The window seat is a very useful design feature that can add great beauty and character to any room. On the practical side, a hinged top can turn them into additional storage for linens, blankets, and pillows, and in many rooms they provide additional seating that could not otherwise be achieved - often times I find they are the only option for breakfast nooks in my remodel work...
Beyond the practical, a window seat does something no other furniture can: it invites you to sit still. Frame it with the right light, dress it with cushions in a confident geometric pattern, and set a single vase of flowers on the sill, and you have created the most-used corner in the house almost by accident.
The lesson I return to with every client is that character rarely comes from grand gestures. It comes from the small, considered places a room offers you to pause - and few offer that better than a seat beneath a window.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, Spring 2008.