We laid the last tile in the pool house this weekend and it’s a relief to have this huge task out of the way.  Grouting will come next, fingers crossed this weekend.

Once grout is complete, that concludes the floor saga for the pool house.  We’ll move on to trimming out doors, installing base boards, and attaching the rest of the vertical batten strips.  Creating the built-in benches will also happen somewhere in that mix, so I’ve given too much thought on the design of those.

Initially, I thought we’d have white benches, for simplicity, with wooden tops for durability.  A pair will follow the angled walls of the kitchen area, meeting at the corner.  Another bench will fill the recessed nook at the far end of the pool, as seen above.

Recently, while picturing everything in my head, I realized wooden bench tops weren’t going to cut it.  In a room with a white ceiling and (what will be) white walls, tile floors, and few other accessories, I don’t want this space to lack warmth.  Sure, adjacent areas will have wood in small doses, like the floating kitchen shelves:

And the half bathroom vanity:

But it’s still a stark contrast to the house, with hardwood floors and wooden furniture/accessories in every room.  In addition to the structural beams, the benches will be the main source of wood tones.

After considering options, I’ve decided I like the look of four horizontal planks along the front, similar to this:

The tops will open to access items inside, and I like the look of continuing the same boards along the top.  I’d love to have a very slight overhang of the top, with a cut in handle detail, like this CB2 bench, for a sleek look.

Loaded with pillows, it should be a perfect perch to hang out before/after swimming.  Or a place to watch the kids from.