---
title: "Made to Measure Cushions in Scotland: Tenements and Cottages"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-scotland/"
section: "Across the Map"
author: "Harlan Pruitt, The Elder of High Point"
author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/harlan/"
published: "2026-07-07"
updated: "2026-07-07"
keywords: "made to measure cushions scotland, window seat cushions scotland, tweed-look cushions, custom cushions edinburgh, custom cushions glasgow"
---

# Made to measure cushions for Scottish tenements, cottages and bothies

*Stone keeps a house standing for centuries, but it won't keep a cushion dry. In Scotland I build a cushion the way I'd pick a good coat: warm to the hand, and easy to take off and wash.*

> **The quick answer:** Made to measure cushions in Scotland should be warm to the touch and easy to wash. Near Glasgow it rains on about 174 days a year and December sees roughly 34 hours of sun, so choose corduroy, velvet or a tweed-look weave with zip-off covers, measure deep stone window recesses at the seat top, and air cushions often against condensation.

![Teal corduroy box cushion filling a white window recess, with teal velvet pillows, paperbacks and a linen table lamp](https://cushionguide.com/media/window-seat-cushions/teal-corduroy-window-seat-cushion-garden-view-recess-1600.webp "A thick teal corduroy cushion runs the full width of a deep window recess, turning the ledge into a garden-view reading seat. Matching velvet pillows keep the palette to one calm color.")

## 174 wet days and 34 hours of December sun

Scotland asks one thing of a cushion: stay warm while the weather doesn't. The Met Office's 1991 to 2020 averages for Paisley, just west of Glasgow, give 49.7 in (1,263 mm) of rain on 174 days, 33 air frosts and 1,280 hours of sun a year. December manages about 34 of those hours.

Go north and west and it gets wetter. Most of the western half of northern Scotland sees at least 67 in (1,700 mm) a year, and the wettest ground northwest of Fort William tops 157 in (4,000 mm). By the Moray Firth, in the lee of the mountains, it's nearer 28 in (700 mm). The western and northern coasts are the windiest in the UK, and up north the frost-free season can be as short as three months.

That's weather for wool coats and covers that come off. Made to measure cushions in Scotland should be warm to the hand and easy to wash, because the damp will find them. The rest of the country is on our [United Kingdom page](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-united-kingdom/), and the bay windows of the south are on [England](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-england/).

## Tenements, the bed recess and walls deep enough to sit in

Glasgow's tenements went up in red or blond sandstone through the 19th and early 20th centuries, mostly three to five stories, no taller than the street was wide. In Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, homes are almost all tenements. People prize the flats now for their large rooms, high ceilings and period features.

Their windows make good seats. Measure the window board itself, not the floor, and be exact about depth. A [window seat cushion](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/window-seat-cushions/) there wants a zip-off cover and a lift now and then, because condensation forms first on cold frames and external walls.

Many Glasgow kitchens from the late 1800s had a bed recess, an alcove sized for a double bed and hidden behind a curtain. Later renovations often folded the alcove into the room. If yours survived, it makes a fine reading nook: a firm floor cushion, a backrest and two bolsters, as the [reading nook guide](https://cushionguide.com/guides/reading-nook-cushion-bolsters/) lays out.

Out in the country the walls get thicker. The old blackhouses of the Hebrides and Highlands had double drystone walls packed with earth, and a stone cottage gives you window recesses deep enough to sit in. Cut a sill cushion a little smaller than the sill: one parent in the UK measured sills of 43 1/4 x 15 3/4 in (110 x 40 cm) and planned cushions of about 41 1/4 x 13 3/4 in (105 x 35 cm).

A word on bothies. The Mountain Bothies Association keeps about 100 open shelters where you should expect only four walls, a roof and somewhere dry to sleep. Carry your sit mat in and out. A converted farm bothy or a Highland lodge is another matter; a sleeping platform or a bench by the stove takes a firm pad gladly. What's the deepest window in your house, and does anybody sit in it yet?

