Made to measure cushions for Irish homes, from Georgian Dublin to the west

December rain, north-coast gales, and cool summers

Met Éireann's numbers tell you what an Irish cushion is up against. Most of the east gets 30 to 39 in (750 to 1,000 mm) of rain a year, the west 39 to 55 in (1,000 to 1,400 mm), and the mountains more than 79 in (2,000 mm).

December is the wettest month, about 5.6 in (142 mm) on 1991-2020 averages, with October, November and January close behind at 5.1 to 5.5 in (130 to 140 mm). April and May are driest, at 3.2 and 3.1 in (82 and 79 mm). Those are your washing-and-airing months.

Sunshine runs 1,100 to 1,600 hours a year, and December manages 1 to 2 hours a day. Inland summer days reach 64 to 68°F (18 to 20°C). Wind is the other story: fewer than 2 gale days a year at inland places like Carlow, more than 50 at stations on the northern coast.

So made to measure cushions in Ireland rarely fade and often stay damp. Plan for washing, airing and a dry winter shelf. North of the border, see Northern Ireland.

Georgian Dublin: sash, shutter, seat

Dublin's Georgian terraces, built between 1714 and 1830 around squares such as Merrion and Fitzwilliam, are known for their almost uniform red brick. In the main rooms the tall windows came down below waist height, and many reveals still hold timber shutters.

Keep them working. The government's advice on historic Irish windows is to use the shutters at night to cut heat loss; they help with insulation as well as security. A window-seat cushion that stops them closing is costing you heat.

My test: close the shutters, then measure from the seat board up to the bottom of the shutter leaves. That gap is the cushion's maximum height, piping included. The same advice notes that condensation gathers on the meeting rails, bottom rails and sill, so keep the cushion's back edge off wet glass.

The thickness guide sets out the trade-offs, how to measure a window seat covers the rest, and window seat cushions shows the shapes.

West-coast cottages, 1930s semis and the angled end

There's been a real revival in restoring old Irish cottages, and a stone cottage in the west usually means thick walls and deep sills. A deep sill makes a fine seat and a cold one; air the cushion weekly in winter.

The 1930s semi usually brings a bay, and a bay is angles. So is any seat with one slanted end. A buyer in Ireland sent the workshop a drawing of a window seat 88.5 in (225 cm) at the back, 100.5 in (255 cm) at the front and 14 in (35 cm) deep. That's a trapezoid, not a rectangle, and it has to be ordered as one with the drawing uploaded. Her first order went through the wrong listing and had to be refunded and redone; the drawing carried the second. Check yours in the trapezoid calculator and see bay window cushions.

What does your seat measure along the back, and along the front?

Color that holds up in December light

With one or two hours of sun a day in December, colors read darker and cooler than they did in the shop. Sage, moss, ochre and rust keep their warmth; icy grays go flat.

Judge swatches beside a window in daylight, not on a screen at night, and send the workshop a daylight photo of the room if you want help matching. A deep velvet catches what light there is. More in screen versus daylight.