Custom cushions for Michigan cottages, bungalows and bay windows

3,288 miles of shoreline and 205 gray days

Michigan has 3,288 miles (5,292 km) of Great Lakes shoreline, more than any state except Alaska, plus 11,037 inland lakes. A cushion here meets wind in summer and snow in winter.

Here is my load case, from NOAA station averages: - Detroit: 45.0 in (114 cm) of snow, 128 days at or below 32°F (0°C), 12 days at 90°F (32°C) or hotter. - Grand Rapids: 77.6 in (197 cm) of snow, 139 freezing days, 205 cloudy days. - Houghton Lake: 65.9 in (167 cm) of snow, 170 freezing days. - Sault Ste. Marie: 120.1 in (305 cm) of snow, 174 freezing days, 209 cloudy days.

Sun is the smaller variable: the July noon UV Index runs about 7.9 to 8.4 across the Great Lakes. Damp is the bigger one. Morning humidity averages 80% in Detroit and 82% in Grand Rapids, so a cushion left on the dock overnight is wet at breakfast. In winter the lake-effect snowbelts sit downwind, and the Upper Peninsula carries one of the largest in the country.

Brick bungalows, Tudors and the cottage Up North

Downstate, Detroit neighborhoods like East English Village filled in between about 1913 and 1950 with brick bungalows, Cape Cods, colonials and Tudors, many custom-built. On West Grand Boulevard, Tudor Revival apartments from the mid-1920s put paired bay windows on the street. A bay seat in houses like these is a trapezoid, or a hexagon if it has short straight returns. The bay window cushions hub covers both.

Up North, as Michiganders call the northern Lower Peninsula, the seats move outside: a dock bench, a swing on the screened porch, a boat, a bunk under the eaves. The Great Lakes cottage page covers the lake house in general; this is the Michigan detail.

Timing matters. Michigan ranks fifth in the country for search interest in patio cushions, and its outdoor-cushion searches spike in May, then drop to almost nothing from November to January. Order in March, partner, not on Memorial Day weekend. Which comes first at your place, the bay or the dock?

Brick downstate, cedar and water Up North

Brick sets the palette downstate. Red-brown brick and oak trim take warm neutrals well: oatmeal, camel, a deep green, one rust piping line. Up North the water does the talking: navy, white stripes and sand against weathered cedar. On a dock bench, pick a mid-tone; pure white shows every wet footprint.

With about 205 cloudy days a year in Grand Rapids, colors read darker in your room than in a bright listing photo. Order samples, up to five codes per sample order, and judge them at a north window at noon. The Pattern on screen versus daylight explains why.