## A self-built window bench, ten swatches and a 15 in gap

A couple in the UK built their own window bench and wanted it lined in corduroy: four cushions of 17 3/4 x 35 1/2 in (45 x 90 cm) and four of 11 3/4 x 35 1/2 in (30 x 90 cm). They ordered ten samples first, from terracotta tones to a jumbo corduroy, and chose only once the swatches were in their hands.

The bench left just 15 in (38 cm) between seat and sill, so they went with 3 in (7.5 cm). Then they found they'd ordered half the cushions they needed, and came back for a second batch and an 18 x 19 in (46 x 48 cm) corner pad. A few covers had dust marks from packing, which wipe off or wash out at 86°F (30°C).

I've told apprentices the same thing for fifty years: count the cushions per run before you count the money.

## Wool, tweed-look and corduroy, honestly named

Real Harris Tweed is a legal thing. The Harris Tweed Act 1993 defines it as cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, from pure virgin wool dyed and spun there, and the Harris Tweed Authority stamps it with the Orb. The workshop doesn't cut it, and I won't dress a mill weave up as the real article.

What it does have is warm-looking cloth that washes. There's a charcoal mixed weave of black and gray yarns with a salt-and-pepper face; that's your tweed-look. When a buyer asked for plaid, the workshop sent a chart of plaid and tartan fabrics in brown, green, blue and red. [Corduroy](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/corduroy/) comes in thicker and lower-pile weights, and [velvet](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/velvet/) catches firelight like nothing else. Velvet remembers the hand that brushed it, so brush it with the pile.

Then throw your own wool blanket over the back of the seat. That's where the real wool can live, my friend.

## Warm fabric for a cold house: the cushions I'd cut

| Seat | Fabric | Thickness | Piping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenement window seat | Corduroy, in a thicker or lower-pile weight | 3 to 4 in (7.5 to 10 cm) | Self piping |
| Bed recess reading nook | Velvet or corduroy, with bolsters | Tufted seat 4 in (10 cm), 5 in (13 cm) on request | Self piping on the bolsters |
| Fireside floor cushion | Soft fabric, hard-wearing and easy to clean | 4 in (10 cm) tufted, or 8 in (20 cm) for a deep sit | None, or self |
| Cottage window recess | Tweed-look charcoal mixed weave | 2 to 3 in (5 to 7.5 cm), checked against the sill | Contrast in rust or moss |

Velvet and corduroy are indoor fabrics with no water resistance. Zippered covers wash at 86°F (30°C); tufted cushions have no zipper, so wipe them clean in place.

## Looking after cushions through a long Scottish winter

- ✓ Lift window seat cushions once a week and let the underside breathe; cold frames and external walls gather condensation first.
- ✓ Keep cushions and furniture a little off external walls so air can move.
- ✓ Brush corduroy and velvet along the pile, never against it.
- ✓ Wash zippered covers at 86°F (30°C) on gentle and air dry them; wipe tufted cushions in place.
- ✓ Keep floor cushions well back from an open fire or stove. The standard foam and fabrics are not fire-retardant.
- ✓ In May, usually the sunniest month up north, turn cushions that sit in a bright window.

> Stone keeps a house standing. It doesn't keep a cushion dry. That part is your job, and it takes a minute a week.
>
> — Harlan

> **Tailor's margin:** Before you pick a thickness, measure from the seat to the underside of the window board. A cushion that fights the sill always loses.

## Buyer questions: tweed-look, color matching and heavy floor cushions

**A common question:** Is the charcoal mixed weave a gray-black, or does it have a blue tone?

**The workshop's answer:** It's a gray-black charcoal woven from black and gray yarns, with no blue tone. In daylight it reads as dark charcoal with a slightly textured, salt-and-pepper look.

**A common question:** Can you match a color from a photo I send?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes. Send a photo and the workshop compares it with its velvet chart and suggests the closest number. One buyer's pea green matched velvet #35; another, after a warm orange-brown, was steered to Tobacco.

