"Whenever we had longer dinners or friends over for game nights, people sitting on the bench started shifting around after about an hour."
Haha, this totally matches our experience. We loved the look too, but after a few family dinners, my dad jokingly called it "the punishment bench." Curious—did anyone try adding cushions or pillows? Wondering if that helps at all...
We had the same issue at our place—benches look amazing in photos, but reality hits after about 45 mins, haha. We tried cushions, and honestly, it did help a bit. The trick is getting the right thickness—too thin and it's pointless, too thick and people feel like they're balancing on marshmallows. I ended up going with custom-made ones (sounds fancy, but just found someone local who sews). Picked a dense foam insert and a washable cover in a fabric that matched our decor. It made dinners way more comfortable, and no one's joking about torture anymore...though my brother still dramatically sighs if he has to sit there. Can't win 'em all, I guess.
Custom cushions are definitely the way to go—good call on washable covers too, learned that lesson the hard way after a spaghetti night disaster. Another thing I've noticed from building homes is that bench height and depth can make a huge difference. Standard measurements aren't always comfy for everyone. Did you tweak dimensions at all when adding cushions, or just stick with the original bench size? Curious if anyone else adjusted seating dimensions and found it helpful...
"bench height and depth can make a huge difference. Standard measurements aren't always comfy for everyone."
Couldn't agree more—standard dimensions often overlook individual comfort. I've found that adding cushions without adjusting bench height can sometimes make seating feel awkwardly high. Slightly lowering the bench itself has been beneficial in several projects I've overseen.
Totally get what you're saying about lowering benches, but I've noticed that sometimes tweaking the depth slightly—like an inch or two deeper—can actually make cushions feel less awkward without messing with height. Might be worth experimenting with next time...
