A bench for all seasons – Building a harvest kitchen part 3
In case you missed the first two installments about our new harvest kitchen, check out part 1 and part 2.
On Tuesday, Stefan took the day off because I had to go to the dentist. The last time I went with Mack in tow, it did not turn out so well. She screamed pretty much the entire time I was in the chair and since I was having a filling done, we could only assume the drill noise only amplified things. One of his assistants took her and walked around in the office with her but that did little good and quite possibly made her scream even more.
Stefan decided to take advantage of the day and continued working on the harvest kitchen. A seating area was next on the to do list so we took a trip to the home improvement store in the morning to gather supplies. Thankfully, there were no cart thieves this time and our trip went fairly smoothly. Stefan got right to work and had cut out the bottom framework for the seats before I left. When I got back, he’d put everything together and had the legs on too.
We used a construction similar to our table for growing lettuce in the courtyard. I haven’t talked about that much yet but I swear it’s on my list of posts to get to soon. The bench frame is build from 2×4′s and the legs are two 2×4′s screwed together. One is shorter and supports the frame and the other runs up to the height of the seats.
Then he cut supports for the back rests and screwed them in place at an angle of 68 degrees. Apparently that is the optimal angle for a bench – and after getting to use the seats several times in the last couple days, I have to agree it’s pretty perfect for relaxing against.
The bench seats are made from outdoor Douglas fir decking wood. They should hold up well in the outdoor air but don’t have to be treated since this area never gets wet…unless Ayla starts using it for her dog cave.
Once all the decking was cut to the right lengths, everything was screwed in place and we were ready to go. We debated for a while about what to do with the corner. Should we make it into a corner seat or a table? In the end, we went with a table because it was a little easier to build and just made more sense. It seems that when you have a corner seat, it rarely gets used for someone to sit in. Plus you can never have too much table space when you cook in mass quantities like we do.
We put a temporary table in where the Newf is standing so we could try everything out. Next on the list is building a table that will fit perfectly in the middle and to do some decorating. We’d like to do some sort of wall tattoo but haven’t figured out what it should say yet. We’ve been looking for quotes that have to do with homesteads, harvests and things in that direction but haven’t found a fitting one yet. Maybe you guys can share a favorite quote of yours that would be fitting?
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Tiffany is an American who has been living in Germany with her husband since 2001. The two are self-proclaimed "Self-Reliant Yuppies" who are in their early-30's and bought an 1830's farmhouse several years ago, which they have been turning into a more sustainable and green dream house. Two cats, a Newfie and their 2 year old daughter enjoy the adventure with them. Tiffany enjoys cooking, rock climbing, lux-camping trying to turn her black thumbs green and taking road trips. Visit the 
that’s a really neat idea!