Working The Bench

I apologize for the corny title, but I'm a personal trainer an all...
Remember the above photo I posted a while back? After I found it, I knew I wanted to recreate this look for my hallway adjacent to my dining room that currently looks like this:

Then I found this shot from an Apartment Therapy home tour and it solidified it for me, I need a bench!

Here are some benches I've found on KSL (local Craig's List):

 I am loving the look of church pews, the last image is an antique church pew with square nail heads! It's also $400 and way out of my price range. The top two are $150, but only the dark one is left. I was hoping to find something more modest, in the $50-$100 range. I am even considering making my own bench, like this one from The Brick House:

There are so many different styles and options to choose from. We have a split-level home, so I like the idea of this area acting as an entryway of sorts...Here are some more bench/entryway ideas that I'm pondering over: