Design problem

I'd imagine the trickiest bit would be getting the cushion to stay in position.

I'd probably attach sturdy tie straps to the bottom of the lid - then have coordinating ties on the cushion. Probably three ties on each long side, two on each short side. Use the curtain fabric as one of the foam covers.

~~~

The chest is great - it's hard to imagine not finding a series of good options for it.

Yeah... I guess that if I like the chair idea a lot I could also put the chest along The Wall with a cushion on it and it could be some extra seating until I have more of a budget for other stuff. (There is a little corner it tucks into nicely.)

The main problem with making comfortable seating where the view can be enjoyed is less what's underneath than what's behind. It really works best if your back is against the wall and that gets uncomfortable fast if it's a bare wall. All solvable if I decide that's the way I definitely want to go, probably.

So, back to the beginning, sorta.

I really like the alcove/nook as a feature. The paint/colour options you and OssoB talked about are really good . Chair or chest, I like the gallery option on the walls. Window - I'm still on bamboo or something natural/neutral as a covering - making it recede a bit.

This might have already been said but I missed it if it was:

Is that a casement window? Does it open from the side or top?

Casement, yes!

It opens outwards (I think they probably all do but I'm not sure) from the side.

What about something like this?

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/li_other/article/0,2041,DIY_14044_2270984,00.html



It combines almost all the ideas suggested into one. Shutters made from cabinet doors with fabric lining (you can make the frame if you don't already have some doors to use). There's instructions on how to make them at the link above.


Another idea is vertical shutters with a wide slat. You could then cut out some of the images in the curtain fabric and glue them onto the slats as a way to coordinate it with the rest of the window treatments.

Not to do a dump, but what's wrong with that is what's wrong with my idea of two shutter doors - it doesn't make sense with the window... if you are speaking of just right at the window. Thus, maybe a one "door" version of that, from hinges from the left.

Or - oops, are you speaking of for the alcove as a whole? That's what I was getting at with alcove doors or shutter doors.
Given what would be behind them, I'd work for simple, but see your point.

Casement windows are tricky -- you're dealing with a very similar thing that we have to deal with on our door/windows. They're hard to curtain on a rod without covering extra parts of the wall because if you want to enjoy the window you have to move the curtain completely out of the way, and it sounds like you want to use the wall space.

Casements are also hard to hang anything directly onto the frame since you open it out you end up exposing everything to the weather. (Our door/windows open in so thankfully we don't have that problem.)

With any type of shade you'll want to be sure that it raises up above the window frame so it has to be hung high on the wall. Casement windows, especially ones that open from the side are really hard.....

Hmmmmmm......

I love and miss casement windows though.
I just can't remember if the turn thing comes out past the "face of the molding".

Judging by the initial photos posted I'm thinking the crank comes past the frame.

I was re-looking at the first photos when I noticed the crank and thought - aha! casement!

Ours is new and kind of cool -- will have to go upstairs to see how it works but we don't have any of the problems you describe with the roman shades in place. (When they roman shades are up, in the best of circumstances, they take up about a foot at the top of the window.)

The outside (glass) windows like slide along something when the crank is turned and while they open, they never break the plane of the window -- we have a screen for example. (As in, the screen isn't disturbed by opening the glass window beyond it.)

By the way (lots more thoughts last night after I turned off the computer, this is just one because it's called to mind by boomer's post), I figured something out about how the furniture relates to the curtains.

I don't like the idea of cloth curtains being cut off by the chest. Just visually I don't think that would work very well. I could make the curtains very short -- ending above the chest, right at the bottom of the window -- but that's a cutesier/ more country look than I would like.

The chair would be less of a problem but would still be lined up with the window and the curtains would still be behind it.

So if I take away everything and leave only, say, a small table in front of the window with a plant on it, I could see some long sweeping curtains, but not with the chest and probably not with the chair either.

I checked out the casement mechanism, can get pictures if you'd like but the upshot is that the window doesn't come IN at all and so doesn't affect what I put on the window from the inside.


So I was thinking more last night about the chest, window seat, etc. One thing I think could work would be to center the chest in the area (right now it's shoved over against the left wall), which would leave 3.5" inches all the way around. Then get a piece of good furniture foam (available at Joann Fabrics) cut to the size of the WHOLE nook. (As in, the chest is 21" by 48" and the nook is 28" by 55" -- so the foam would be 28" by 55" and extend over the edge of the chest by 3.5" on all sides, while filling the nook completely.)

