Outdoor Garden Benches - Everything About Them

DIY: 11 Easy Wood Benches

Projects That You Can Build In a Day, Often With Scratch Wood

Let's get to work: here are 11 easy to do yourself wooden benches. There are regular backless benches, ones with back, woodworking tables and stools:

1. Oak Bench

This is a guide by Bosh and as such they use their tools to make the bench. You don't have to use Bosh drill of course. The bench is good, very stable and durable. In addition to the web page there is a PDF design drawing with the parts you have to cut out from oak wood.

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2. Small Outdoor Bench From Pressure Treated Wood

This small 2-person bench consists of just 4 parts - 2 legs, a top, and a support brace. The bench has diagonal legs which make it more stable. There are lots of pictures in this guide. It's good although there are no building plans. Here is the guide.

3. Rustic Wood Benches - Easy!

This is a type of tree trunk bench we have discussed in this article. The only material you need to build such a bench is a good trunk. The older, the better (for rustic outlook), but make sure it's' not rotten. Do not cut live trees, if possible use a fallen tree. See few details about making this bench.

4. Solid wood bench/coffee table

I like the bench shown in this instructable a lot. It's very solid and should be able to handle high load for long time. The author doesn't stick to specific sizes so you can easily adapt the guide to a size of your likes. The bench can be made of recycled wood to reduce costs.

5. DIY Potting Bench

A really cute DIY potting bench made mostly of boards of the same size. It's a good detailed blog post with lots of pictures (although no plans). They have not put any wheels so if you decide to do it, you can just attach them at the bottom of the legs. You could replace the board-made tops with sheets of thick plywood or whatever you have on hand, as long as it's robust enough.

6. A Simple Workbench

Here is a bench which you can use to build many other things. For example more benches :) The workbenches should be very solid and allow attaching some tools (like a vice). This guide by Popular Mechanics will show you how to build one. It has good description, pictures and downloadable PDF. This isn't the easiest DIY project here though.

7. Upcycling Wood Paneling for TV

If you are looking for something much simpler and easy to do, here it is. It's made of just 3 parts connected with treenails. There isn't much to say or explain about it. Just go check the blog post, see the pictures and you'll get the idea.

8. Kid's Bench / Step-Stool

Just as much this bench/stool is simple, the guide is detailed. The design comes with two alternate dimensions. Pictures, photos, and sizes - it's all there. View the guide.

9. Easy Child Wood Stool

Here's another durable design that is easy to make. It's a small stool but it wouldn't be very hard to adapt the design to a larger bench. Few boars, beams and nails - that's all you need for building it.

10. Garden Bench of Scrap Wood

I don't have much scrap wood in the garden. It's because I use it all for projects like this. If you have some, you can made a good garden bench with back from it. See also the comments under the instructable.

11. Four-legs Bench With Crossed Joists

I'm surprised I did not find this design anywhere. So I made the drawing below myself. I don't have plans yet (because I have not built the bench yet) but it should be clear from the picture: 4 legs, 2 diagonal crossed joists for support and a top. I've seen such benches in the past and I think very few designs beat the simplicity of this one.

Top 8 Reasons To Make a Garden Bench Yourself

Shopping for benches? Wait. Maybe it's wiser to build one yourself. Here is why:

1. It's cheaper. This is the most obvious reason. But do you know how cheap it could be? If you build your bench using old boards or tree branches and trunks it could be nearly free. If you don't have such materials available you can make a concrete bench for about $50 (for materials). You can really save money. Don't forget to count your time though.

2. It's fun. Building a bench takes a couple of hours or at most one day and it's not hard work. An excellent way to spend Sunday afternoon instead of watching TV.

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3. You can have a unique bench. It's of course easy to find ready bench plans and use them but you can also draw the plans of your bench yourself. This way you can build a bench that no one else has. With funny shapes. Of just extremely comfortable. Or extremely frugal. It's all your choice.

4. You can make it fit your space. When buying ready benches you rarely can find one that fits exactly the space you have for it. Especially if it's a bench that has to fill a niche at the fence or near the house. When building your own bench, of course you'll just design it with the right size.

5. You'll learn how to make benches. Like with most DIY things, it's hard only the first time. Once you make the first bench you'll figure out how easy or hard is to level the bench, where is the best place to attach the legs, how to plane the wood for the wooden bench etc. Then making the next bench is a lot easier (and
faster).

6. We can publish your pictures. If you build a DIY bench yourself we'll be happy to publish your pictures and some words about you. Just contact us and let us know.

7. You can use old furniture. If you have an old broken table or desk, don't throw it. Part of the materials in it can be used for making a new bench. Sometimes this will be the legs, other times the main board, or even some screws. Redesign the thing, add new materials, paint it and finish it. The new bench may look completely different and fresh.

8. You'll know exactly what's in it. When buying a bench you have to rely on what the seller says about the materials used. This is vague area especially with the budget benches made offshore. The quality is often vague too and sometimes you figure out that the manufacturer has used the cheapest materials that don't last much. When making your bench yourself you know exactly what's inside.

Finally, you don't lose much by trying. Try to build at least one bench yourself - even if it's the simplest one made of a tree trunk.

Blog Review: Lazy Suzan

We are starting a new section in the site. We'll do short reviews interesting blogs related to benches, garden furniture etc. I hope the reviews will help you discover interesting blogs about these topics. If you want to suggest a blog, just let us know.

The Lazy Suzan Blog

Let's start with the Lazy Suzan blog about gardening, patio and garden design, furniture etc.

The blog is fairly popular and in addition to gardening, covers some general topics on cooking and home/family issues. There is a good videos section with how-to videos. While there are no videos about benches you may want to check How to Build Summer 8 Seater Oval Garden Table.

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The blog is fairly busy and publishes several articles per week. The authors have an UK-based store selling metal garden furniture including some decent metal garden benches.

They have built a fairly good blog for a small business, so I though it's good to start. Stay tuned for more blog reviews.

All Types Of Benches: Simply Explained

Not All Benches Are In The Garden

Church pews, piano benches, kissing benches... have you heard about all these? They are all benches. And guess what, I'll let you know more about them. Who said all benches should be in the garden?

Garden Benches

We have covered garden benches a lot on this site, reviewed them as DIY projects, and discussed their plastic version. Check the links for more information.

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Park Benches

Park benches are used in public areas and parks. They don't always differ than the benches you may have in your garden. Typically they are made at least partially of steel to survive the heavier usage in public spaces. In most parks one or two designs of benches are used in the entire park for consistence. Another reason for this is to get better offer from the bench supplier

Cats also enjoy park benches.

Friendship Benches

They are longer than the most other types. Friendship benches are used mostly in school yards to allow kids to chat to each other. There is no specific material used or design they should follow - some friendship benches are a bit unusual like this one. (There is nothing friendly in its price though!)

Photo by Daquella manera

Picnic Benches

More often called picnic tables, they are used from people who go to picnic. Most of them are fixed to the ground in public areas and picnic spaces. You can however buy your own picnic table from any store - they have two benches on each side which are usually fixed to the table. In this case the entire thing of course is not fixed to the ground.

Here is a good picnic table kit for about a hundred bucks. If you are a DIY fan it's not a problem to build a picnic table yourself too.

Here's a typical picnic area with benches

By FredoAlvarez

Piano Benches

As you could guess these benches are often used to play on a piano. But not only. These are benches for one or two persons and are usually quite comfortable and have soft cushion. Their height is adjustable and in average ranges 19-23 inches from the floor. Of course you can also build one of these yourself.

It almost makes me want to sit and play! Or only sit... no idea how to play piano.

