Most dining benches have no back at all, which is why most dining benches end up unused after the first course.

A backless bench is fine for twenty minutes and uncomfortable for two hours, and it is always the seat nobody chooses. The Bramfield has a full upholstered backrest, which turns it from overflow seating into somewhere people are happy to sit for an entire evening. That single decision changes how a dining room actually gets used.

The way the back is built matters too. It floats clear of the seat on slim supports rather than joining solidly to it, so you can see through the gap. On a 180cm piece that lightness is what stops the bench reading as a wall of leather down one side of a table.

Solid ash for the frame. Ash bends and holds better than almost any other European hardwood, which is why it has been the timber of choice for chair-makers for centuries, and why the legs can be this slim without flexing.

Then the leather. Tan is the one leather colour that improves rather than simply wearing: it darkens gently where hands and light reach it, and it develops a patina across years of use that a fabric seat never will.

• A proper backrest, which is what makes a bench comfortable beyond the first twenty minutes
• Seats three comfortably in the space two chairs and their gaps would take
• Slides fully under a table, giving you a dining room back when nobody is eating in it
• Real tan leather that darkens and develops a patina rather than wearing out
• Solid ash frame, the traditional chair-making hardwood, with slim tapered legs
• Floating back that keeps a 180cm piece looking light rather than solid
• 15kg, movable by one person, which matters on a piece you pull in and out
• Works beyond the table, at the foot of a bed or along a hallway wall

Match it to your table length. A bench should be roughly the length of the table it sits against, or slightly shorter. On a 180cm to 220cm table this sits correctly. On a 150cm table it will overhang at both ends.

The backrest and tucking. Because it has a back, the bench will not slide completely under the table the way a backless one would. It tucks until the backrest meets the table edge, which still recovers most of the floor space. Measure your table height against the back if full tucking matters to you.

Allow 90cm behind for people to get in and out, same as you would for chairs. Browse dining tables if you are buying both together.

The arrangement we would specify almost every time. It seats more people, it looks less matched and more collected, and it is considerably easier on a room than six identical chairs. Carvers at the ends finish it.

Pale ash against a warm reclaimed pine or acacia table gives you contrast rather than a near-miss match. Against another pale timber the two can blur, so add something darker elsewhere in the room.

It reads warm and quite strongly, so let it lead. Chalk, oatmeal, putty and warm plaster walls all work. Olive and deep charcoal are excellent against tan. Cool grey is the one to avoid.

Leather and timber are both hard surfaces, so a rug underneath and a couple of cushions along the bench give the arrangement somewhere soft to land.

At the foot of a bed, along a hallway wall, or in a boot room. A bench with a back works in all three where a backless one only works in the last.

Tan leather. A natural material with grain, tonal variation and the small marks of the hide's own life. Those are the marks of real leather rather than faults, and they are precisely what a bonded or faux leather cannot produce. It will darken gently and develop a patina where it is used most.

Foam filling. Beneath both the seat and the backrest, giving resistance and comfort across a long meal rather than a token pad.

Solid ash frame. A pale, tough, straight-grained European hardwood with visible open grain. Ash takes stress without splitting, which is why it has been the chair-maker's timber for centuries and why these legs can be slim without feeling fragile.

Timber grain and leather tone vary between pieces. If you are ordering a bench and matching chairs, order together where you can.

Leather behaves like a natural material, which is the reason it looks the way it does. Here is what to expect rather than what sounds best.

Two honest notes. Direct sunlight is the one thing genuinely bad for leather, drying and fading it faster than any amount of use, so keep the bench out of a south-facing window if you can. And a radiator directly behind it will dry the hide over time.

Natural marks, grain variation and slight tonal differences across the hide are characteristic of real leather and not defects. A perfectly uniform surface is the sign of a heavily corrected or bonded finish.

Your bench is packed carefully and travels with our specialist furniture courier, who will call ahead to arrange a time. Allow 10 to 14 days. Full details on our delivery page.

If it is not right once it is in the room, our returns process is straightforward, and everything is covered by our guarantees and warranties.

0% interest-free finance is available at checkout, and our price match promise stands if you find the same piece for less elsewhere.

Not sure whether 180cm suits your table? Send us the length via our contact page or live chat. Furnishing a restaurant or a holiday let? Ask about trade accounts.