13 ways to make your windows a design statement
If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that one of your rooms has a particularly stunning view – be it of a dramatic cityscape of high-rises, undulating hills or a shimmering, hazy sea – then you’ve doubtless thought about how best to put the view to good use. Step one? Get your windows in shape. By that, we mean literally think about their shape, but also their dressing (pelmets, curtains, blinds and so on), their frame material, frame colour and how they open.
With the right decisions at every stage, you can use your windows to enhance what’s beyond them, turning an incidental if lovely view into a truly stunning centrepiece. We’ve scoured the House & Garden archive for 13 different ideas from real projects by interior designers that will make any room with a view sing.
1/13In the country kitchen of a Berkshire house decorated by Nicola Harding, the shutters for the Venetian window create a pleasing shape when closed, as the semicircular top of the central arch peeps out above them. Throughout this house, the window frames were painted a shade darker than the walls to ensure they do not distract from the view. Here, they are a shade lighter than the cabinetry, the handles of which are picked up on by brass pendant lights.
Sam Frost2/13Even when a window seems simple – like this rectangular one in interior designer Lauren Weiss’s San Francisco house – it can be given a more interesting sense of shape through staggered mullions that don’t align across the whole pane, without sacrificing the view.
3/13Grey-green and cream is a sophisticated colour palette for the country, as it does not try to compete with the vibrant greens beyond the window. Veere Grenney has created a crisp frame for these tall, elegant windows in a Norfolk country house using a flat pelmet with a decorative edge and pleated curtains, softened with a green brush trim. A comfortable armchair teamed with a table and lamp is an ideal arrangement for a window with a lovely view.
4/13In the bedroom of this 16th-century English manor house, Douglas Mackie has opted for an understated and contemporary scheme in soft, soothing shades of grey and lilac so that the four sets of stone-framed, leaded casement windows and the views they offer of the countryside are the undisputed focal point. A generous but simple suede-upholstered chaise longue is well appointed for a leisurely contemplation of the vista beyond.
Michael Sinclair5/13This ultra-simple approach frames the view from the garden studio of photographer Julian Broad at his ancient longhouse in the Welsh hills. The shed-studio is made from simple and rough wood, mirroring the view of the Scots pine and larch outside.
6/13Sunlight floods into this bedroom at Carskiey House on the Mull of Kintyre, owned by Tom Helme of British fabric company Fermoie, through the original Edwardian teak sash windows. These have been left uncurtained, with the window frames, shutters and surrounding woodwork painted a simple white. A martini table and two armchairs, complete with throws, make it the perfect spot for an evening whisky while admiring views over the spectacular coastal scenery.
7/13In one of the bedrooms in his Queen Anne house in Herefordshire, Edward Bulmer has painted the elegant sash windows in two tones of green – ‘Verdigris’ and ‘Sea Green’ – from his own paint company and topped them with elaborate crown pediments with an oriental feel. This adds drama to the way they frame the landscaped gardens outside and links them with the delicate 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper panels within.
8/13The original 19th-century barn doors have been retained in this characterful conversion, celebrating their scale and patina. Tall metal-framed French windows have been added behind them, allowing the doors to be kept open much of the time and filling the space with light. On the exterior, the new frames and older woodwork around them are both painted an unobtrusive sage green to blend in with each other and the rural setting.
Dean Hearne9/13In this barn conversion in Connecticut, full-height metal-framed doors open onto the wildflower meadow that links the barn with the farmhouse. Added glass panels around the doors themselves enhance and extend the view from inside.
10/13In this California breakfast room designed by Studio Shamshiri for the actress Anne Hathaway, a picture window with two pairs of triple-pane ‘flankers’ runs across the full length of the banquette seating, between fully glazed doors onto the garden and veranda. With leafy views on three sides, the room feels linked to the garden and landscape beyond. Green-painted woodwork, a bleached timber ceiling and verdure wallpaper between the batons – ‘Cotswolds Sky’ by Susan Harter Muralpapers – complete the impression of outdoor dining.
11/13A spiral of glass tops this garden-room extension at Slackwood Farm in Lancashire, giving its views panoramic potential. The front of the room has floor-to-ceiling glazing, but as the base height of the window swoops up towards the back of the space, anyone sitting there feels protected by the curved slate walls, which still allow for a 360-degree view and plentiful light.
12/13This covered dining area in a striking Provençal house designed by Andrzej Zarzycki opens directly onto the picturesque countryside. The protective stone walls on all the other sides make this indoor-outdoor space feel like a room of its own, while the simple, full-length white curtains frame the opening like an elegant picture window.
13/13John Wardle Architects has brilliantly showcased the drama of the Tasmanian landscape with this steel and timber-framed building. Architectural glazing stretches to the peak of the asymmetric roofline and all the Hans J Wegner ‘GE-375’ chairs are arranged to take in views of the bay.