By Unhindered by Talent

Church Pews

Yes, these are the long benches that are there in churches and similar buildings. They are wooden, long, very durable and sometimes can have carvings on the sides. If for any reason you may want to buy such pews (perhaps for your church or wedding hall), there are many places where you can buy them used and save money.

Photo by cincooldesigns

Swing Seats

Some benches aren't very stable and that's intentionally :) Swing seats are just benches that are attached to a swing frame instead of being directly on the ground. This of course allows swinging and often leads to many hours spent on the "bench". Swing seats are the favorite benches of the kids.

There are all kind of swing seats and swing sets - wooden, metal, plastic, for adults, with cushions, attached on a tree, and even indoor. They are also good projects for building yourself. Unless you are building a simple tree swing (which isn't technically a bench), building a swinging bench is more challenging than building a static one.

Photo by Ollie Crafoord

Weight Training Benches

This is a sport equipment used for weight lifting, building bench press and so on. Often they are built of steel and have a soft foam-vinyl covering. The covering allows lifting weights without breaking your backbone. There are several types of weight training benches found in the gyms. The incline benches are slightly raised while the decline weight benches are designer for training the muscles of the lower chest. There are vertical models for good back support and flat weight benches for bench presses and more exercises.

Here is a list of weight training exercises. Many of them are performed best on weight training bench. And here is how to build one yourself.

Photo by Ulf Liljankoski

Courting "Kissing" Benches

Ever kissed someone on a bench in the park? It's not that comfortable to do it on a typical bench. Your neck starts to hurt. That's why people have invented the courting, kissing, "tete-a-tete" benches yet at the Victorian times. These benches have two parallel seats facing the opposite directions. They aren't very popular right now, but if you feel romantic you can put one in your backyard.

Here is one beautiful courting bench

Communion benches

This is another type of church bench. Here are few pictures and further explanations of the communion benches.

Folding Benches

Back to something more practical. Folding benches are in fact very practical, easy to take with you and bring anywhere. Most of them are backless, some mix canvas and lightweight aluminim frame, and some are used for exercises (like the folding weight benches).

There are also wall mounted folding work benches. You can make one yourself following this guide.

Some more resources

While I have covered the most important kinds of benches, there are even more you may want to explore. Here are a couple of resources discussing other or additional types of benches:

10 Types of Work Bench Designs

Types of Weight Benches

Types of Acacia Wood Outdoor Benches

Greenhouse Benches

That's all for now.

Minimalist Guide To Building a Potting Bench

The Least You Need To Know To Get Started Right Now

The web is full of potting bench plans and guides (I'll share some links where appropriate). The problem is, as usual,

there are way too many guides,

way too many different descriptions, and way too many different designs. How can you be sure you are selecting the right bench plan? How can you be sure you are choosing the very best guide and the best materials?

You can't. You don't have to. All you need to know to get started is below. Then, as you are going you can read only what you need for any given moment.

Design and Size

There are just three dimensions you need to know: height, width and depth of the entire bench. You don't need to worry where exactly is the first shelf and second shelf of it unless you know exactly what pots you are going to put there.

When planning the height, don't forget there may be pots on the top of the bench. And in the pot, there will be a plant that will grow. You need at the very minimum 1m / 3ft distance between the top of the bench and the ceiling of the room.

The bench should fit in a place you've intended for it - that's the only requirement regarding the bench width.

The depth of the bench is more important - because often such benches are placed in passages or lobby you should plan for enough space remaining for people and things to move. For example, if the bench is in the hall, you don't want to have to have to move it each time when you buy some furniture which has to go through. Don't forget also that some plants can bulge outside of the normal bench depth.

Elements of a Potting Bench

Most potting bench designs include all of these elements:

Legs. Potting benches have two pairs of legs - two shorter legs (front part) and two longer on the back as they support the third shelf. The back legs are about 50% longer than the front legs.

Shelves. The bottom and middle shelves are equal and as wide as the depth of the bench. The top shelf is much narrower. Some potting benches have 2 or even more top shelves.

Various supports: crosspieces or spacers that support the front legs to the back legs.

The rest is bolts, nuts, painting, notches - all that minor stuff that can be done in million ways which are neither right nor wrong. Therefore it's nothing to worry about when you are starting.

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I'm skipping the materials discussion - the only reasonable option for a DIY potting bench is wood, preferably cedar or similar.

The Building Process

Most DIY potting bench makers follow this step by step process:

Choosing design or making your own. As already stated, this is not as crucial as it sounds. Potting benches are pretty much the same. Just pay attention to the width, height and depth.

Buying/finding materials. Remember: 2 long legs, 2 short legs, 2 normal-size shelves, 1 narrow shelf, and the rest is just little pieces.

Making the legs. Just cut the wood to get the four legs and the supports.

Notching the wood. This is done to ensure stability of the bench.

Assemble the legs together. Drilling holes, gluing, putting bolts. Pretty simple stuff.

Build the shelves. Bottom and middle shelf are basically the same. The top shelf is narrow and needs a board on the back.

Finish the bench. Sanding, applying polyurethane and possibly painting. This is similar in all tutorials. See this guide about painting benches.

Essentially, that's all.

So, Here Are Some Actual Guides

As promised, I'll give you some of the best guides around. You don't need to read them all. Choosing just one works. Of course, it's good at least to have a look on most of them:

15 Potting Bench Plans: {Free DIY Projects & Tips} - this is an excellent collection of guides, all free.

Build a Potting Bench - good and detiled guide by Vegetable Gardener although there are no drawings with sizes.

How to Design and Create a Potting Bench - this is a great guide because it covers the design process. Good choice if you want to design your potting bench yourself.

How to Build a Portable Potting Bench / Garden Cart. Here's one that breaks the pattern. It has no third shelf and the bench is portable.

Potting Bench PDF Plan - great free plan by Woodpost.

Potting Bench: Downloadable Woodworking Plan
- by WOOD Magazine

These should be more than enough to have you started. And when you are done, don't forget to let me know in the comments, by email or at Twitter!

Painting Benches

Don't Be Shy, Bring Some Colors In Your Garden

It's not just about the colors. Painting protects your outdoor benches from aging. Wood rots quickly without protection, and metal rusts. While there are also various primers for wood or metal, they work best when combined with paint. And it's so much nicer for the eyes, so there are no reasons to avoid doing it.

Photo by basykes

Before Painting...

Don't rush it unless you want the job half done. Before painting or re-painting most outdoor furniture must be cleaned. If there has been old paint or varnish on a wooden or steel bench you need to remove it. Here are good visual instructions how to do it the right way. Noone said it's going to be easy ;)

If there is no old paint to remove you need at least to clean the bench from dust and anything that might be adherent to the surface. Before painting the bench its surface should be clean and dry.

If you have planned to use some primer or other treatment it should be placed before the paint and be left to dry well too. Note that many modern paints and stains are mixed with primer so there is no need of other treatment.

Choosing Colors

Choosing colors is so individual that it makes no sense to give general advice. Some ideas however might be of use:

In a very green garden the green benches will be out of sight. Unless it's a sought effect, better choose other color.

Black benches will absorb sunlight. Black is epsecially bad idea for steel benches in sunny areas.

If you have several benches, you can paint them in the same color. But painting each one in a different color can also produce wonderful effect.

Benches don't need to be single-color painted. Feel free to draw figures on them or to have the legs and backs in different color than the seat.

Dull colors are good for pale colored gardens and sharp colors are good for colorful gardens with a lot of flowers.

It's a good idea to match the colors of your house - doors, windows etc.

Of course you can have completely different ideas and it's all fine. Just use your creativity and don't listen too much to advice about coloring.

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Choose the Paint

There are a lot of paint types nowadays. The variety makes me dream about the old days when everything was just "paint". Just kidding, the current situation is much better because you can choose paint depending on your bench types, your budget and your willing to work hard or not.

