Across the Map · Canada

Custom cushions for Manitoba homes, cottages and enclosed porches

Snow covers a Winnipeg yard about 132 days a year. The enclosed porch and the window seat are where that winter gets watched, so that's where I start sewing.

ManitobaCanadaCapital: Winnipeg

Sun & UVModerate
HumidityModerate
WinterLong and hard
SettingInland
Typical seatsEnclosed front porch bench, window seat, sunroom daybed

Field notes by Harlan

The Elder of High Point · February 11, 2026

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A sunroom window seat split into rose and cream sections, finished with floral pillows against the garden view.

The quick answer

Custom cushions in Manitoba are mostly indoor cushions for a long winter: window seats and enclosed-porch benches in velvet, corduroy or linen-look fabric on firm 32 kg/m³ foam, with zip-off covers washed at 86 °F (30 °C). Cottage cushions go in water-repellent outdoor fabric and come home clean and completely dry each fall, stored loose rather than vacuum-sealed.

Character houses with a porch made for looking out

Winnipeg kept a good many of its old houses. Wolseley went up mostly between 1905 and 1930 and is counted among the most intact pre-1930 residential areas in Canada. Walk it and you see broad front porches, Queen Anne revivals and Craftsman bungalows with big windows and a prominent porch. On some Arts and Crafts bungalows the porch sits right under the main roof, with bay windows pushing out beside it.

Where a porch has been glassed in, it becomes a room that's warm in June and cold in January, and its cushions have to live with both. Sunroom cushions and window seat cushions cover the seats, and the covered porch guide sorts out which indoor fabrics can live out there.

In summer the city heads for the lake. Whiteshell Provincial Park, about 120 km (75 mi) east of Winnipeg, fills with seasonal residents in cottages on land leased from the Crown, and Lake Winnipeg has its long beaches. The Great Lakes cottage page covers cottages farther east, Minnesota and North Dakota the prairie to the south, and the Canada overview the rest of the country.

A 2.5 °F (−16.4 °C) January, and sun on 306 days

Winnipeg's January averages 2.5 °F (−16.4 °C), and of Canada's 100 largest cities its winter ranks tenth coldest by average low. The city gets 49.7 in (126.2 cm) of snow, and the ground stays white about 132 days a year. That's why the seats that matter most here are indoors.

It isn't a gray cold, though. Winnipeg averages 2,353 hours of sunshine and some sun on 306 days a year. Low winter sun reaches deep into a room, and fresh snow can reflect over 80% of UV back at the glass. A window seat facing a snowy yard fades in January as well as July.

Summer is short and warm: July averages 67.5 °F (19.7 °C), humidity runs around 50%, and about 27 thunderstorms roll through a season. An unheated porch swings through all of it. When warm, damp air meets cold glass, the glass sweats, and a back cushion leaning on it stays damp. Lean it on the wall or a bolster, and keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises.

A real project

The window handle nobody measured

A buyer in Canada ordered a velvet window seat cushion 21 x 62 in (53 x 157 cm). Before it was cut, the buyer remembered the window: its handle would hit a cushion 21 in (53 cm) deep. The depth came down to 16 in (41 cm), in velvet #20, and that was the cushion made.

Another buyer in Canada had a 16 x 96 in (41 x 244 cm) window bench and chose three cushions of 16 x 32 in (41 x 81 cm) in fabric #8 instead of one long piece. Three pieces lift, flip and wash one at a time, and in an old house the seat may not be the same depth end to end.

Old windows have cranks, latches, stops and trim. Measure the seat, then open the window and measure again. The window seat measuring guide walks you through it.

Porch, window and cottage: what I'd cut for each

Seat	Fabric	Foam and thickness	Build notes
Enclosed front porch bench	Outdoor acrylic or water-repellent membrane	3 to 4 in (7.5 to 10 cm)	Keep it off cold glass; dry before the porch freezes
Window seat in a character house	Velvet, corduroy or linen-look	3 to 4 in (7.5 to 10 cm)	Check handles and latches first; bolsters at the ends
Sunroom daybed	Linen-look or performance weave	4 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm)	Blinds from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. slow the fading
Cottage deck and dock	Water-repellent outdoor fabric	3 in (7.5 cm)	Ties for lake wind; home to the city each fall
Cottage bunk	Corduroy or soft poly-cotton	4 in (10 cm)	Zip-off covers; stored dry and off the floor

Photographs for homes like these

Open any photograph large; each one has its own link and a Save button.

Burnt orange velvet window seat cushion with off-white piping below large white windows overlooking a striped lawn — Burnt orange velvet with off-white piping gives a white sunroom window seat a warm center against the green garden view.

