If you’re looking for kitchen breakfast bar ideas, you’ve come to the right place. The majority of the kitchens we design and make here at Roundhouse kitchens include a breakfast bar – perfect for a quick coffee, casual lunch or wine with friends. As a desirable addition to any beautiful bespoke kitchen island, bar-style seating is a must, especially in open-plan dining room and kitchen designs. We’ve got plenty of beautiful breakfast bar designs to inspire, each one individually imagined to enhance the overall aesthetic and functionality of our bespoke designer kitchens.

Raise the bar

High-level breakfast bars yield multiple benefits. From a design perspective, raising the bar facilitates a switch in materials that can result in a truly stand-out feature, like this striking design in marble and antiqued steel by roundhouse design ltd. It is also a practical solution if you want an island that is longer than a single worktop slab – raising the bar up allows a new piece of worktop, without unsightly joints. Additionally, a raised bar can help from a safety point, especially when there is a hob on the modern kitchen island with seating, as it will keep children safely away from sizzling pans and sharp knives.

Modern kitchen lighting ideas

Put your breakfast bar firmly in the spotlight with thoughtfully positioned statement pendant lights. We adore the glass cluster chandelier featured here, in colours that complement the Antique Brass Metal wrap on the bespoke kitchen island below. Wiring such lighting on a separate circuit to the main task lights, preferably with dimmer controls, will allow you to set the kitchen mood lighting to relax when entertaining.

Change direction

An off-set breakfast bar can lead to more interestingly shaped custom kitchen islands, as well as space for more stools – ideal for larger families and socialising. For some, an off-set, or L-shape, breakfast bar is chosen to appreciate better views of the garden while seated. This style of breakfast bar can also allow more space for dining with kitchen design, without reducing the prep area.

From a luxurious kitchen design perspective, we love the potential to introduce another material to a bespoke island when opting for an off-set breakfast bar. Whether you’re considering a brass kitchen or copper kitchen, white marble kitchen or bronze kitchen, a second worktop material can add an extra layer of design interest and sophistication.

Practical pointers

With so many gorgeous bar stools to choose from, settling on the perfect design can prove challenging. There are a few basic ways to narrow it down; start by considering the seat shape. A high back bar stool will be more comfortable when sitting for any length of time, while one without a back can be tucked right under the breakfast bar, out of the way, when not in use. This can really improve the flow in a smaller high end kitchen.

Next consider the design. A luxury modern kitchen design will suit minimalist bar stools – Muuto, Vitra and Gubi are some of our favourite brands. Industrial and Mid-century inspired stools, like those from Thonet or Fritz Hansen, are also very flexible and can look equally striking in contemporary kitchen design as well as more classical custom kitchens.

What height should a breakfast bar be UK?

The joy of commissioning a bespoke kitchen design from roundhouse kitchens is the ability to specify any breakfast bar height desired! There are no limits. However, for a breakfast bar that sits on a luxury kitchen island, also used for prepping food and baking etc, the comfortable working height for most people is around 90-95cm off the ground, so it’s wise to work within these parameters. A raised breakfast bar could be 10-15cm higher, but we don’t recommend going too high, or you may struggle to find bar stools to suit.

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Our expert kitchen designers can help you make the best choices for your Roundhouse bespoke kitchen or wardrobes. Visit any of our seven Roundhouse showrooms; Wigmore St, Clapham, Fulham, Richmond, Cambridge, Guildford & Cheltenham and get planning!