Build Your Own: Colven Dining Banquette

The Colven is a dining banquette from Four Hands, built around a burnt oak veneer base with solid oak in the frame and a low, upholstered seat and back. The cushions are filled with polyurethane foam wrapped in polyester batting and covered in a cream performance fabric woven from polyester, acrylic and flax. The back sits low and the base is open and architectural, so the piece reads as a bench with the comfort of a built-in booth.

The shape comes from the fixed banquettes of old diners and European cafes, translated into a freestanding piece that arrives in sections. It is offered in several straight lengths and a corner unit, and interlocking hardware comes in the package so lengths can be joined into a run or an L. The dark, smoky oak against the pale textured cover keeps it neutral, and it sits easily with round pedestal tables, plaster walls and warm wood floors.

Pull it along a wall in a dining room, tuck a corner unit into a kitchen nook, or run a long bench under a window to seat a crowd without a row of chairs. The performance fabric is made to handle spills, stains and everyday traffic, which suits a table used for homework, dinner parties and slow Sunday mornings.