I'm not fond of them either unless they're for outdoor seating. I wouldn't want to be seated in the middle of a bench and it would be impossible in any kind of fitted skirt.

This is my cousins kitchen and I love her bench at the farm table. I would love one myself.

{{gwi:1395370}}

Newdawn, your cousin's room (and bench) is gorgeous!

Her bench has a back and arms so it would be more comfortable, but I still don't get how the middle person gets in and out. Or what if one person on the bench is short and the others tall, how do you all comfortably pull up to the table? Do you all count to three and pull the bench up at once? I'm not trying to be a wise-acre, I seriously want to know how it works.

When we get together with friends and family, we usually end up sitting around the table for ages after the meal and the bench thing just doesn't seem conducive to that sort of entertaining. Maybe it's just me.

We had a friend who used two old church pews for benches at his farmhouse table. I can't remember seating/moving ever being a problem. People sat down to eat. Then some got up and moved around. It wasn't like everyone was glued to their seat for hours on end.

Maybe I should have added ... nothing formal about his setting. THAT would have made me uncomfortable. Different strokes.

I thought they were useful for squeezing in a few little kids. You gain enough room for an extra child.. or two. With that said, one family member of mine has a bench at her table and it has never bothered us for family gatherings. If people aren't able to climb out of it for one reason or another, they sit in one of the chairs....

I guess the bench style wouldn't be appropriate for someone who wants to be at the table for a long time... for our family, we are only there to eat :)

I currently have two church pews around our large table. Sometimes it's a bit of a pain, but honestly not that big of a deal. I have 6 kids, and 3 of them have bf/gf, so family dinners are crowded. Very rarely is it a problem. Occasionally a person has to wait a minute to get up for seconds until the person next to them is finished or wants more, but it's really never been an issue. I have had company but I suppose never an ultra formal event. I guess I figure it's what worked in the room and so that's the way it is.

I suppose if I had super formal events all the time I might have gone another route but it was the only way to provide period appropriate seating (it's a late 1800's Victorian) for that many people.

My new place will have banquette seating because the eating area is micro mini size and even though they don't all live with me, I still need adequate seating. I suppose since they are used to the church pews they won't fuss about the banquette.

I guess if you have to get up, just get up. It's a heavy bench and will seat quite a few.

Here is another pic behind the bench, her house is amazing. She also has a formal dining room, which is very elegant.

....Jane

{{!gwi}}

I like the bench at the table, any table. I'll add that at a formal dining experience it is unusual for folks to be getting up from the table until the final course is finished by all the diners and the napkins are put into the lap. Only then is it proper to leave the table.

Newdawn, that room is like something out of a well-staged magazine shoot. I just love it. That cupboard especially, is to die for.

Well, I hear all the positives, and I love the look even more after seeing newdawn's pics, but I have to say I'm still not convinced on a comfort level. We went to an informal dinner at a friend's this summer and they had a bench at one side of a big four sided table (they have lots of kids so totally practical). My husband and I were closest to that side and went to sit there. The hostess shooed us over and dragged up an extra chair from the living room for me saying something about wanting us to be comfortable. My husband sat on the bench anyways and I noticed him squirming after awhile. Someone else traded with him later as we sat there for a long while talking after the meal.

I should also mention that we actually have a long bench at our lake cottage that I've spent my entire life sitting on and now my kids have too. You can't beat it for informal settings, but if I was all gussied up for a formal dinner I'm still not convinced I'd want to sit on a bench.

Hey Daisy. :) I don't go to formal dinners at people's homes where I'm gussied up. Is that a regional thing? (I'm in the country of the Pac NW.... we might just be less formal here. If I am at someone's house and am dressed up, it is never such a small group that we all fit at a table. I can't think of any time we were invited as a couple where the dinner was formal.)

I think this type of seating really does depend on the family and how they live.

As a side note, at our last family dinner where there was a bench, I was sitting next to my father. That proximity gave him the opportunity to put his arm around me and say sappy dad comments (since we live far apart and don't often see each other.) :) Anyway, I can thank that bench for that sweet moment.

newdawn... DD's room is beautiful!! Have you posted photos of her other rooms??

Daisy, I agree with you on this. With joint/knee issues affecting us and our friends these days, a bench would not be practical. Since I do not have 'formal' dinner parties anymore, we do have people getting up from time to time (refill a glass if nothing is left on the table, refill a serving dish, help clearing plates between courses, etc.). No matter what, if someone needs or wants to get up, everyone on the bench would need to push out/pull back in and some would need to move to let the others out/in.

That said, I love the way they look, especially the antique ones, and I think they could work well when placed in a casual room and used to seat kids/teens.

I love the look of a bench.
However, I am 5'2". My STBX is 6'5".
If I pulled the bench close enough to the table for me to comfortably eat, he'd have it buried in his solar plexis.
If he pulled it out far enough, I may as well put my plate in my lap.

Let alone formal. Please.
So forget about the getting in and out stuff. How does one comfortably dine with varied body types? Have all your kids the same size?

I'm going to digress a little, but the point is the same. Like my long-ago wedding. I had 5' ladies, one w/ giant boobs, the other skinny, skinny. Ironically, the other two were 5'10" and 5'9", same body types. How do you dress them alike? Why do people dress their best friends funny? I said pick a dress in this color... They looked and felt fabulous -- and I know they wore those dresses again. I felt successful.

How do you expect different bodies to work with benches, let alone formal clothes?

I don't mind a bench, but one without a back makes my back tired and achy after awhile.

Hey, CEFreeman - I did the same thing at my wedding! I had 1 pregnant bridesmaid, 1 that lived out of town and one that was 13 years old. I picked several coordinating shades of silk and said I'd be happy if they used the one that suited their colouring best and they each found a dress pattern they liked. I thought it looked great and we were all happy.

The look is cool. A backless bench reminds me of Little House on the Prairie times when children were told to sit up straight and most people were not expecting comfort in their lives anyway. With kids who only sit down for dinner for a few minutes anyway, it's a good space option but I would still want one with a back like the pic NewDawn posted. For adults, I wouldn't even consider it. We go camping with friends every year and sit at heavy wooden picnic tables (the Ultimate Bench seating--outdoors, rustic, down to the basics) for meals. We get off the benches and into our camp chairs ASAP to enjoy conversation and wine. The boys do play cards at the picnic tables but boys with cards and beer last a long time anyway, now, don't they?

Red