I think 3.5" isn't enough to cause problems when sitting on it, in terms of falling through or whatever.

Then I'd do a bunch of throw pillows, just kind of scattered around the whole nook. (I especially like the idea of having some against the right side of the wall). I think I would use a dark third color for covering the foam (I was thinking a good saturated blue, maybe even denim -- I do want to de-frou-frou a bit) and then also for throw pillows, but do the throw pillows up in different kind of weird/ eclectic patterns. For example, rather than using the curtain fabric for a straightforward pillow, cut out a bunch of butterflies from it and applique them, plus using various fabrics I have (antique kimonos, saris, sari borders*.) Idea would be a colorful eclectic mishmash (sort of Anthropologie-ish) that relates to the curtains on the four-windows but doesn't echo them too literally.

Then a window-contained covering (wood or bamboo seems most likely at this point) and weird photos/ pictures on the wall on the side.

What do you think?

Only bad parts I can think of at this point are 1) mooshing the edge that sticks out on the front, since we'd sit on that with legs dangling (could fix by getting a piece of wood to put over the chest and under the foam, but that adds expense and height -- would like to keep the total height under the window frame) and 2) it would hide the top of the chest, which I do like.

(One meta-recognition as I have been thinking about this -- I don't think it's fully dawned on me that this is MY house. It's the first one we've owned and I always have this thing in the back of my mind of keeping the landlords happy, keeping it pretty -- my own taste [and, importantly, E.G.'s] is more weird/ edgy and a bedroom is a good place to experiment with that a bit, since it's pretty private -- casual visitors won't see it.)

This would start to add up but not too bad -- maybe $50 for the shade, similar or less for the foam, I'm sure I could find good fabric for a good price and would need only a yard or two depending on width, and then I already have the rest of the fabrics I'd use.


*I have a lot of textiles that have have stains, tears and other problems but then also stretches that are perfect, so I can't use the whole thing but can cut them up for this sort of project.

I'm back!

You can tell I'm having way too much fun with this, right? (Thanks, E.G. and sozlet! Great present!) (She was the mastermind.)

So I put this together -- several things wrong with it, but the main one is probably the pillows -- they'd be way more harmonious and it wouldn't be the one sitting there under the pictures. Probably no white, either -- I'd just cut out the butterflies. It looks too choppy whereas the pillows would be softer and blendier.



(While the other images are random, I actually have that mask and could put it there...)

That looks really good, sozobe. You even can paint the chest in the color of
the walls, or something like here ....

I like pretty much everything in the post I plucked this from - except for big foam. I like the big foam, question the dimensions - and I don't think I'd want to hide the chest so completely (in particular the overhang in front).

I think I'd probably mock it up with a shoebox (alcove), a kleenex box (chest) or something similar, and pieces of paper as the foam so that I could really see it. My first thought would be to make the foam the same depth as the chest, so that the front of the chest would still be visible. The hangover on the edges I'd play around with for a while before ordering the foam (then again it's easy to slice with an electric knife).

Random thought... push the chest to the front right corner of the 28" X 55" space. Furnish some sort of bolster for the space between the chest and the back wall and the chest and the left wall. Get foam to cover it all. (Foam is still easily removable, chest is still easily accessed.) Foam doesn't overhang the chest at all, just comes to the edge. But there is firm seating all the way back to the wall (especially in terms of propping pillows against wall).

Might even be able to do that with the big piece of wood I mentioned before, and some props underneath it -- bricks or something. (Still looking for simplicity and cheapness...)

Anyway -- point would be that all you'd see is the chest -- the rest would be hidden by wall and foam. (Make sense?)

You could put wooden cleats on the wall as supports for the board rather than posts or blocks that would be visible. How about centering the chest in the alcove than you'd only have 3.5" on either side. Bolsters or pillows on each end would prevent people sitting too close to the edge. You may have already said this somewhere, but I missed it. If so...nevermind.

The burr in the saddle (moi) would put the chest someplace else in the house.

I see Tim Allen hasn't showed up... yet.
Have you considered replacing the window?
Maybe even with a door? That looks like it would make a beautiful spot for a small deck.
From this to this:

To this: