Ways to Use Benches

“I got rid of the bathtub because I like the idea of a big shower,” Pozner explains. But to achieve a comparable effect, he installed a teak bench from Waterworks on the rear shower wall. “One of the things I like about a bath is that you can soak. Here I can sit and have the water pound on me—it’s a hybrid shower and bath.”

A peek into two rental units reveals simple but strong interiors. The architects clad the walls with polyurethane-coated plywood “to provide a durable and attractive finish and provide visual separation between the two levels in the high volume,” says Shelton.

In a Manhattan Beach home, homeowner Matt Jacobson and architect Michael Lee designed the long steel-and-Ipe bench surrounding a square, concrete outdoor fire pit, which suspends from the low concrete wall in their outdoor space. Dukes relaxes on a Willy Guhl Loop chair with her German Shepherd, Major.

These wood-wrapped spaces take oriented strand board to new heights.

Eazy side chairs by Whiteonwhite line one side of the custom-designed table by LOT-EK. Castore suspension lights by Michele De Lucchi for Artemide hang above, and a custom rug by Liora Manné lies below.

Workstead wall-mounted lamps illuminate a photo from Cloud Series by Matthew Williams. The bench is by Hugh Acton.

In keeping with Hayon’s goal of creating a serene and airy home, the master bedroom and sticks to a mostly neutral palette of whites and grays. The bench by the bed is a custom piece designed by Hayon and Klunder and fabricated by their carpenter friend Josep Joffre.

A padded steel-and-metal bench runs the width of the living room, crossing below the television and in front of a ten-foot-high window. Despite the many design compromises Church had to make to accommodate her limited budget, "windows were the only items not up for discussion... they were the most costly items in the house."

An aluminum bench harmonizes with the industrial nature of the galvanized-steel walls and the polished concrete floor.