Benches made of wood (45 photos): a variety of shapes and styles

Wooden bench – great garden furniture

It would not be an exaggeration to assume that a wooden bench is the oldest piece of furniture that has become available to humans. A wooden driftwood, just a little hewn with a stone ax and brought into a cave – this is the great-ancestor of all modern furniture, closer to which there are wooden benches, which have not lost their relevance and relevance – neither in the house, nor, especially, in landscape design.

Today’s variety of wooden benches will allow you to choose the most suitable one for any garden

Garden benches made of wood: choosing a style

At first glance, it may seem that the bench is far from the most important element in landscape design, but real professionals argue that it is from the bench that garden design begins and ends there. Otherwise, why then all these efforts and labors, if no one can enjoy and appreciate them??

Wooden bench with storage space for pillows

That is why it is important to place the bench correctly, choosing a place from which the most beautiful and attractive view opens up, while the bench itself can become an elegant accent that complements the beauty of the garden..

Long wooden bench with high back

A comfortable bench in the garden will become the place where you can hide from the hustle and bustle, admire nature, read a book or listen to music, dream, just relax. At the same time, wooden benches for a summer residence are a powerful and effective “weapon” of landscape design, they can be used for zoning a site, delineating boundaries, etc..

Wooden bench with lighting elements

Streamlined wooden bench

At the same time, garden benches differ in their functional purpose:

• ceremonial – they are installed at the porch, at the entrance to the house. These wooden decorative benches, richly decorated with carvings, become a favorite place for photo shoots.

Curved wooden bench that mimics a postcard

• dining rooms – they are usually placed near barbecues, on terraces, in those places where the family likes to dine in nature

Low-rise wooden bench decorated with an abundance of colorful pillows

Wooden benches “P” -shaped

• garden benches – small benches, next to flower beds, a flower garden or a plot, it is good to sit on them and relax while working in the garden. Usually it is very simple in shape, without decorations and aesthetic delights.

Garden wooden bench

Wooden bench with plant niches

• relaxation – usually they are “hidden” in the most secluded corner of the site, away from strangers, and even their own eyes, where the whole situation is conducive to relaxation. The main criterion is comfort, and you can not be shy with the size – you can climb on such a bench with your feet and even lie down

Relaxing wooden bench in a secluded garden corner

Wooden bench with soft seats

To make the bench comfortable, you should adhere to the following sizes:

• the optimal height is about 40-50 cm, while the legs will rest comfortably on the ground and rest
• the width of the seat is about 50-55 cm.The seat is made with a slight inclination inward – 5-12 cm, so it is more convenient to lean
• back height – 35-50 cm
• backrest tilt – within 15-45 degrees
• if armrests (handcuffs) are installed, then the optimal height for them is 15-20 cm, counting from the seat

Wooden bench with a niche for flowers behind the back

Custom wooden bench

Advice! When choosing material for a bench, preference should be given to wood that is especially resistant to moisture and decay – oak, larch, hazel, cherry. But teak is considered to be the “champion” in strength, its wood contains natural resins that protect it from rot and insects (bark beetles, termites).

Bench made of varnished board

The choice of the shape and type of bench depends both on your preferences and the style in which the garden is decorated.

A wooden bench made of many elements looks harmonious in the garden

For country style, a bench that is as simple as possible in shape, natural color or painted in a brown discreet shade, is suitable. For the Provence style – a little antique shop, quite modest in terms of decoration, painted in blue, White, purple or blue.

Provence-style wooden bench

Wooden bench made of many elements connected in an unusual overall shape

Bench made of large timber with streamlined cutout at the bottom

For a Japanese garden, a bamboo bench will be appropriate. And benches made of the same material will organically look near a house made of rounded wood (there will inevitably be scraps during construction, so they can be used with benefit). This will help to achieve a stylistic unity of the entire site..

Bamboo bench with soft black and white cushions

The style and color of the bench matches the various wooden structures in the garden

Wooden bench: we make ourselves

Traditionally, wooden benches are made from bars, slats and planks – they are easy to manufacture, reliable and durable. A drawing of a bench made of wood is shown in Figure 1.

Rice. 1. Drawing of a garden bench

Advice! It is better not to nail the slats on the bench seat – it is better to leave a gap between them, where the rainwater will go, without hiding in the joints, causing rotting. Or use one wide solid board – water will not linger on it either.

Wooden bench made up of cross-sections of a large tree trunk

An original bench can be obtained using almost untreated, natural wood and improvised means – trunks of old fallen trees, roots, branches, wooden pallets. Rhizomes and trunks are processed, while maintaining their basic natural (natural) forms.

Bench made up of processed driftwood

A simple example – if the trunk is cut lengthwise, then two solid and beautiful benches can be made of two equal parts, simply by installing them on the supports of the round pieces, which are better made from sections of the trunks of a slightly smaller diameter. The backs can be made from the halves of the trunks that were used to obtain the supports. For its ascetic simplicity, such a bench is called “monastery”. (fig. 2)

Rice. 2 “Monastic” bench

An example of using a “monastery” bench

Advice! You can make a bench with tubs on the sides, which can be used as flower beds. Instead of an armrest, you can install a wide board that will act as a table – you can put a book or a tablet (laptop) on it, put drinks, etc..

Solid timber bench with armrests

Solid wood bench with stand sections and wooden table

If you pick up two sections of the trunk with powerful branches, then a thick board (block) can be fixed on top of them, and a board-back can be fixed to the branches – the resulting bench repeats the traditional forms of a garden bench with cast-iron supports.

In the old garden, you can make a circular garden bench, covering the tree trunk in a circle. Its design is quite simple, while on such a bench there is always a place both in the shade and under the sun’s rays. It is necessary to choose a tree that does not have low-lying branches – they will close the horizon. Do not arrange a bench under a fruit tree – falling fruits will require additional cleaning of the bench. A variant of such a bench is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Circular bench around a tree

An example of a circular wooden bench

Garden bench made of wood: we care properly

The main enemy of a wooden bench is humidity, which is why benches of this type are best used in a mobile version in order to be placed in a shed (house) for the winter. At the same time, it is better to install such a bench on stone (brick, rubber) pads to prevent the penetration of ground moisture into the wood..

A small wooden bench is made in the same style as the table and can be brought into the farmhouse when the weather changes

A wooden bench with preserved branches will look good both in the garden and at home

And a few more recommendations:

• the bench must be periodically painted (varnished). It is best to do this at the beginning of the season, before thoroughly cleaning the wood from the remnants of old paint.
• in hot weather, the bench should be placed in the shade – it will be comfortable not only for you, but also for the tree – ultraviolet radiation negatively affects the quality of the wood
• regularly check the fasteners (bolts, screws, nails), if necessary – fasten them all the way, do not allow the structure to loosen
• if you notice traces of rot on one board, replace it immediately, do not let it spread further

Several wooden benches made of solid wooden beams