A masonry seat wall would expand your seating capacity and add a new visual hardscape element to your Croton, NY, yard. Such structures are not only efficient but also add a vertical component to the overall design of any landscape. Give your guests another place to sit and another hardscape feature to greatly admire. Here are some interesting ways to integrate a beautiful mansory seat wall into your design.
Consider Stacked Natural Stone
A natural stone wall is one of the most desirable types of seating wall. Stacked stone walls are especially desirable, as a hardscape that calls for admiration by onlookers. Creating such a wall is a labor of love—shaping and assembling all the stone pieces and reinforcing them with mortar takes experience and expertise. Adding a smooth stone seat is an excellent touch, adding an extra bit of comfort for users.
See Your Retaining Walls in a New Light
Taking another look at your retaining walls to have them do double duty as seating walls requires some ingenuity. For smaller retaining walls, adding a flat surface and coping is generally sufficient to create a seating wall. For larger walls, the retaining wall can be used as the back of the bench with a second tier serving as a seat.
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A tapered back would not only result in more comfort but also act to help spread out the weight of the retaining wall and lower its center of gravity, making it a more stable structure. The dimensions of the wall may require tweaking to ensure that the seat width and height are comfortable for users.
Be Adventurous with Materials
You can integrate a variety of different materials into the seating wall to help it meld in well with your existing design. Wood is a great example, as it can provide a solid seating base and give your wall the feel of a traditional bench. For more modern landscapes, adding metal and even glass into the mix can help your seating wall contribute to the overall look you’re trying to achieve. Using wrought iron arms or perhaps a glass base between sections of the wall can help it work well in a more modern landscape design.
Enhance with Accessories
Adding accessories to your seating wall can make it a more welcoming prospect for guests. Put your unique style on display with the colorful cushions and throws you choose as sources of comfort, warmth, and visual appeal. Flat, thick backs are also excellent spots for placing flower pots and planters and making your retaining wall look and feel like a natural part of the landscape.
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Experiment with Shapes
Seating walls can be installed in a variety of shapes depending on the design requirements. Circular, straight, and serpentine seating walls are popular although it is important to be considerate of the surrounding features when deciding the shape. For example, if your seating wall is serving as fixed seating around your firepit, the shape of the wall should complement the shape of the firepit so that it looks aesthetically consistent and provides consistent heat and light for the occupants.