Here is a nice article with table showing which paints are appropriate for different furniture types.

Don't forget to ask the seller at the store, just keep in mind that some sellers will prefer to sell you the most expensive paints.

And Paint Them!

This is actually the easy part. Mix the paint if needed and pour it into a pan. Then use a brush or roller and start paiting from the back and bottom parts. You can leave the bottom side of the seat unpainted, but it's better to paint there too. After painting let the bench dry for at least a day. Often one paint is not going to be enough - so after letting it dry you may decide to repeat the work again, up to your satisfaction.

Keep your benches clean and protect them from rain and strong sunlight to keep the paint fine longer time.

Benches Made Of Tree Branches and Trunks

Creepy, Strange Or Just Natural - You Choose The Final Outlook

People love wooden outdoor benches for the natural look and feel they have. Of course they have other advantages too but this is one of the most important. But some don't find benches made of planks and boards natural and interesting enough and make benches from tree branches and trunks.

The Simplest Benches - From Tree Trunks

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a bench is just to find a couple of trunks in the forest. (Never cur live trees, just find something lying out there!) You'll need a good saw cutter to cut two equal pieces for the legs and then cut the rest of the trunk in its middle endlong. One of the halves will be the seat (placed square to the legs) and the other half will be the back.

Easy! You only need to attach the back, perhaps with a few branches.

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Inspite of being simple these benches are very durable. Even if you don't treat the trunks against rot it can survive few years. With proper treatment this time can be a lot longer.

Of course you may love to simplify the things further and have a trunk bench like this one. I'd definitely recommend you do it yourself instead of buying it for $11,000!

Benches From Tree Branches

Looking for something more scenic? Then perhaps you should consider a bench entirely or partially made from tree branches.

Finding stuff for such one is even easier - fallen branches are everywhere in the forest and are easier to bring home with a car or even in hands.

Best of all, there are many design options. You can build the bench entirely from branches or combine branches with something else or even with other existing furniture. You can first find some branches and then decide what the bench will look like based on them. Let's share some inspiration:

Rustic Stick & Twig
Garden Bench - these guys are combining thin and thicker branches with boards and see what they've got. Nice!

Outdoor tree bench - this one uses branches with few planks.

Another rustic bench - it even looks better!

And this bench made from twigs and branches is really awesome! (scroll down to see it)

Finally here are some really creepy looking benches and other furniture made of tree branches. That's something I'd love to have in my garden.

Painting and Finishing?

Paining this type of benches is usually not a great idea because you can easily kill the natural effect. Some kind of finishing might not be as bad however as it will protect your bench from quick rot. If you are buying a branch or trunk bench from a store it's probably going to be treated already, but if you are making it yourself buy some primer or yacht varnish and treat the wood with it.

Make sure that the bench is strong enough for sitting on it. While trunk benches have no issues, benches made of tree branches are often too weak and break easy.

Top 10 Oddest Benches

Some Are Ugly, Some Are Lovely - But We Want Them All!

We love useful benches. You can sit and relax on them, or you can use them as storage, or you can place flower pots on them. All this is great.

But we also love benches which just look great, amazing or funny. Even if some of them are not comfortable, all of the 10 odd benches shown here catch attention and stand out. You can check yourself. (In most cases you can click on the pictures to see them larger):

1. Dolphin Bench Sculpture

This is an artwork by Ben Platts-Mills at Haughley Park, Suffolk. I doubt it's functional but who knows - maybe you can go to Suffolk and try it yourself. It looks amazing for sure.

2. Rory's Bench

This is another artwork but this time from stone. I guess it could be kind of scary in the night. At least looks comfortable for a seat.

3. Caterpilar Bench

If you have slightly more than 4 thousands British pounds this one can be yours! Quite a price indeed, but the bench is made of aluminum and I bet noone in your neighborhood has such one. It's produced by Philip Watts Design and can be purchased from their site.

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4. Uncomfortable Park Bench

Looks like some park designers think too much about design and too little about people having rest in the park. Well, without them what would I be writing about? What a bench, hehe! Photo source.

5. Tree Bench Made Of Concrete

This one is funny. Looks like the trees will fall every moment. It surely catches the eye however.

6. Old Wooden Bench

This is what I call old! I guess it could hardly survive a heavier person sitting on it. But sure it looks romantic in some weird way.

7. "What The Heck" Bench

Now tell me please, how could anyone use this? Maybe it's planned for bed :) This might be actually the oddest bench in this selection.

8. Funny Connected Ones

And these are probably the most "normal" in the collection, but even they are strange. If you look carefully you will see these two benches are connected by chains and by their legs. And people on them look funny too.

9. Smiling Bench

Happy sitting on this one, if you can. Not usable for sure, but don't you think it's cute - it looks like a smiling face!

10. The Viking Bench Boat

That's a really neet composition - the benches themselves are perfectly usable, but they are made like a part of viking boat sunk in the ground. Very nice!

11. Bonus Benches

Have a look at these lovely odd benches, you can even buy them for your garden:

Maybe you have an odd bench in your garden that's not shown here? Take a photo of it and send it to us!

How To Build A Concrete Bench

Pour Concrete In Shapes And Have Fun

Yet at the time of writing the concrete benches article I was thinking mostly about making such a bench on my own. Doing this is not just a way to save plenty of money (as concrete is cheap), but also to have the bench you want to have.

In this article I will talk how to build a bench like the one shown on the picture. It's a bloody simple bench. I'll point you out to ideas and info how to build other designs of benches as well however.

This is the simplest design. You can add curves in the legs or smooth the edges of the sitting surface to make the bench more elegant.

Planning an measuring

Installing a concrete bench isn't such a big deal except that these benches are hard to move. So think well when choosing the location.You need to measure the space you have for your benches and plan the size accordingly to that. I recommend you to avoid designing too big concrete bench. These are hard to pour, to assemble and to move. Besides that you will need legs on each 3 - 6 feet (1 - 2m) of the length. In case you need really a large bench, it's much smarter to make 2, 3 or more benches and place them next to each other.

The bench that we'll build in our example is 5 ft / 150cm long, 15" / 40cm wide and 20" / 50cm high. You can change these measures freely.

If you are going to use a ready bench mold you will need to follow the size of the mold.

The Mold

This is the most important tool when building a concrete bench as you will pour all the concrete in it. The mold determines the size and the shape of your concrete bench. The easiest and probably wise thing to do if you are building a bench for first time is just to buy a ready mold. For example this rounded rectangle bench mold is good and costs $69.95. Most molds cost $100 or even more which makes a large part of the bench cost especially if you are building only one bench. (On the other hand if you use the mold for more benches it makes perfect sense to buy it).

A cheaper alternative is of course to make the mold yourself. A good material for it is particle board or plywood. You need to draw and cut the parts of the mold, glue them or connect with nails and lute with silicone at the edges. The molds for the bench in our example will be too - one like 4"/10cm deep pan and the other (for the legs) will be a 6"/15cm deep pan.

Mixing and Pouring Concrete

Mixing concrete is not a rocket science but it takes some practice and patience. You can learn how to do it here. An easier alternative is just to buy ready mix concrete which is also quite affordable.

Before pouring it smear the mold with something which will let you pick the ready shapes easier. Some builders just use vegetable oil and it seems to work great. The oil should be well smeared leaving no dry areas inside but also no extra liquid oil.

After pouring smooth the top with lumber and tower and let the concrete dry. This may take 2-3 days. Then carefully pick the bench part without breaking the mold - even if you've made it yourself it remains the most expensive part of the bench.

Joining the Parts

When joining the parts make sure to place them properly. Since our simple bench has only three parts - a sitting surface and two legs - joining will be easy. Either

align the legs with the ends

of the sitting surface or place them at the same distance from them.

Joining itself should be done with glue, liquid nails or a concrete mixture.

Finishing and Installing

Concrete benches often need no special installation, you can just place them on the ground. Sometimes you may want to dig little holes in the ground to fix the position of the bench and make it more stable. Depending on the soil softness you may want to put some gravel in the holes to prevent sinking.

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There are several options for finishing. First, your concrete bench is usable

without any finishing at all,

especially if you succeeded to make it smooth (or smooth it well with sandpaper after it's done). Many people prefer to at least paint the bench in some nice color. Another alternative is to place ceramic tiles or mosaic on the top which can really have great decorative effect.

Approximate Cost

If you use high quality ready mix concrete by Quikrete you will need eight of these packs which means $140 for our good, large and massive bench. You can choose much cheaper concrete however - sometimes it goes as low as $5 per bag which would make $40 for the 8 bags. You need few bucks for the mold and finishing stuff, but in any case building such a bench is fairly affordable.

Resources

I have used several other sites for further inspiration and information on the topic. You may find them useful too:

How to make a concrete bench - this is a 2 pages guide from a guy who makes a lot of concrete benches

How to make a concrete garden bench - a very good video showing the process with great details

Making a Concrete Bench - a short but useful piece. Pay attention to the comments under it as well.

If you decide to try, please let me know about your experience and if possible send me pictures! You can contact us here.

Two Ways To Get The Most Of Your Indoor Benches

Be Creative, Use Your Benches In Many Ways!

Apparently the interest in indoor benches has been more than I expected. A lot of people have or consider buying an indoor bench for their apartment or house. So here I am writing about them again.

So, how you can use your indoor benches more wisely and what you can do to improve them? Read in this article.

Indoor Bench Cushions

A furniture used for sitting at home should be comfortable no matter what clothes you have on you - and even if you have no clothes at all. Bench cushions are the solution to make your benches

really comfortable

even when it's cold or when it's hot and ladies wear short skirts.

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The typical bench cushions look simple, but if you plan to purchase one, there are few things to think about:

The shape - it can be a standard rectangle; it can have rounded corners, or have rounded corners only at the front or only at the back; it can be trapezoid; or it can have custom shape. Check the shape of your bench and imagine what shape its cushion will need to have. Do this before purchasing, not after that :)

The dimensions - cushions usually have 3 dimensions: Depth, Width and Thickness. Depth and width depend on your indoor bench size and thickness is usually between 1" and 10", up to your preferences and pocket depth.

Fabric and fabric type - the fabrics typically differ depending on the usage: indoor or outdoor. Many indoor fabric cushions are not appropriate for outdoor usage so think about this if your bench also "visits" your garden in the summer. Some fabrics are priced highly because they are considered "designer" fabrics. Their higher price doesn't always equal higher quality.

The filling - it's different for indoor and outdoor usage. The outdoor filling is typically made of polyester and does not retain water. The indoor filling can be made of polyurethane and holds its shape longer but retains water.

Style and cording - can be box edge or double cord box.

Fabric ties - if you want the cushion to have ties they can be placed on all corners, only on the sides or only at back/front corners. Usually cushions with ties will be slightly more expensive.

You see now, bench cushions aren't such a simple thing. When purchasing one from a store it can exceed even $100 depending on the size of your bench and your requirements. A good option to save some bucks is to make your cushion yourself.

Here is a storage bench with designer's cushion - the best you can do with your furniture!

Photo by Enid H. W.

Indoor Storage Benches

The space at home is never enough, at least for the most of us. Indoor benches can help a lot for organizing your household if you can store some items in them. Storage benches may be more expensive and heavier, but

the extra money pays off

because you don't need to buy or rent larger home (seriously).

When used indoor this type of benches doesn't need to be closed tightly. In fact some of them don't even have closets with front doors, but just empty areas with wicker baskets inside. This is a neat idea because such benches are not so heavy and expensive like the others.

When buying an indoor storage bench think also where you are planning to place it. If it will be next to a wall, which is the more popular option, the bench doesn't need to have a back or can have a very light back. Benches with heavy backs occupy more space. Light back is probably the best option because you can attach cushions to it and make the bench really comfortable.

If you plan for an entryway bench, consider buying a storage one and use it for keeping the shoes inside. This is one of the best ways to use the multi-purpose functionality of this furniture.

I like to apply this approach to every type of furniture: to combine different purpses especially when the space at home is limited. And if you are buying furniture like bench, it's worth to spend a bit more but make it really comfortable (in this case with cushion).

Plastic Garden Benches - Plastic Is Everywhere, Even In The Garden

And Why Not: Recycled, Durable, Cheap

People often say that things made of plastic are cheaper and low quality, and that's often true. But what about plastic garden benches? Should you avoid them or are they a viable option to save cash without losing quality and without making your backyard look cheap? This article will try to give an answer.

Are Plastic Benches Any Good?

The short answer is a big black YES. Although

the quality of the wooden or stone benches is considered higher,

plastic benches have a lot of advantages that shouldn't be neglected:

They are cheap. Plastic garden benches are almost always the most affordable solution so you gotta love them if you are on budget. Some simple ones can be found even under $50 - good luck finding as cheap wooden bench!

They require very little maintenance. Cleaning them is easy - just use soap and water. They don't absorb water so they don't rot, rust, warp or corrode. There is not even need of respraying or resurfacing as the color of the plastic is very stable.

They are pretty comfortable. Stone and steel benches may not be as soft for sitting and easily absorb the outside temperature and sunlight. Unlike them the plastic benches remain always comfortable.

They are light and easy to move. Many plastic garden benches need no installation - you can just put them on the ground as long as the ground is not soft.

They can look good. Because plastic is easy to form in different shapes and can have many colors, there is a huge variety of great designs.

Is this enough to convince you that plastic benches are cool for your garden? Don't rush, there are of course some downsides...

Simple but looking good.

Photo by Mikey Swales...fish related tales

Plastic Garden Benches Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of everything made of plastic is ecological: plastic pollutes the environment. At the same time most of it is made of oil and the world is slowly running out of oil. Another unpleasant thing is that

many plastic benches just look cheap

and won't fit well the style of an elegant garden.

Plastic benches are also harder to inspect which means you may end up with a low quality one that will break under the weight of 1-2 people.

The ecological problem however has kind of a solution.

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Benches From Recycled Materials

Fortunately most plastic garden benches are made of recycled materials. This helps you save the environment and keep your spending low. Just ask the seller or look in the description of the web store you are buying from and see whether the benches they offer are recycled. Don't think this means lower quality - it doesn't.

How To Install a Plastic Bench

You couldn't ask an easier question. Most plastic benches need no installation. Just get the bench and place it anywhere in the garden. Don't like the place? Move it to another location. These benches are light, easy to move and their legs are stable. The only reason to attach a typical plastic bench in a fixed location is to keep it from strong wind which could turn it over. The main requirement when chosing a plastic bench location is to find a hard ground or pour some concrete under the legs.

What Does It Take To Keep A Plastic Bench In Good Shape?

As already said in the beginning, it doesn't really take much. The most important thing plastic benches need is

regular cleaning

with soap and water. These benches quickly dry up so cleaning won't cause a problem. Many plastic benches need to be kept away of strong sunlight as it can make them lose color.

A plastic bench that has significant cracks should just be cast out - there isn't much you can do for it. This is one of the serious disadvantages - you can fix a broken wooden or metal bench, but not a plastic one.

Regardless of their downsides, plastic benches are very valid option and can save you money and time.

DIY Bench: How To Build a Bench

When You Are The Craftsman...

