Build a Window Seat: Storage and Style
There is something a little romantic about a window seat in a room. Not only are they cozy niches to curl up in to read or simply gaze out of the window, but they are very practical when they double as storage areas and extra seating in your room. If you have always wanted to have a window seat in your home, rest assured that you could install one virtually anywhere with just a little time and effort. Building your own window seat is actually a great weekend project for the handy homeowner.
Pick a Design
You can go about building a window seat in a number of ways. While you can find plans for most of these designs, you can also easily build a window seat using a bank of standard kitchen cabinets. They will provide plenty of storage underneath, and you have a minimal amount of building required to install them. You might also choose to install a prefabricated bench with built in storage as the base of your window seat, or you may decide to build your own. If you are designing your own window seat, you may want to add a hinged seat to hide your storage instead of adding cabinet doors to it.
Design Your Own
If your window area has a recessed section, that is a great spot for a window seat. You can build a custom seat to fit directly into that space. The net result of doing this will give you a custom built-in bench seat that adds a lot of personality to your room, and it will look like it was built as part of your home. However, if you are not adept at woodworking you may prefer to start with a pre-built base and then you can modify it from there. Either way you can make the window seat fit the space available for it to give it a built in, finished look. With just a coupe of basic tools you can install your own custom looking window seat, even if you did not design it from scratch.
Semi Home Made
If you choose to build your window seat using standard kitchen cabinets as your base, you create an instant, functional window seat that looks like a professional carpenter installed it. These stock cabinets are really easy to install, because they are usually pre-finished and assembled already. You will want to use the shorter kitchen cabinet units, and you can place the pre-made units directly on the floor or build a platform to get the cabinets to the height you need. You can create a real built in look for your window seat if you flank your short cabinets with taller ones on either side. This will give you a wall of storage, and it will make your window seat look like it was designed as part of the house. Simply add a few cushions and you will have a finished nook. You can make your own cushions, or you can find ready made cushions that are used for patio furniture to add comfort and style to your new window seat.
Adding a window seat to a room, can completely transform its character. You can use this opportunity to redesign the room with new window curtains and toppers, throw pillows, an area rug and some new unique wall decor from an online or area metal decor store.
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Comments
With some rooms adding a window seat can be both the ultimate experience as well as functional and easy to build. Reading this I tried figuring out which of the rooms in my house can be redesigned in order to build a window seat. I could not find one as the rooms do not lend to the design. On the northern side of the house, the side facing the sun here in South Africa, we the house have 3 rooms, my office, a smaller office and a bathroom.
My office being long and narrow I think the best would be to extend to the room by breaking out the walls of the office. I just don't know if I will get much work done if I window seat where I can go sit in the sun :-)
Not all rooms work for a window seat, but if you can ever find a way to fit one in, you are sure to enjoy it. Thanks for reading!
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