Ivory cushion with fine navy pinstripes on a white bench beneath garden windows, with ivory linen pillows and potted ferns — A barely-there navy pinstripe keeps a white bench crisp and hides the everyday marks a plain ivory would show.

Plum velvet window seat cushion with self piping on white drawers with brass pulls, with charcoal, gold and faux-fur pillows — A thick plum velvet cushion turns a white storage seat into a jewel-toned perch, finished with gold, charcoal and fur pillows.

Navy velvet Hemnes daybed covers edged in cream piping in a home office with an oak desk, laptop and pine shelving — Navy velvet with cream piping turns a Hemnes daybed into a tailored study sofa. The oak desk, pine shelving and potted plants keep the room warm.

White and navy pinstripe outdoor bench cushion on a teak bench on a wooden lake jetty at misty dawn with a knit throw — A crisp pinstripe pad on a weathered bench at the end of a jetty, with a knit throw and a thermos for the morning.

Closing the cottage clean, opening it safe

Wash covers at 86 °F (30 °C) or below and zip them back on only when cover and foam are both bone dry.
Store cushions loose and uncompressed, off the floor, in a breathable cover.
Better yet, take them home to the city. A shut cottage gets damp, and mice like a quiet place.
In spring, air the cottage out before you unpack anything soft. If there are droppings, use the Public Health Agency of Canada's bleach-and-soak method; never sweep or vacuum them.
Check each cushion for nesting before it goes back on a bunk.

Warm colors for blue winter light

Light off Winnipeg snow is blue-white, and it cools every color in the room. So I lean warm on a window seat here: burnt orange, rust, camel, a honey velvet. Velvet remembers the hand that brushed it, and in low sun that sheen reads as warmth. In an enclosed porch, dusty rose or warm cream against white trim keeps the room from feeling like an icebox in February.

Save the cool blues and greens for the cottage, my friend. The lake supplies the rest. What color does your porch need in January?

In Winnipeg the window seat is where winter gets watched. Build it warm, and keep it off the cold glass.
Harlan

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Buyer questions: window seats, porches and storage

A common question
Can I leave the cushions in their vacuum packaging and store them at the cottage for a few months?
The workshop's answer
No. Cushions shouldn't stay compressed for long. Open the vacuum packs so the foam can expand; after that you can pack them away uncompressed.
A common question
How should I wash the covers?
The workshop's answer
At 86 °F (30 °C) or below, and don't machine-wash the white non-skid bottom panels. The 100% linen covers go on a gentle cycle with mild detergent and should air-dry. Every cover has a zipper, so it comes off for washing.
A common question
Can you make matching bolsters for the ends of my window seat?
The workshop's answer
Yes, as a custom order. Order the window seat cushion, then send the bolster sizes, quantity, a simple drawing and a reference photo, and the workshop sends a custom link. One buyer ordered two bolsters 6 x 20 in (15 x 51 cm); long ones are possible too, such as about 75 in (190 cm) to run the length of a bed used as a sofa.
A common question
Which measurement is the width and which is the length?
The workshop's answer
Width is front edge to back edge, the depth you sit on. Length is side to side across the front, usually the longer number. Or just label your numbers, for example 20 in deep x 60 in across (51 x 152 cm), and it will be made correctly.
A common question
Is the back cushion filling stuffed straight into the cover, or does it have its own liner so I can still wash the cover?
The workshop's answer
The filling comes in its own inner cover. Put the filled insert into the outer cover, and you can take the outer cover off and wash it any time.

Have it made

Have it made for your home — ask Harlan’s workshop

The best cushions I have known began with somebody asking one more question. Ask yours here. — Harlan

Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.

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Manitoba cushion questions

Can cushions stay in an unheated enclosed porch all winter?

Only if they're bone dry and kept off the glass. Condensation on cold windows can dampen any fabric that touches them. If the porch glass frosts on the inside, bring the cushions into the house until spring.

Why do window seat cushions fade in a Winnipeg winter?

Winnipeg averages 2,353 hours of sunshine, low winter sun reaches deep into rooms, and fresh snow can reflect over 80% of UV. Draw a sheer or blind between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and turn the cushion now and then.

What's the best way to store cottage cushions over winter?

Wash the covers at 86 °F (30 °C), dry everything completely, and store the cushions loose, not vacuum-sealed, off the floor in a breathable cover. Taking them home to the city keeps them away from cottage damp and mice.

How thick should a window seat cushion be?

Usually 3 to 4 in (7.5 to 10 cm). A thicker cushion lifts the seat toward the sill, latches and cranks, so measure from the seat board to the lowest handle before you choose.

Sit well. — Harlan

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