Asking how to build a DIY bench is a bit of a tricky question. What kind of bench? Building an indoor wooden storage bench is totally different than building an outdoor conrete bench for example. Knowing how to do the one

isn't going to help you

with the other. So when searching for such information, you'd better specify what kind of bench you are looking to build.

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This article will give you some general guidelines about DIY benches, some directions what kind of bench you may prefer to build and some ideas where to go further.

General Step-By-Step Guide

Building a DIY bench is not a hard project. It's not like building an outdoor shed or a swing set. Depending of the complexity of the bench and your skills it's going to take from few hours to few days. If it takes you more, you probably shouldn't be building benches but watching your job.

Here are the main steps each DIY bench builder needs to take for almost all kinds of benches:

Know what type of bench you want to build. I'm serious. I know "know" is not a real action step but so many enthusiasts just grab the
first bench plans they find
and start building before thinking. Do you need an indoor or outdoor one? Are you going to use it for sitting, for storing things or for decoration? Do you want to work with wood or concrete, or do you feel skilled enough to forge steel? You need to answer these questions at the very beginning to avoid wasting time and building materials later.

Plan your DIY bench location. Of course it's entirely your business and up to your taste where to place the bench and no,
you don't need to ask any zoning and building departments,
fortunately. But there are some factors to consider when choosing the bench location like the entire landscape design, sunny/shady areas, pathways and more. You can read more about the locations and bench types in out introductional article about garden benches

Plan the design and find or draw plans. Assuming that you know what bench you'll make, you can now find plans for it. Searching for "wooden storage bench plans" or "potting bench plans" is far better than just looking for "bench plans". There are plenty of sites where you can find free bench plans, for example here and here. Most of them are for wooden benches, so if you want to build a concrete DIY bench you may need to search a bit more. If you prefer to pay few bucks you may get plans with larger scale and more detailed instructions. Designing the bench yourself is also possible - even a program like Abobe Illustrator can do the work if the bench is simple. But do that only if you have some experience - as you may get surprised that it's not so easy to match all parts and sizes.

Build it. Normally you will start with the legs, then do the seat and back unless you are building a very special bench. Then you need to sand all pieces to allow easier assembilng by first attaching the legs to the seat and ensuring the bench sits flat. Only after that the back can be attached. Most plans will have steps but if you are designing yourself, keep this sequence in mind.

Install it. Many benches don't need installation at all - they are heavy enough and you can just put them somewhere in the garden. If there is no concrete or pavement under the bench you may need to place tiles or pour concrete under the legs - as putting a bench in soft soil may get you closer and closer to the ground each time you sit on it.

Tips and Tricks

Can you build a bench like this?

Photo by refractionless

The most important part of the DIY bench building process is picking the plans and following the instructions in them (unless you design the bench yourself). But there are some other

smart, popular and not so well known

tricks that can help you build a better bench easier. You guessed right, I'm going to share what I know with you.

When building a wooden bench, prefer redwood. It's maintenance free, solid and allows reassembling the bench when needed.

Join each piece of wood with two screws to secure the joint - place them at top and bottom

Equip yourself with tools: clamps, a router, nails, screws, a jigsaw, a drill, pencils, tape measure, and sheets of paper.

When connecting with bolts, use taps to set them firmly. Bolts that are set without taps start demolishing the wood with the time.

Bring tape measure when purchasing wood at the store - you must make sure that the wood you are buying has the right size.

For most wooden benches using exterior grade deck screws is better than using nails as they are more stable long term.

You can build a bench even from an old timber plan and mortar. This is probably the simplest possible backless bench but it's pretty comfortable.

Want a bench and a swing at the same time? Build a bench swing! This is a mix of both and isn't hard to build following almost the same logic as described in this article.

Before you start, don't forget the safety measures. Don't rush it - it's more important to have fun and a good DIY bench at the end. If time is very important for you, better buy a ready bench.

Outdoor Wooden Benches Gallery

Here Is A Great Collection Of Wooden Bench Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words, that's why we've collected some wooden bench picutres. You can see the main types of wooden benches and read more about them under the pictures. Some of the benches can even be purchased online.

Photo by RozSheffield

This is an old style wooden bench with steel frame. If you want such one for your garden you may need to look for it second hand, or purchase such frame at a local forge. It's not going to be cheap.

This is a standard pine wood outdoor bench that can be bought for $120 - $150. It's simple and elegant and is appropriate for sunny gardens with light style.

Photo by jACK TWO

A very typical park bench. Sometimes such one can fit extremely well in a private garden. Such benches have a simple construction and long life.

A bench made entirely of red cedar wood. It's a great item for garden and patio, protected against rot and decay. Such a style entirely based on wood is suitable for most backyards. Costs about $200, click on the picture for more details.

Photo by the_amanda

Yet another bench made only from wood. This is simple and more rough, but very stable. The design is good for a do it yourself project.

Photo by Istvan

A very simple and natural bench. It's not something you can buy online, you can only make such item yourself. It's made from a single trunk split in two parts, and 6 beams. Lovely stuff if it can fit your backyard design.

Photo by doug88888

If you like the simple things, here's a backless bench which is also very easy to make. Note how this one has its seat crooked. To avoid this you need better wood material than the one used here.

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This is a more elegant one. It's a cottage garden bench made of fir wood. The design is good even for more pretentious gardens. The bench is for 1-2 people and costs between $170 and $200. Click on the picture for more information.

Photo by quaglia

Standard benches like this one are usually installed in public places. However they can look amazing in some gardens especially if painted well. This one has a metal frame.

This is a very stylish and surprisingly cheap park bench made of wood and steel. Would fit well in any garden. This kind of benches aren't appropriate for DIY projects unless you are a good smith yourself.

Photo by © Giorgio

Speaking about DIY benches, here's another simple but elegant one. As you can see the seat is made of planks, and the legs are simply trunks but the back has a small stylish detail that requires some more work and gives the bench more "expensive" look.

Are Outdoor Wooden Benches Really Good For Your Garden?

Wooden Benches Look Best In Nature-Rich Backyards

Near the track, next to the house wall or right in the middle of the garden - wooden benches just look great anywhere they are placed. Even if your backyard follows a formal style with a lot of pavements and well supported rye-grass you can install massive wooden benches

and they will look just bloody good.

In addition to that wood is ecological and easy to use material that allows all kinds of shapes and models, is relatively affordable and light compared to metal and concrete. Wooden benches are the best choice in at least 80% of the cases, so if you are unsure, just pick a wooden bench.

Outdoor wooden benches can look even this way

Photo by featherbacon

Wooden Bench designs

Because wood is so friendly there are limitless number of designs of wooden benches. There are of course some general styles that most bench designs more or less follow:

Massive/square style are benches with very tick board for sitting, square legs or legs made directly from stumps and are usually backless.

The benches in natural style are similar to the ones above, because they have parts (legs, backs etc) directly made of tree branches. The boards of such benches either have irregular shapes or are made of rough boards.

The most popular wooden benches are made of many laths and have comfortable seats and backs. Sometimes there is some distance between the laths, while sometimes they are agglutinated to each other.

Old style benches are made of high quality wood and are very massive. They usually have decorations typical for the past period that their style represents. These are usually for indoor usage but you may see them in some gardens as well.

Describing the bench styles with words is kind of a hard task, so I would recommend you check the wooden benches gallery.

Prices of outdoor wooden benches

The cost of the benches of course depends on the style, size, material quality and the brand. But we can talk approximately just to give you an idea how much you can expect to spend. The simplest backless wooden benches can start from as low as $40-$50, up to $100-$150 for the higher quality or bigger ones. The most popular laths benches with backs vary a lot. The child-size ones can start of just $50, some pretty decent benches can be bought for $80 - $130 and bigger, more complex and higher quality ones start from $150 and can exceed $300.

Of course benches with unique design, additional features can go even up - $500 - $600 or more. Don't worry, there are even more expensive ones, and I'm not talking about artwork - it's not at all hard to find "designers" benches which cost $1,500 or more. It's entirely up to you whether you'll buy such - just have in mind that a $100 wooden bench is good enough for most gardens.

If you are looking to save even more money or have some fun, you can consider making your wooden benches yourself - for that, keep reading.

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Wooden bench installation and maintenance

Installing a wooden bench is usually quite a simple task, not to mention that some benches are heavy enough not to need any installation (just drop them at the place you want). If you still want to anchor the bench to the ground (because it's too light or you just want it anchored), you will need to drill some holes in the ground. Insert fastener sleeves in the holes and attach with screws. For more stability fill the holes with concrete or the bench frame with mortar. Basically that's all you want to do on an outdoor wooden bench.

The maintenance of the wooden benches starts from the time of buying or building them. Here are the main efforts you need to put into your benches if you want to use them for long time:

Before installing check the item for any cracked areas, sticking bolts or screws, or places where the factory sealing is missing or insufficient. Add sealing if needed, fix the cracks and any other problems you notice. If it has too many problems just return it to those guys who sold it to you and ask for another one.

Every month or so you need to clean your wooden bench. Don't worry about using water, it's an outdoor furniture and the rain is going to make it wet anyway. Add some soap and clean it well, then you can dry it.

In the winter or cold season (if there is such season where you live) it's better to cover the bench with some canvas.

Every few years wooden benches need refinishing and eventually repainting.

Making a wooden bench yourself

Can't you just make a wooden outdoor bench yourself? Of course, why ask? Building a bench is not at all a complex do it yourself project, so you don't need special skills or big experience. Based on that you can either look for garden bench plans or design the bench yourself, it's really not that hard. Then get some boards, stocks and basic woodworking tools and build your bench.

It's not the subject of this article to explain in detail how to build a bench, so I'll just recommend you to read this excellent guide with some videos or this one which features a simpler bench.

If you need introduction to woodworking, check out this guide.

If you prefer to buy ready wooden benches, visit AllOutdoorBenches.com and Benches.com

Organize Your Backyard With Outdoor Storage Benches

They Give You Two In One - a Furniture To Sit On And Storage Space

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So, what are storage benches and what you can store inside? Apparently you can store everything that can fit in around 40" X 20" X 20" box - this is the approximate size of an average outdoor storage bench. In practice you'll probably store

small garden tools, preparations, garden shoes

and so on. These benches are not appropriate for storing fruits and vegetables that you have picked up in the garden except if they require dark place. When used indoor, such benches can serve for storing various inhouse stuff - blankets, rarely used or seasonal clothes, tools etc.

While the outdoor storage benches differ in design and style, the storage area is always under the seat. Most often it's opened from the top, but some benches have two or more elegant doors on their front.

Have In Mind Few Things When Buying Or Building Outdoor Storage Bench:

When used outdoor the storage benches need the same protective varnishing like any other outdoor bench - that's valid especially for the wooden ones. The plastic storage benches don't need such because plastic is water-resist but they are not as strudy as the teak or cedar furniture.

Another thing to have in mind is that this kind of storage furniture

needs stronger construction

- it should not only sustain people sitting on it, but also the stuff stored inside which can be heavy.

When closed they should not leave any slits. This is very important when the benches are used outdoor. Slits can be an entrance for water (especially when they are on the top side) and for various insects or even animals. When buying or building such a bench do check carefully if the cover or the doors close well and tightly.

Costs Of Different Storage Benches

There are two main types of outdoor storage benches which determine the cost ranges. The simple wood or plastic benches often have no backrest or only have a decorative one. They are on the cheaper end can be found for just $100 (and then go up to $200-300 or more). Most important about these benches is the storage space they offer, the quality of the materials and of course the quality of the manufacture.

The benches that are used as storage and sitting furniture

need comfortable backrest

and often have also pillows on the sitting place - although that's mostly seen in the indoor furniture rather than the outdoor ones. The prices of such benches normally start from $200 and go up to $1,000 for teak products with unique design and special qualities.

Building yourself is always an option to save some money - you can purchase bench plans for $10 - $20, wood material, screws, nails, runners etc for $50 - $100 total and the rest is your time. Your time is not free but if you enjoy doing it, you can count that as entertainment time. And instead of spending money on your free time you will be saving from it.

This one is indoor and perfect for children's room

Photo by Aminimanda

So Is There Anything Wrong With Storage Benches?

The "two in one" feature comes with its price of course. The monetary price is often the same as the price of the "regular" benches, but there are some other disadvantages. Generally the storage furniture has shorter life: the drawer runners start wearing out, the cover becomes warped, slits start appearing and so on. The moving parts just break more often than the other and that's normal. For this reason you'd better carefully think whether you really want a storage bench or just a regular one will do the work.

I wouldn't neglect also the fact that storage benches rarely look elegant enough unless when they cost a lot. The storage area makes them look angular and glumsy. They are heavy and hard for moving and when moved easily break here and there.

Of course these disadvantages aren't a reason to avoid outdoor storage benches if you really need furniture that will combine relaxation and practical storage space in one. Just get or build one and enjoy it.

How Outdoor Garden Benches Can Make Your Backyard a Loved Place

The Most Beautifil Gardens Are Mix Of Trees, Plants, Pathways and Garden Furniture

Have you tried working or browsing the net on your laptop under a tree shadow and surrounded by flowers? It's nice, isn't it? If you have a backyard, you should allow yourself to do this. It's not hard, you just need some

outdoor garden benches

positioned in proper places. Benches are great for spending nice time in the garden, drinking soda or coktail, reading or just taking rest from gardening.

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Of course just throwing ten or twenthy benches in your garden isn't a good idea. It's going to cost you quite a lot and

will make your backyard crowded

and messy. The key to designing a great garden is to place a reasonable number of benches of the suitable type. This site will help you to do that (otherwise why would you waste your time here?).

Locating Your Outdoor Garden Benches

Your garden benches need to be easy to access, properly distanced from each other and should not occupy the space that the plants need. Here are the best ideas of where to position your benches:

Next to pathways. This is the most obvious location. Put the benches 50 cm / 20" away from the pathway so there is enough space for the feet of people who sit.

Near the fence. Some outdoor benches may be situated near the fence. If your fence is solid you can position the bench with its back turned to the fence. If it's a grid fence, better think about placing the benches outside of the backyard if the sidewalk allows that.

In patio. Patio benches look great and are a natural addition to your patio. Position them on the patio sides.

In alcoves, next to fountains, greenhouses etc. Benches fit very well in such positions besides that they are very practical.

Keep your benches away of:

Fruit-trees or trees which collect the birds in their crown. You don't want to find sqashed fruits or someting else on your outdoor bench.

This one looks really cute

Photo by ....Tim

Fireplace, unless it is in front of the bench. Even if you want to sit on the bench while using the fireplace ensure enough distance. Regular heat will damage the surface.

Places with nettles, thistles etc. Unless you can remove these plants securely, they can grow under the tree and surprise unpleasantly the person who sit.

Arrange your outdoor garden benches with taste, don't put too many of them, but try to have enough and you'll have a great backyard.

What Kind Of Benches?

Choosing benches for your garden can be both fun and a hard work. It's of course a question of preference whether you will install benches made of wood, metal or stone, and what style the bench will have. But the different types of garden benches also fit well in different conditions.

For example the backless benches are great for deck or patio but not so comfortable and suitable for longer rest near the pathway. Potting benches aren't good for sitting on them however they are a nice addition to any backyard or terrace.

Most garden benches are made of wood. The wooden benches are easy to maintain and are affordable but the wood requires good threatment. Still they are the most popular and suitable for almost every garden.

