I built a large cinder block planter wall several years ago and since then, cinder block benches have been on my radar.
But until we moved to a new house last year, it didn’t make sense to make one since we just didn’t have a good location for one.
I just re-did our paver patio, but a bench this size is a little too big for that space. However, it works perfectly at the front end of our driveway where there is a garden bed area.
This would give us a place for loading and unloading our cars. It’s a really cute spot too, in part, because it has a picket fence for the backdrop.
Plus we do a lot of our DIY project work on this part of our driveway, so it would be great to have a nearby spot to sit and take a break. It also has a nice view of our front yard.
The unfortunate thing about this location is that it’s on a slope and it’s a whole 7” difference from one end to the other.
We wanted to correct this so we weren’t sliding down the bench every time we sat down. This forced us to do some extra site prep work before making this cool, minimalistic outdoor bench.
It wasn’t so bad, we ended up building up one end by creating a raised bed with timbers, and it only added one extra day of work.
By the way, cinder blocks are commonly called concrete blocks or cement blocks. They are made of concrete mixed with other aggregates, sometimes including fly ash.
I think of cinder blocks as the hollow ones and concrete blocks as the solid, more slender ones.
These blocks really are a flexible building material. You can use them for just about anything.
Here are some other great ideas for inexpensive outdoor furniture you can make –just by adding a few pieces of wood.
- coffee table
- side table
- outdoor kitchen
- garden beds
- outdoor bar
- bookshelves (top with wooden planks)
- garden bench
- cinder block planter wall
* I’ve got a link at the bottom of this post for how to make those concrete block decorative planter box add-ons you see in the top photo!