One of the attributes of a garden or a recreation area on a suburban area is a bench, sitting on which you can read a book alone or, conversely, spend several fun hours with friends. How to make an ordinary shop comfortable and at the same time turn into an element of garden decor? The way out is simple - a DIY bench for a summer residence. Only your own exclusive creation will fully satisfy your personal aesthetic needs.
What is the best way to place benches in a summer cottage?
Before you start sketching or drawing a product, you need to consider the place of its installation. The material of manufacture depends on this. For example, in an old garden with large branching trees, a wrought-iron wooden bench looks good (as an option - a product from a log on a stone base), and in a young garden - a light, even openwork bench in a romantic style.
A small white bench stands out in contrast against a dark green hedge.
If you place it in a quiet secluded corner, near the pond or surrounded by flowering flower beds, it will be a great place of solitude and relaxation, where you can spend several pleasant minutes alone with yourself after a labor "warm-up" in the beds.
An old brick wall, a bench made of gray wood and flowers look mysterious and romantic
Often benches are an integral part of verandas, gazebos, summer picnic areas. In this case, there should be several products in the same style. One example is a garden table with two benches on the sides, at which you can have a family tea party or play board games on a summer evening.
Deliberately rough and comfortable wooden structure - a table, two benches and an armchair
It is better to set the bench in such a way that it does not have a view of the neighboring fence or garage, but of a pond, flower garden or front garden. The surrounding picture should be pleasing to the eye, and not remind you that you need to refuel the car or update the paint on the gazebo. It is also appropriate to place benches on the playground, by the pool, near the main entrance to the house.
A bench by the pond surrounded by flowers and greenery is a great place to relax and think.
One of the best places is in the garden, near the beds. It is better if the bench stands in the shade, for example, under a spreading crown of a tree or under a canopy, as it is designed to rest from physical labor - digging, weeding, watering or harvesting.
Relaxing in the shade of a flowering bush is a real pleasure
You can think of a decorative frame: a handmade garden bench looks good surrounded by low flowering bushes, specially arranged flower beds, on a small elevation or on a platform made of natural stone or paving slabs.
Preparatory work is half the battle
First you need to take a piece of paper and make a sketch or drawing of the proposed product. Even at this stage, questions may arise: what height will be optimal or how many legs should a bench have? There are general standards that should be followed when drawing up a scheme:
- 400 mm - 500 mm - seat height;
- 500 mm - 550 mm - seat width;
- 350 mm - 500 mm - the height of the back.
If you plan to create a product with a back, you should determine for yourself how the back will be attached to the seat. Depending on whether the bench is portable or not, legs are planned: for a non-portable product, they are firmly fixed in the ground.
It is not difficult to fix the legs of the bench: you need to dig holes of the right size and fill them with cement mortar, lowering the wooden parts there
According to the drawing, you can estimate how much material is needed to work. Typically, a product of this kind takes a minimum of financial investments: in the country there are always a lot of wooden blanks left over from building a house or a bath, fasteners (screws, nails, bolts, staples), paints and varnishes for wood processing.
If you collect the remains of wooden products and blanks from the entire country house, you can come up with an unusual model
There is also a necessary tool in the back room. If the main material for the manufacture is wood, you should prepare: a planer, a saw, a jigsaw, a hammer, sandpaper, tape measure and a pencil.
Bench Making: Six Simple Projects
You will never lose by choosing a tree for work - soft, malleable in processing and at the same time durable, able to serve for decades. From wood, you can create elements of various shapes and sizes, curly inserts, voluminous and miniature details.
Project No. 1 - a simple bench with a back
If there are difficulties with drawing up a sketch, you can use the ready-made drawing of a garden bench.
All parts are cut according to the dimensions in the drawing.
This bench is traditional for city parks; similar specimens can be found at river stations, near theaters or shopping centers - in those places where you have to spend some time waiting. The advantage of this option is the ease of preparation of parts and the speed of assembly. For work, you need thick bars for support (3 large and 3 smaller), bars or boards for sitting and backrest.
The color of parts can be changed using impregnation or varnish of a darker shade
This model is portable - it can always be rearranged to another, more convenient place. To ensure that it always stands level and does not swing, when installing the supports it is necessary to monitor the exact location of the parts - even a slight discrepancy will cause the product to skew.
At the end of the work - and this applies to any wood product located on the street - all wooden parts must be treated with special mold impregnation or varnished, which also contains protective components. Treated wood does not give in to moisture, lasts longer and looks like new for a long time.
Related article: Overview of the means to protect wood from moisture, fire, insects and rot
Project No. 2 - a bench in the classical style
This option is more thorough than the previous one. A bench with a rectangular seat and the same backrest looks great against the background of a house built of any material - wood, brick, stone.
The assembly diagram of the armrests and backrests in a classic style
For a change, you can change the color, choose a shade closer to the country houses. The back of such a bench is a real find for lovers of fantasizing and translating their ideas into wood. Straight vertical bars can be replaced with crosswise strips.
On such a bench several people can easily fit
The upper horizontal crossbar would look nice if it is covered with elegant carvings or colored ornaments. Armrests and legs can also be curly - but it all depends on the desire and skill of the master. To make such a bench for a summer residence, it will take only a few evenings, and you can enjoy a vacation on it for more than one year.
Project No. 3 - a table with benches
The garden set for relaxation with the whole family consists of a comfortable table and two fixed benches.
A convenient and practical table with a pair of benches will come in handy at any dacha
All large parts (table, benches) are assembled separately, and then assembled together with the help of 4 lower bars - 2 on each side.
Assembly scheme of the whole kit
The table is a worktop with legs mounted crosswise.
Table assembly diagram
Shops assemble easily, from bars or boards of various lengths.
Shop assembly diagram
At the last stage, the benches are first fixed to give stability to the structure, then the table, exactly in the middle.
Initial assembly - connecting shops
A simple-looking, but comfortable table will become a gathering place for family and friends in the evenings - for socializing, evening tea drinking, and relaxation.
Such a table with benches can be placed directly on the lawn.
You can download more detailed drawings and photos of this project here.
Project No. 5 - video master class
A variety of material, shapes and styles
Wood is a traditional, "warm" material for the manufacture of benches, so the products from it are so different. Instead of bars processed on machine tools, you can take natural material of natural forms - and before us is not just a bench, but a real masterpiece.
The original bench is made of large pieces of sawn and processed logs.
It turns out that there are stone benches, but they are most likely valued not for functionality, but for aesthetics. You want to sit on a stone product only in the warm season, but you can always enjoy it.
A small stone bench blends harmoniously with the floral landscape
Forged products look exquisitely and elegantly, but only a professional blacksmith can create a garden bench with his own hands from metal.
A wrought iron bench amidst lush colors looks more than appropriate
Combined benches and benches built of stone and wood or decorated with objects made of textiles - wraps, pillows, look interesting.
Small pillows in pink and white, neatly laid out on a bench, make the garden corner cozy and homely.
That's all for today. We hope you find something useful for yourself. If you have questions or suggestions - welcome in the comments.
