December 5, 2016

The Humble Bench Seat

The traditional bench has truly evolved from a hard wooden or stone out door sitting area to a multifunctional piece of furniture in the home. The bench seat evolved in America and Australia in cars in the 1950's. The front bench seat in a car allowed 3 people to sit side by side and a further 3 behind on the rear bench seat. Later on the bench seats were adjusted to allow them to recline and create a bed.

Now the bench seat is a common piece of furniture in many houses. In the hallway a small bench offers a place to sit in comfort and put your shoes on, in the understairs space, the bench can double as a small guest bed. Window bench seats offer a lovely decorative seating area, but the space underneath can be used for storage. In a kid's play area, this can be as simple as boxes slid under the window bench to keep toys in. Or drawers can be built in to store items in such as files and folders in the office.

In the dressing room the bench seat doubles as a handy storage unit for accessories and jewellery. And in the kitchen, bench seats offer a convenient seating solution around a dining table.