How many ways can you make a simple wooden bench? More than you may have thought. Some of these emphasize artistic execution over functional stability. Others take ideas of function to the absolute extreme, being designed to seat a specific number in a particular way, to rock, roll, wheel and more. From artful to artisan, tentacled to transforming, here are fourteen wonderful and weird wooden benches and unique (post)modern bench designs. Have a seat and enjoy!





It has happened to everyone: you walk up to a bench, really want to take a seat, but sure enough it is soaking wet from rain earlier in the day. There is nothing to be done … right? Wrong, if you are dealing with The Rolling Bench – specifically engineered so the simple twist of a handle brings back up the dry side.

A different kind of rolling bench entirely, this outdoor wheelbarrow bench moves with you. Take it and twist it to face into or away from the sun, move it from your garden to your front lawn, and all without calling a friend to help you with the heavy lifting.

At the other end of the spectrum, this artistic meta-bench may not be the most useful to have around – make up of interlocking chair forms and backless in most places – but it sure is interesting to look at. The artist even managed to align the wood grains throughout the entire meticulous composition. Amazing.

Also on the artful end of the bench spectrum, this tentacle bench appears to have a will of its own. The slats on the otherwise standard-looking wood bench design take on lives of their own at their ends and begin to move out, grow and climb up along an adjacent wall like ivy – a perfect(ly strange) entryway or hall bench.

We all know about folding chairs, but few of them fold all the way into a backless bench. Cushions could help make this smoothly curved bench-and-chair structure a bit more comfortable but they may also detract from the sleek aesthetic that makes this such a lovely product in either of its transformed states.

Not sure if you really want to talk to the person who happens to sit down next to you on a bench? No worries: you can just detach your half of this wooden bench and move it a bit to the side.

This bidirectional rocking bench works on so many levels: it rocks back and forth from either side, could likely accommodate a relatively comfortable sleeper if it were padded and could even be at the center of a (likely very dangerous) teeter-totter game.

If the break-apart bench does not provide sufficient solitude this one-person bench is sure to fit the bill. It certainly looks absurd with the extended back that has no seat but is all the more stable for it.

Alternatively, start by yourself and seat more as they come with the FlexibleLove super-bench. Composed of plywood and structured like an accordion, this remarkable design is transformable and configurable, portible and pragmatic, blending modern elegance with simple style and effective engineering.

One of the classic problems of the fixed outdoor bench is, of course, its very immobility. One solution is to create benches facing each of two ways but still keep them aligned to the grid. This solution is only partial, however, and is also not conducive to potentially spontaneous interactions. The best of all worlds, the twisting artistic bench above transforms along its length to accommodate all kinds of interesting configurations.

This bench does not transform, is not plush and cushioned, curved or adjustable – it is simply a remarkable work of bench design integrating simple materials to create a slick form that also accommodates a planter .As the renderings show, it can be lined up with others but is almost more elegant alone.

What appears to be a simple interior coffee table clad in wood extends to become a table-and-bench with well-matched colors to seat additional guests while the transformed wings can still play coffee-table roles on the side.

Want to create your own bench? These architects took the liberty of simply tacking together a bunch of chairs – tying them together with a long, single wooden board. Sure, all of the legs in the finished product may or may not reach the ground but that is what old magazines are for, right?

Even easier: create your own bench with what must be the most straightforward DIY bench design in the world, the log bench: a log, braced with doorstops, that has existing chair backs stuck in as needed along its top. It creates a statement with relatively few materials but you might want to remove the chair backs to roll/move it.