**A common question:** Will a heavy tufted floor cushion slide about on a marble floor?

**The workshop's answer:** No. The workshop says its tufted floor cushions are heavy and won't slide.

**A common question:** How should I send measurements for a window seat or built-in bench?

**The workshop's answer:** Draw the seat on paper with every dimension and send it. For a built-in bench, measure the bench top rather than the floor, since the two can differ, and be exact about depth: 20 in (51 cm) is not 19 3/4 in (50 cm).

**A common question:** The corduroy sample was fluffier than I expected. Is there a lower-pile or thicker corduroy?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes. Other corduroys are available, including thicker ones, and the workshop offered to check its thinner, lower-pile options.

**A common question:** Which fabric is the most hard-wearing and easy to clean for a floor cushion?

**The workshop's answer:** The soft fabric. It's durable, easy to maintain, smooth and comfortable to sit on, and it stands up to daily use in busy rooms.

## Scottish cushion questions

### Can I get a cushion made in real Harris Tweed?

Not from this workshop. Harris Tweed is defined in law as cloth handwoven by islanders at home in the Outer Hebrides from pure virgin wool dyed and spun there. The tweed-look option here is a mixed weave, such as a charcoal of black and gray yarns.

### What thickness suits a window seat in a thick stone wall?

Check the clearance under the window board first. The standard is 4 in (10 cm), 3 in (7.5 cm) is the best seller for tight spots, and 2 in (5 cm) is the practical minimum for sitting. Cut the cushion a little smaller than a deep sill.

### Can a floor cushion sit near an open fire or wood stove?

Keep it well back. The workshop's standard foam and fabrics are not fire-retardant, so a floor cushion belongs outside the hearth area, never on it. For the UK fire-safety rules on cushions, read our United Kingdom page.

### Which fabric copes best in a damp tenement flat?

A washable one. Velvet, corduroy and soft fabric covers zip off and wash at 86°F (30°C); none of them is water-resistant. Air window cushions often, because condensation forms first on cold window frames and external walls.

## Related at the atelier

- [Custom cushions for Manitoba homes, cottages and enclosed porches](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-manitoba/): 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…
- [Corner Floor Cushion in Sand Linen-Look with Burgundy Backrests](https://cushionguide.com/readings/sand-burgundy-corner-floor-cushion-arched-mirror/): A corner floor cushion keeps its shape best with a box edge: a side band between top and bottom holds a square, upright front that stays neat under a backrest.
- [Corner Floor Cushion in Oatmeal Linen-Look: Order It Right](https://cushionguide.com/readings/oatmeal-linen-look-corner-floor-cushion-ladder-bookcase/): To order a corner floor cushion right the first time, send the fabric code (such as L01 for a natural oatmeal linen-look), every dimension including thickness, and a list of the pieces you want…
- [Bolster Pillow in Sage Linen-Look: Zipper, Ties or Nothing](https://cushionguide.com/readings/sage-green-bolster-taupe-headboard-bedroom/): A bolster pillow laid across a bed rarely needs ties or a non-slip base, because the headboard behind it and the mattress beneath it hold it in place.
- [Custom cushions for Prince Edward Island farmhouses, cottages and verandas](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-prince-edward-island/): Custom cushions in PEI should forgive red dust, sea wind and a busy July and August.
- [Is your linen durable enough for seat cushions, and will it wrinkle or stain?](https://cushionguide.com/answers/linen-seat-cushion-durability-wrinkles-stains/): Yes, the cushion linen is durable enough for seat cushions, because it's a linen-polyester blend, not pure linen.
- [Window seat cushion thickness compared: 2, 3, 4 and 5 inches](https://cushionguide.com/guides/window-seat-cushion-thickness/)
- [How to measure a window seat cushion when the walls aren't square](https://cushionguide.com/guides/how-to-measure-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-scotland/