---
title: "Custom Cushions in Manitoba: Winnipeg Winters, Lake Cottages"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-manitoba/"
section: "Across the Map"
author: "Harlan Pruitt, The Elder of High Point"
author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/harlan/"
published: "2026-02-11"
updated: "2026-02-11"
keywords: "custom cushions manitoba, custom cushions winnipeg, cottage cushions manitoba, window seat cushions winnipeg, sunroom cushions"
---

# 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.*

> **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.

![Dusty rose and cream window seat cushions under white casement windows with floral pillows and a garden view](https://cushionguide.com/media/window-seat-cushions/dusty-rose-sunroom-window-seat-cream-center-cushion-1600.webp "A sunroom window seat split into rose and cream sections, finished with floral pillows against the garden view.")

## 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](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/sunroom-cushions/) and [window seat cushions](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/window-seat-cushions/) cover the seats, and the [covered porch guide](https://cushionguide.com/guides/indoor-cushions-covered-porch/) 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](https://cushionguide.com/places/great-lakes-cottage-cushions/) covers cottages farther east, [Minnesota](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-minnesota/) and [North Dakota](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-north-dakota/) the prairie to the south, and the [Canada overview](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-canada/) 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.

## 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](https://cushionguide.com/guides/how-to-measure-window-seat-cushion/) 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 |

> **Tailor's margin:** If the porch windows frost on the inside, the cushion feels it too. Lift it off the glass and let the air move.

## 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](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/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?

## 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.

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

## 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.

## Related at the atelier

- [Made to measure cushions for Irish homes, from Georgian Dublin to the west](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-ireland/): Made to measure cushions in Ireland should be built for mild, damp weather: zip-off covers that wash at 86°F (30°C), foam that gets aired, and window seats slim enough for Georgian shutters to close.
- [Custom cushions for Tennessee cabins, porches and Nashville homes](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-tennessee/): Custom cushions in Tennessee should be sewn for humid summers and busy rentals.
- [Custom cushions for Missouri brick houses, porches and lake houses](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-missouri/): Custom cushions in Missouri should be split by seat: water-repellent, UV-resistant outdoor fabric for Ozarks porch swings and Lake of the Ozarks decks, and velvet or corduroy for window seats in St.
- [Window Seat Cushion Craft: Taupe Ticking in a Cottage Nook](https://cushionguide.com/readings/dark-taupe-ticking-stripe-window-seat-cottage-nook/): The details that make a window seat cushion look hand-finished are a stripe run the length of the seat, piping in the darker color of a two-tone fabric, a box edge that sits level with the sill, and…
- [Window Seat Cushion in Blue Pinstripe over Sunroom Cubbies](https://cushionguide.com/readings/blue-pinstripe-window-seat-sunroom-cubbies/): A window seat cushion over open cubbies needs a firm, high-density foam block so the seat stays flat across the gaps instead of dipping into them.
- [Moss Green Corduroy Window Seat Cushion in a Garden Sunroom](https://cushionguide.com/readings/moss-green-corduroy-window-seat-garden-corner/): A window seat cushion on a drawer base needs a firm, box-cut foam block, because the hard top gives nothing back and the cushion carries all the comfort.
- [Sunroom and three-season room cushions: fabric for sun, heat and damp](https://cushionguide.com/guides/sunroom-cushion-fabric-humidity/)
- [Cushions for 7-sided and rounded bay window seats in older homes](https://cushionguide.com/guides/7-sided-rounded-bay-window-seat-cushion/)

*Sit well. — Harlan*

---

Written by Harlan Pruitt (https://cushionguide.com/masters/harlan/) for CushionGuide (https://cushionguide.com/about/). The site explains made-to-measure cushions and the partner workshop makes them; measurements are in inches first. This Markdown mirrors the page at https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-manitoba/