Our Window Seat Family Library.

$400
1 Month
Medium
As our children grew and space in our small house came at a premium, we decided to build a window seat on the awkward landing at the top of our stairs, between our kids' rooms. Beneath the seat is ample storage, as it's nearly as deep as a twin-sized bed, and the IKEA-hacked bookshelves provide plenty of storage space for books and family mementos. A striped awning and matching DIY custom cushion have come together to transform an awkward area into one of our favorite spaces in the entire house.
The completed window seat.
When we moved in, this is how we styled the dormer area at the top of the stairs. It quickly became a dumping ground for various things and was rarely sat at.
The basic frame for the window seat was based off of a twin daybed plan from ana-white.com. We adapted it to fit our space and to secure it as a true built-in.
The lovely people at @PureBond Plywood helped us to make this project as eco-friendly as possible, which is incredibly important to my family.
The drawers are on casters for easy access, and we added picture rail trim to give them a more built-in look. We also added chair rail to the front of the seat for the same reason.
Without the cushions, you can see where we added trim around the seat base and along the top of the BILLY bookcases to keep the seat in line with our 115 year old trim. We also painted the walls behind the bookcases lime green.
The finished project from the top of the stairs, complete with cushion and awning.
The window seat cushion was another IKEA hack -- we bought the least expensive foam mattress and cut it to fit around the bookcases. I then sewed a removable, reversible cover out of IKEA fabric and lime green piping.
The "awning" is actually tension-mounted between the two bookcases, making it incredibly easy to remove while tying in the stripes of the cushion and adding a sense of whimsy to the whole area.
Bookcase styling on the left.
Bookcase styling on the right.
A close up of the finished drawers, painted white with bushed nickel hardware.
The two end drawers are the full depth of the window seat, creating ample amounts of storage for extra linens and bedding. The middle drawer is slightly shorter to accommodate a pony wall directly across from it.
Tabatha Muntzinger (Tabulous)
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  2 questions
  • Katherine Anne Leonard Katherine Anne Leonard on Jan 04, 2016
    Instead of drawers, could a hide away bed fit ?
  • Dennie Dennie on May 23, 2017

    I love this. Where did you get your awning? I want to create a similiar look.

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