in oak banquette in taupe stripes, and a letter about a very long bench

A letter to a household with a long kitchen bench and two cats, written beside a photograph of a banquette that turns a corner. Both taught me something about zippers.

Read by

The Piping Queen of NewportPublished Updated 4 min read

Taupe and cream striped box cushions on a built-in oak kitchen banquette turning a corner beside a dining tableSave
Taupe and cream stripes along a built-in banquette, turning the corner so the oak bench wraps the kitchen table.

The quick answer

For a very long banquette cushion in a home with pets, choose a tightly woven fabric and put the zipper along the long back edge, so the cushion can be turned end for end and flipped. One buyer in the US with two cats did exactly that on a 21 x 138 5/8 in (53 x 352 cm) kitchen-bench cushion, 2 in thick.

Newport ·

To the kitchen with the long bench and the two cats,

The question: a fabric the cats would leave alone

You asked the question every pet household asks, and you asked it well: which fabric will cats not want to scratch? I will not promise you a fabric that cats ignore. Nobody honest can. What I can point to is a weave so tight that claws find little to catch, and that is what the workshop sent you: the chart of pet-friendly fabrics.

Then you gave the workshop a number that made the cutting table go quiet. 138 5/8 in (352 cm). Over eleven and a half feet of kitchen bench, 21 in (53 cm) deep, 2 in (5 cm) thick. I have measured long benches for thirty-some years, and I still read it out loud twice. You were right to measure the bench and not the cushion you used to have, dear.

A real project

The pet-friendly fabric choice, and how it came out

A buyer in the US with two adult cats asked for a fabric the cats would be less tempted to scratch, and was sent the pet-friendly chart. The order that followed: one kitchen-bench cushion, 21 x 138 5/8 x 2 in (53 x 352 x 5 cm), in one tightly woven color, with double piping in a second shade from the same chart.

The zipper went along the long side. That was the clever choice. With the zipper at the back, the cushion can be turned end for end and flipped now and then, so the cats' favorite spot does not take all the wear. The zipper placement pattern explains why the long back edge suits a bench.

The result: one continuous cushion, double-welted, built to be turned.

Stripes that turn a corner

The photograph beside your letter is a different kitchen, and I chose it on purpose. White walls, a built-in oak storage banquette running into the corner, an oak dining table, a window, a white jug of eucalyptus. The cushions are taupe and cream stripes with self piping and a box edge.

Stripes laid across a long seat break it into a steady rhythm, so it stops looking like a mattress. The cushion sits flush with the oak front, and on the gusset the same stripes turn into short vertical bars, the detail you see every time you walk past. A second cushion carries the pattern around the corner, so the bench wraps the table on two sides. Two rectangles, one running into the corner, are easier than one L piece: each lifts out and washes on its own.

The jug repeats the cream and adds the only green. That is all the styling a working kitchen needs. What does your bench measure, end to end?

Pinned by Maggie: four marks on a built-in bench

Four pins, from the stripe on the seat to the jug of eucalyptus by the window.

Pinned: Taupe and cream striped box cushions on a built-in oak kitchen banquette turning a corner beside a dining table
  1. Taupe and cream stripe

    Stripes laid across the seat break a very long cushion into a steady rhythm.

  2. Striped front gusset

    On the gusset the stripes turn into bars, a detail seen every time you walk past.

  3. Corner return cushion

    The second cushion turns the corner so the bench wraps the table on two sides.

  4. Jug of eucalyptus

    A white jug repeats the cream stripe and adds one soft green.

  1. Taupe and cream stripeStripes laid across the seat break a very long cushion into a steady rhythm.
  2. Striped front gussetOn the gusset the stripes turn into bars, a detail seen every time you walk past.
  3. Corner return cushionThe second cushion turns the corner so the bench wraps the table on two sides.
  4. Jug of eucalyptusA white jug repeats the cream stripe and adds one soft green.

Buyer questions

  1. A common question

    My cushion came out an inch or two off the size I ordered. Is that normal?

    The workshop's answer

    The cushions are fully handmade, so a difference of 1 to 2 in is possible, and the description says so. Shaking and patting a tufted cushion can bring it closer to size, for example from 27 in back to 26 in.

  2. A common question

    I measured my bench wrong after ordering. Can the quote be redone?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes, before production starts. The workshop re-quotes and updates the custom link. One 98.5 in order became a 68 x 22.5 in seat and a 68.5 x 20 in backrest, with the length kept no longer than the bench.

  3. A common question

    Can one set of bench cushions include a trapezoid piece?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. One quoted set was three 24 x 36 in cushions plus one trapezoid, 41 in along the top and 21 in along the bottom, with sides of 9 in and 24 in, all 3 in thick.

On the cutting table: the taupe striped banquette cushions

Cushions (photo)Banquette cushions, box edge, two rectangles meeting at the corner
Fabric (photo)Taupe and cream woven stripe, laid across the seat
Piping (photo)Self piping
Buyer's cushion21 x 138 5/8 x 2 in (53 x 352 x 5 cm), one piece
Buyer's fabricTightly woven pet-friendly weave; double piping in a second shade
ZipperAlong the long back edge, so the cushion can be turned and flipped
Tolerance1 to 2 in on handmade cushions
Best forKitchen nooks, built-in storage banquettes, homes with cats

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Have it made

Have this made — ask Maggie’s workshop

I once cut a lovely cushion two inches short, and I have not forgotten it. That is why the workshop goes over your measurements with you on the phone. — Maggie

Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.

Fabric · Foam · Pipingwhat the workshop will confirm with you

Fabric
Taupe and cream woven stripe, laid across the seat
Foam
The core: its density and thickness set the feel.
Piping
Self piping
Only for this request: no marketing calls or texts. Outside the US, add the country code.
In inches: length × depth × thickness, plus any angles or cut corners.

* Required. A member of the workshop team will call you to talk it through; nothing is charged and nothing is made until you have agreed on every detail with them.

We use these details only to answer this request and make your cushion: your name and contact details, the cushion details and photos you send, the page you came from and the ad or link that brought you, if any. The workshop that makes the cushions receives them. We don't sell them or share them for advertising, and we delete requests after 24 months. Privacy notice for requests.

Nothing is made or charged until you approve the details.

Want to pick the shape and add photos? Use the full quote form

Put the zipper on the long back edge of a banquette cushion. Then the whole cushion can be turned end for end and flipped, and no single spot takes all the wear.

Maggie
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Questions buyers ask next

Is one long banquette cushion better than several pieces?

One piece gives an unbroken line; separate pieces lift out more easily. A 138 5/8 in cushion was made in one piece, while the pictured corner bench uses two rectangles so each can be washed on its own.

What does double piping add to a bench cushion?

Two parallel welts along the edge instead of one, often in a second shade. On a long bench it frames the seat and gives the eye a steady line to follow from one end of the kitchen to the other.

Which fabric suits a banquette in a home with cats?

A tightly woven fabric from a pet-friendly chart. No weave fully resists claws, but a tight one gives them less to catch, and a zippered cover can come off when it needs cleaning.

Why run stripes across a long bench cushion rather than along it?

Across the seat, stripes break a long run into a rhythm, so the cushion does not read as a mattress. On the front gusset they turn into short vertical bars that show every time you pass.

Stitch straight — Maggie

More photographs to read

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On an oak corner banquette over terracotta tiles, a taupe honeycomb cushion keeps the whole kitchen in warm, earthy tones.
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The close view shows what a room shot can't: raised cream lines and a pattern that continues down the boxed side.