Design Tip Tuesday: A Cozy Window Seat

This week’s Design Dilemma comes from Tamara Gosnell. She says, “We have this spare area behind the main seating area in our living room that I just don’t know what to do with. It’s set in bay windows and currently I have a bench and two chairs there. The bench is parallel to the couch and feels like I’m riding in a bus. Any suggestions?”

Hey, I’ve always got a suggestion! And I’m always happy to help. First, here are a couple of photos showing the bay window.

I agree with Tamara. Everything look a little crunched. She has a lot of things going on just in the part of the living room we can see. The first thing I would recommend is to remove some of the rugs and limit them only to those which help define the space. For more on this topic, see an earlier post I wrote on the subject.

Now for the fun. I think the perfect solution would be to create a wonderful, cozy seating area by constructing a window seat under the bay window. Add some toss pillows. The pillows she already has would look great. I’d add a few more. Now, the seating area is incorporated into the structure of the house.

But wait, there’s more! With this idea, the ottoman will work even better as a coffee table than it does right now (the scale is a little off). To help separate the two areas I’d add a sofa table. It looks like there will be plenty of room for a slim table – maybe 15-inches wide. The table will help to define the two seating areas. Tamara might find that the window seat looks great all by itself. If not, she can keep the 2 chairs and angle them. Finally, since we’re removing the table lamp, I’ve added some sconces. The finished look is a cozy, secondary seating area.

If the cost of constructing a window seat is not in the budget, another idea is to simply rearrange the furniture. Here’s how. First, move the round table in front of the window. (Sorry I didn’t have time for a second rendering). Then, take the smaller rug (the one of the left in the photo) and place it in front of the table – with the short side running parallel to the window. Now turn the settee 90 degrees and move the red leather side chair so that it faces the settee. I don’t think the other chair will work with this scheme. Tamara will need to find another, similar sized chair to go next to it. The ottoman will work better as a coffee table with this arrangement, but I would add a tray.

Tamara, I hope one of these solutions works for you. Let me know what you decided to do. A final thought is that sometimes the best solution can be found by inviting a couple of friends over and have some fun rearranging the furniture. Go wild. You might find that the crazy, angled layout looks great!