Home

[Carmie]

I like the look of them, but hate to sit at a bench.  I have bad knees and have difficulty lifting my leg over the bench if I have to sit in the middle.

They  also create a problem because I am short.  If my bench mates are tall, I am too far away from the table to eat comfortably.

My vote is nay.

[queendiva]

Do not go trendy with DR table & chairs. They need to transcend fads and fashions.

Comfort is key, as well as appropriate size & shape.

Go all trendy if you like with place settings and wall color, but not the furniture.

Bench seating at the DR table? H3ll to the no for all the reasons previously stated, and more.

[Snowpuppy]

Thanks for all of your thoughts!

I like to have everyone comfortable at a dining table. If it's just morning coffee or having guests for a holiday dinner I enjoy having time to linger at the table.

Cracking up at The Waltons! 😊

I also saw an exteded bench you can extend like a dining bench with leaves.

[GenXmuse]

We had a bench for our dining room and got rid of it within a year. Too uncomfortable without a back. It’s like eating at a picnic table every day.  

[BklynKinsey]

A number of years ago, Martha Stewart did a collection of fine furniture.  I loved the dining room collection called Katonah.  It had a bench as well as the chairs.  The bench, comes with a back!  The bench and chairs are padded in beautiful leather and, with the back, would, I think, be comfortable.  I actually bought two of the side chairs as accent pieces for my home, but still wish I could have purchased the entire dining room set.   I love the delicate scale of this set.

[Annabellethecat66]

My daughter has a 'bench' in her area right off of the kitchen.

She has a dining room with individual chairs.  When I go over for dinner, lunch, etc.  I've eaten at both places.

I will say though, I don't usually sit on the bench.  She puts me at the end of the table in a chair.

It's not like I know squat about decoating, etc, but a bench just seems very informal to me.

I have a huge dining room table and chairs.  No one ever comes to dinner but they are table and chairs.

I am a strong believer that everyone should make their house according to what THEY want.

The owner has to look at it and use it all of the time.  A guest is there and gone.

Do what you like and don't think about what anyone else wants.  

I'm sure you have excellent taste.  Go with your ideas.

[Bri369]

If you have a bench with a back and you're sitting in the middle, everyone has to get up to let you out.  It's just awkward. 

[spiderw]

While I like the benches,  it is nay on the comfort !  When I am having a meal I prefer being on a comfortable chair.  Benches have a place but I wouldn't put them around a kitchen or dining room table.

[stevieb]

No, no a thousand times NO! Most people want something upon which to rest their backs... Benches might work well for younger diners but most adult I know avoid them... I think I'd stick with your original idea...

[Alison Wonderland]

I am not a fan. If one person wants to scoot closer to the table, everyone else has to. If someone is larger and needs to scoot back from the table, everyone has to.