10 Modern Window Seats
A space-efficient way to boost seating, these handy additions can be a sleek and contemporary solution
Think window seat and you might picture country cottage perches created by deep stone walls. Or perhaps it’s a bay window with a seat shaped to follow its contours that springs to mind. Window seats don’t have to have a traditional aesthetic, though. Check out the contemporary credentials of these designs.
Get the lowdown
A pair of oriel windows – which protrude like bays but don’t reach the ground – create window seating in this kitchen-diner. It’s an idea well worth throwing into the mix if you’re planning a new downstairs extension.
These windows extend nearly to the ground, so the seating inside the house is low. It’s a tactic you might want to copy if you’d like the perches to be easy for children to reach or suitable for older family members.
A pair of oriel windows – which protrude like bays but don’t reach the ground – create window seating in this kitchen-diner. It’s an idea well worth throwing into the mix if you’re planning a new downstairs extension.
These windows extend nearly to the ground, so the seating inside the house is low. It’s a tactic you might want to copy if you’d like the perches to be easy for children to reach or suitable for older family members.
Let in light
In this flat, the window seat adds a whole lot of extra places to take a pew without intruding too much into the room’s circulation space, as it doesn’t require the depth an additional sofa or armchair would occupy.
Depending on the design of your room, building-in like this might also give you the chance to ensure seating is below window height, so no daylight is blocked. It also allows you to pack in a generous amount of storage.
Upholstered in blue, the seat and back cushions add a burst of colour to the white scheme. They also harmonise with the green of the rug and the table lamp, making for a visually rich but restful combination.
In this flat, the window seat adds a whole lot of extra places to take a pew without intruding too much into the room’s circulation space, as it doesn’t require the depth an additional sofa or armchair would occupy.
Depending on the design of your room, building-in like this might also give you the chance to ensure seating is below window height, so no daylight is blocked. It also allows you to pack in a generous amount of storage.
Upholstered in blue, the seat and back cushions add a burst of colour to the white scheme. They also harmonise with the green of the rug and the table lamp, making for a visually rich but restful combination.
Grow in style
The window seat in this extension to an Edwardian house is part of a stepped structure that adds cupboard space as well as neat extra seating. Made from timber, the unit echoes the window frames and the bench seat base. Using wood in a window seat is also a simple way to link it with trees and plants in a garden beyond.
The window seat in this extension to an Edwardian house is part of a stepped structure that adds cupboard space as well as neat extra seating. Made from timber, the unit echoes the window frames and the bench seat base. Using wood in a window seat is also a simple way to link it with trees and plants in a garden beyond.
Develop a soft side
A window seat is an explicit invitation to pause and take in the view, introducing a more relaxing element to a hard-working space such as a kitchen. Add an upholstered seat pad and cushions and it’ll soften the room texturally as well.
Note how this seat’s upholstery and cushions link with both the bottle green of the metro-tiled splashback and the foliage of the garden for a space-stretching blurring of inside and out.
Are metro tiles here to stay?
A window seat is an explicit invitation to pause and take in the view, introducing a more relaxing element to a hard-working space such as a kitchen. Add an upholstered seat pad and cushions and it’ll soften the room texturally as well.
Note how this seat’s upholstery and cushions link with both the bottle green of the metro-tiled splashback and the foliage of the garden for a space-stretching blurring of inside and out.
Are metro tiles here to stay?
Stay in the frame
This contemporary living space is all long, low lines – from the modular sofa to the coffee table and wall-hung TV – and the long, low window seat is the perfect complement. Wood panelling frames the feature and ties it to the TV wall for a pulled-together look, while piles of cushions make it as appealing as the rest of the room’s seating.
Ensure the foam you have cut for your seat pad is dense yet soft enough to be comfortable (it’s worth getting some samples) and that when you make the cover, the opening is on a long edge, making it easier to remove for washing.
This contemporary living space is all long, low lines – from the modular sofa to the coffee table and wall-hung TV – and the long, low window seat is the perfect complement. Wood panelling frames the feature and ties it to the TV wall for a pulled-together look, while piles of cushions make it as appealing as the rest of the room’s seating.
Ensure the foam you have cut for your seat pad is dense yet soft enough to be comfortable (it’s worth getting some samples) and that when you make the cover, the opening is on a long edge, making it easier to remove for washing.
Choose contrast
A modern window seat can look as good in an older home as in a new-build or modern extension. In this child’s room, the seat and the storage that’s below and alongside it are contemporary in style, with handleless drawers and a smooth white finish. It keeps the overall effect sleek in a room where a growing collection of possessions is inevitable and extra stash space is never going to be wasted.
If you’re lucky with the size of your window, the only bespoke part of an arrangement like this could be the seating spot itself. To save money, consider an asymmetrical design, so you can make those drawer units fit.
A modern window seat can look as good in an older home as in a new-build or modern extension. In this child’s room, the seat and the storage that’s below and alongside it are contemporary in style, with handleless drawers and a smooth white finish. It keeps the overall effect sleek in a room where a growing collection of possessions is inevitable and extra stash space is never going to be wasted.
If you’re lucky with the size of your window, the only bespoke part of an arrangement like this could be the seating spot itself. To save money, consider an asymmetrical design, so you can make those drawer units fit.
Reduce a footprint
The owners of this extension have plenty of space – and they wanted to keep it that way. So the answer to their requirement for relaxing seating was a bench under the window, which doesn’t eat into the floor area very much.
Opting for a storage base that continues the style of the kitchen cabinetry – as here – makes the design less imposing visually, contributing to the airy feel.
The owners of this extension have plenty of space – and they wanted to keep it that way. So the answer to their requirement for relaxing seating was a bench under the window, which doesn’t eat into the floor area very much.
Opting for a storage base that continues the style of the kitchen cabinetry – as here – makes the design less imposing visually, contributing to the airy feel.
Slot in shelving
Open storage can work as well as closed cupboards in a window seat design. Bookshelves don’t require much depth to fit paperbacks, but, at a right angle to the window, can accommodate a decent number of volumes on shelves whose widths match the depth of the seat.
In this small room, sticking to the same recessive colour for seat, storage and walls gives the illusion of extra space.
Open storage can work as well as closed cupboards in a window seat design. Bookshelves don’t require much depth to fit paperbacks, but, at a right angle to the window, can accommodate a decent number of volumes on shelves whose widths match the depth of the seat.
In this small room, sticking to the same recessive colour for seat, storage and walls gives the illusion of extra space.
Try a book nook
Some window seats look as if you’d stop there for a few moments, while others beckon you to spend a longer time. This one’s definitely at the stay-a-while end of the scale, with a comfortably deep seat pad and a smart and supportive buttoned back cushion. With books ready to grab from a wall nook and abundant natural light for reading, it’s a tempting picture.
Included a window seat in your room? Share your tips in the Comments section.
Some window seats look as if you’d stop there for a few moments, while others beckon you to spend a longer time. This one’s definitely at the stay-a-while end of the scale, with a comfortably deep seat pad and a smart and supportive buttoned back cushion. With books ready to grab from a wall nook and abundant natural light for reading, it’s a tempting picture.
Included a window seat in your room? Share your tips in the Comments section.
Sponsored
The home office area of this contemporary extension has a built-in seat that overlooks the garden. The designer hasn’t just taken the traditional storage-below route, but surrounded the window with cupboards to keep the work area clutter-free.
Repeat the look with push-to-open cupboard doors and spotlights above that highlight the feature.
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