Benches made of metal offer less comfortable seats unless you use some pads or the bench has wooden coverage. The advantages of steel benches is their solidity and durability.

The larger gardens with more pretentious style may require installing concrete or stone benches which will match better the entire look and feel of the backyard.

This finishes the short introduction of outdoor garden benches. Check out the other articles here for more details on different types, styles, installation, maintenance and even making benches yourself.

Metal Outdoor Benches: How To Choose, Install and Care for Them

And Are Metal Benches a Better Choice Than The Wooden Ones?

The metal outdoor benches are beautiful, affordable, have long durability and can fit well the style of almost every garden. Are they better than the wooden benches? That's a very subjective question and the answer mostly depends on your personal taste. However the metal garden benches have some practical advantages. What are they? Keep reading, I'll tell you everything.

If you have a lake in the garden you can achieve the same effect

Photo by tauress

Metal outdoor bench advantages

Because steel is so forgeable material, metal garden benches have

limitless shapes and styles

. Most of them are elegant and made of fine parts which is reasonable - the fine construction saves material and most importantly makes the bench lighter and easier to transport.

Metal benches can come in all kind of colors and be painted in a completely different color after that. This makes them appropriate even if you decide to

change your garden style

in general. Just repainting the bench can make it fit the new style and look like new itself.

These benches are also very firm and besides corrosion have very little problems to deal with. They are far more weather-proof than the wooden or plastic garden benches. You don't need to cover then when it rains, and in most cases no special treatment besides paint is needed. Most metal outdoor benches can stay outside even in the winter.

The disadvantages of metal benches

Let's start from the price. The quality metal benches are usually more expensive than similar in size wooden ones. Of course you can find cheap items too but they are likely to be made of

low quality steel

and not be protected against rust. The good metal benches start from $100 - $200 and of course can exceed several hundred specially if they are designer's items.

Rust is a problem for any metal outdoor item. Even the well treaten ones can start rusting in some places especially when the paint fall off. The wooden benches have a similar problem - rotting of course, but it's much easier to replace a rotten part of a wooden bench.

Some people believe metal benches are less comfortable for sitting especially when it's hot or cold. It's true that the steel

warms up quickly under the sunlight and freezes

when it's cold. You can use pillows to solve this problem, but then you will need to collect the pillows at home each time when it rains or snows.

Probably because of these advantages and disadvantages many benches are made of steel frame, but wooden seat and back.

Choosing a metal bench

The most important criteria should be your personal taste - the benches have different styles and shapes, so just pick the ones you like most and fit your budget. The material can be steel, aluminum, whrought iron or copper - all of them are fine. Aluminum benches are usually lighter but more expensive, steel ones are very steady and robust, while wrought iron and copper ones can have extremely beautiful decorations.

Unlike the wooden outdoor furniture, most metal benches don't contain any harmful chemicals in them which makes them a great choice. You may still want to double check this when buying a bench especially if you have small kids.

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Installing a metal bench

It's usually easier than installing a wooden bench. In most cases you will receive specific installation instructions for every model when you buy from a store. Some steel benches are heavy and stable enough not to need any installation - you can just drop them out there and enjoy.

What about the maintenance?

Here's some good news: metal outdoor benches don't need as much maintenance as the other types. One of the most common maintenance procedures is

repainting

which can be done either to protect the bench from rust, to refresh its look or just to change the style. The paints can be applied by brush or even by aerosol especially when the entire bench is made of metal and has no wooden parts.

A really required care is

cleaning

and I recommend you do it often enough. It's protecting the bench and ensuring longer life, also a clean bench look much fresher. When cleaning the bench don't use anything abrasive or chemical preparations - just hot water and soap is enough. Clean your metal benches as often as they need to be cleaned - there is no exact rule saying how often.

You can find large choice of metal benches at good prices at AllOutdoorBenches.com and Benches.com

Indoor Benches Make Your Home Look Stylish

They Can Be Retro Or Not, Functional Or Decorative

Yes, I know that our site is mostly about outdoor benches and yes, I know that "outdoor" is the first place most of us imagine a bench can be situated. But benches can be used indoor with great success. Obviously the design, size and materials of indoor benches are usually different than those of the outdoor benches. We'll talk about the differences shortly.

Why would you want to use indoor bench? The most obvious reason is for sitting, but indoor benches can also be used for decoration and storage. While

they can fit every room,

usually the most appropriate places are the entrance, the balcon and the kitchen. Indoor benches are good also for the children's room because kids easily turn them into multi-purpose furniture for sitting, lying, riding, games and so on.

Who said all benches are outdoor?

Photo by stu_pendousmat

Indoor, Outdoor, What's the Difference?

Sure, you could use the same benches indoor and outdoor if you find enough space (outdoor ones tend to be larger). That's rarely a good idea though. Most outdoor benches are planned for outdoor use - they are heavy and their legs

can damage the flooring

in your home. They are also made to me more durable on water and bad weather conditions that won't happen indoor. So buying an outdoor bench for indoor usage you will pay for things that you aren't going to use. The idea to use indoor bench outdoor is even worse - without the protections and treatment it's going to be ruined in few weeks. More about these technical differences can be found here.

Design-wise people use backless benches more often indoor than outdoor. Backless benches are smaller and lighter, can easily fit anywhere and be moved, and often can be used as a stand for various things - pots, TV sets, anything.

Indoor benches are often also storage furniture. It's less likely for an outdoor bench to be used this way.

Types Of Indoor Benches

Like any kind of benches, two main classes are valid for the indoor ones: backless and complete. And as said above, you'll see more backless benches indoor than anywhere else.

The sub-styles are really many and are based on the material, on the purpose, the position or the design. This isn't a textbook so

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I won't bore you with classifications

Here's a list of few types that you may want to place in your home or office:

Entryway benches are to replace chairs for guests in your home, office or cabinet. They can have any design, be built of any material and have any price (even a price that you won't like).

You may think about a bed bench for your bedroom. They have two main purposes - to be used as a bed and to accompany the bed.

Leather benches are furniture you will see only indoor. Very confortable for sitting although the design of most of them is too "industrial". They are used more in public buildings rather than in private homes. Still one well designed leather bench can fit greatly your home.

Finally, one of the most useful furniture ever created are the Storage benches. It's clear of the name that they can be used as sitting furniture and at the same time for storage like a coffer or a storage shed. Usually made of wood these benches are very practical and useful.

Making Indoor Benches Yourself

The DIY enthusiasts always ask this so I always write about it. Yes, you can make indoor benches yourself. Technically it's easier than making an outdoor bench because you need to care less about whitstanding bad conditions and water. In practice however the

indoor benches have higher requirements

about the fine details which requires more patience and skillful hands. Most probably you are going to make your bench from wood so make sure you have asquired some basic woodworkign skills. If you don't have much experience it's a good idea to learn by this guide.

Once you have done this, obtain some plans (unless you are building a very simple backless bench). You can find some good free guides with PDF plans for free on this site. Like everything that's free these plans aren't very detailed and big enoug, so you may consider buying plans for $5 - $15, not much. This site has a good collection of links for example (they say most plans are free, but in fact most are not).

Depending on the complexity of the bench you may need from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks to complete the project. Don't hurry, work with patience and pleasure. If you don't like doing this, just buy a ready bench - it's not a huge furniture and the savings is not worth spending your time doing something you don't enjoy.

Gardeners Often Build Their Potting Bench Themselves

A Furniture That Combines Beauty And Functionality In Small Space

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Potting benches are very different than the other types of outdoor garden benches, because they are not used for sitting. They are a type of workbenches used by gardeners for small gardening tasks.

Nowadays garden potting benches are used even more for

decorative pursposes

- to arrange and display potting plants in the garden or indoor. This of course places much stronger focus on their designs which has lead to more potting bench variations than stars on the sky. But that's something that we - the users - can only admire.

If you would like to have a garden or indoor potting bench, keep reading to learn a bit more about them. Basically you have two options - to purchase one or build one yourself. The second option is chosen more often maybe because potting benches are a bit easier to build (and more fun) than the benches used as sitting furniture.

Materials Used For Potting Benches

Most quality potting benches are made of quality wood as cedar, red cedar or teak (teak is a bit expensive though). Wood is natural choice for people who build their furniture themselves too. Because when used outdoor these benches are

exposed to water, sunlight and soil

the wood needs proper treatment.

Metal is not so often used for garden potting benches. The problem with corrosion can be solved but such metal constructions don't fit so well to every garden design. It's unlikely that you'll build such a bench yourself too because working with steel requires special skills and tools.

The benches made of vinyl or other recycled plastic are light, can look great in different colors and are often cheaper. They don't need special treatment or maintenance other than cleaning. Consider however that when plastic becomes older it doesn't look good and authentic like wood or metal.

Potting Benches Buyers Guide

If you want to buy a garden potting bench you need to prepare between $100 and $500 for most models. On the cheaper end there are mostly plastic benches and some simple metal and wooden ones. On the top (and even above $500) you will find some teak potting benches and artistic steel furniture.

Here are few things you need to consider when choosing a potting bench:

The material. As said above you have mostly three choices. Besides the price, think which kind of bench will fit best the design of your garden or indoor area.

The size/dimensions. Choose a bench that is slightly smaller than the space you have for it. There must be enough space and air around it for the plants. Especially consider the height of the bench and the vertical space between the shelves - it must be enough to allow plans grow normally.

The colors. Potting benches contain more parts and gadgets than the other furniture which makes painting harder. So it's better to leave the original color intact - which of course means to choose the color wisely.

If you are buying your garden potting bench online, check the guarantee, shipping costs and the reputation of the company.

You can "store" cats on the potting bench as well.

Photo by WindsurfGirl

Making Garden Potting Bench And Potting Bench Plans

Building a potting bench has become a popular DIY project in the recent years. This is good news for enthusiasts because there are many guides and

pottting bench plans

available online - and many of them are even free. Basically the building process involves several main steps:

Design your bench. Designing is lovely activity if you know what you are doing and have some basic engineering knowledge. Otherwise you'd better skip designing on your own and get some potting bench plans. You can find links to some free plans on this site and here too

Cut the wood parts. Most likely you are going to build a wooden potting bench. The plastic and metal ones are made in factories.

Assemble the parts usually with nails or screws.

Finish it with paint and treatments - especially important if you are going to use the bench outdoor.

If you actually want to try you'd better get plans or at least read a complete guide with pictures like this one.

Potting benches are popular because of their universal usage - you don't need a garden or too much space. So if you still don't have any, go get or build one.

One of the most popular stores for garden potting benches offering great variety is PottingBenches.com

Believe It Or Not, Concrete Garden Benches Are Hot!

Cheap, Durable, Versatile - What Else You May Want From Your Bench?

"I'm here out of habit"

Photo by pupski

"To sit on a stone? Thanks, but no thanks!".

If that's what you think when you hear about concrete benches, keep reading. You may be surprised to learn how wrong this concept is. Concrete benches aren't cold or uncomfortable. They can be

just as good as wooden or metal benches

- or even better for many reasons.

But let's see what do we call a concrete bench at first place. This is a bench that is made entirely of concrete or have some small parts (the seat, the arms, or the back) made of wood or metal. For a bench to be considered concrete, its main conctruction should definitely be of concrete.

This kind of benches fit almost every garden because of their natural look and feel. There is no specific garden design that is required to have or some speicfic colors etc. Most often they fit next to asphalth or gravelly pathways and less often are used in patios or green areas. Althought a well situated concrete bench can make a green area look enchantingly.

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Concrete Benches

Like with any type of benches (or can I say "any type of anything"?), not everything is nice and cool. The concrete garden benches have some disadvantages. For example, they can't be moved (at least not easy) - once installed, the bench sits there for life. In places with severe cold the concrete benches can receive cranks, the cranks are filled with water and when water turns to ice the cranks become bigger and bigger until the bench die with a scream. Well, this is a bit of a horror story but you got the idea. Once broken

a concrete bench is hard to fix

without losing its consistent look.

Fortunately the advantages of concrete benches are more and well worth mention:

They are affordable. The materials used to make them are cheaper than wood, metal or plastic. Even when bought from your local home improvement store they are likely to be cheap - there's no upper limit of course, but on the low end they can be as cheap as $50. And if you are making the benches yourself you can use all kinds of concrete material: sand & gravel, cement, trash, just anything. They can be almost free (well, most are not anyway)

Large variety. Concrete is easy to form in different shapes which allows these benches to have many different designs. And because it's a durable material this makes it even easier - shapes that are not achievable with other materials (especially wood) are a cake for concrete benches.

Durability. Concrete is what most of your house is likely made of. It's a material created to last - whatever is made of concrete can live a hundred years or more. This is also valid for the quality concrete benches - when ten wooden benches have rot and five metal ones have rust, your quality concrete bench will still be there. Please note the cursive on "quality".

No maintenance required. Besides cleaning there isn't much you need to do for your concrete garden bench. If you have painted it, you will need to take care for the paint from time to time, but basically that's all.

If this has convinced you that concrete benches have more advantages you are probably asking the next question:

Where To Find Concrete Garden Benches And How Much Do They Cost?

Actually, I'd be a bit surprised if you are asking this. If you search the web with your favorite search engine you will find at least few thousand online stores that sell outdoor benches of all kinds, including concrete ones. The prices vary a lot -

from $50 to $500

or even $5,000. The question is how do you choose the store which isn't going to rip you off and will offer good quality and good service. Here is a quick checklist:

Choose reliable store. See the site age, check if there are comments online about the company and so on. If the site looks bad to you and has spelling mistakes you can imagine the quality of the service will be similar.

Check the location. If you live in the USA it won't be very wise to purchase a concrete bench from Australia. The shipping will cost a lot so choose a store near you.

Prefer big variety. Not only that you'll have more options to choose, but these stores will usually have more experience and trained staff.

Of course reaearch the costs. Some web stores will try to sell you same benches with 20% or so more than others. So spend some time to research.

%ADSENSE%

At this moment I know two great online stores that meet the requirements above: AllOutdoorBenches.com and Benches.com - A Hayneedle Store. Both stores offer good conditions on shiping and returns.

Of course you may just go to your local offline store - that's sometimes a good idea because the sellers there can be educated and offer you good options. Sometimes it is not such a good idea if they have very few models or high prices. In every case you just need to reaearch before buying - if you plan buying at all. Because you can have a concrete bench even if you don't buy it. You can just build it yourself.

Can You Build A Concrete Bench Yourself?

The answer is not just "yes". It's "yes, you can do it easier than building a bench of some other type". Most people are afraid to work with concrete because it's something used in professional construction works which makes them feel like playing with something which is not for them. The truth is that

working with concrete is nothing special

- it's easy, safe and even if you waste the material you aren't going to lose much money. It's much harder to make a high quality wooden bench without wasting expensive wood material.

The process of making a concrete bench starts with designing your bench, buying cement or concrete, mixing it, preparing the foundations on the soil, pouring the concrete in shapes, cleaning the surface and eventually painting.

I'd recommend you to visit this guide on eHow.com for more details. The guide isn't perfect but at least until we publish our own one with drawings, it is a good starting point.

Wait! Out guide is ready: learn how to build a concrete bench yourself!