---
title: "Striped Window Seat Cushion: Ordering It Right the First Time"
url: "https://cushionguide.com/readings/navy-awning-stripe-window-seat-pine-floors/"
section: "Readings"
author: "Rosa Delgado, The Porch Keeper of Savannah"
author_url: "https://cushionguide.com/masters/rosa/"
published: "2026-06-25"
updated: "2026-09-24"
keywords: "window seat cushion, custom window seat cushion, striped bench cushion, bench cushion indoor, made to measure cushion, bench seat cushion"
---

# A navy awning stripe window seat cushion, and the message that gets it right the first time

*Most remakes start with a message that left one thing out. Here is a navy stripe to look at while we write a better one.*

> **The quick answer:** To order a striped window seat cushion right the first time, send the fabric code, the stripe direction, the exact size and your piping code in one message, and ask for a daylight photo of the code first. Navy stripes can look black on screen, and a fabric's roll width can decide which way the stripe runs.

![Navy and white awning stripe window seat cushion with white pillows, a woven jute lumbar and a gray throw on pine floors](https://cushionguide.com/media/window-seat-cushions/navy-awning-stripe-window-seat-pine-floors-1536.webp "Bold navy stripes and a woven jute lumbar give a white corner window seat an easy Hamptons look.")

## Buyer questions

**A common question:** Can I have button tufting on a piped bench cushion, or are the tops flat?

**The workshop's answer:** Standard bench cushions have a flat top with no tufting. Buttons can be added, and piping can go with tufting, but the buttons are stitched through, so a tufted cover cannot be removed or washed. Plain piped covers come off and wash. The craftsmen set the number of buttons from the cushion size.

**A common question:** I gave you a wrong measurement and one cushion is too long. Can I shorten it myself?

**The workshop's answer:** The foam can be cut, but not well by hand. A local upholsterer can cut the foam and shorten the cover, but ask for a price first, because a new cushion may cost less. In that case the workshop refunded part of the price on a correctly sized reorder, and the old cushion did not have to come back.

**A common question:** My bay window seat is an odd shape. Can I send a picture with measurements for a quote?

**The workshop's answer:** Yes. Send the shape with every measurement marked on it. One unusual bay window cushion was quoted that way, as one total with delivery included that time; the quote states the shipping cost either way.

## Reading the stripe: navy, white and a little jute

Now the photograph. A white paneled window seat fills a bright corner of sash windows, over honey pine floors, in clear winter light. The [window seat cushion](https://cushionguide.com/cushions/window-seat-cushions/) is a deep box, about 4 in (10 cm) thick, in a navy and white awning stripe. The stripe keeps going down the front band, so it reads from across the room.

Navy and white is the classic coastal stripe, and left alone it can feel like a boat deck. The woven jute lumbar is what stops that. Natural fiber, set between two crisp white linen pillows, brings the look back indoors. The white keeps the navy fresh; the jute keeps it warm.

The gray fringed throw sits at the far end on purpose. It pulls your eye along the whole seat, so the window looks longer than it is. And the honey pine floor takes the chill off all that navy and white, neighbor, the way a braided rug warms a porch in February.

The fabric belongs with the [striped cottons and ticking](https://cushionguide.com/fabrics/striped-cotton-and-ticking/).

## Pinned on the navy stripe

Five pins, from the white pillows to the pine floor, and the job each one does for a bold stripe.

1. **white linen pillows**: Crisp white pillows keep a bold navy stripe fresh rather than nautical-heavy.
2. **woven jute lumbar**: A natural-fiber lumbar between two whites stops the look from feeling like a boat deck.
3. **gray fringed throw**: Placed at the far end, the throw leads the eye along the whole seat.
4. **navy awning stripe band**: On a 4 in box the stripe reads from across the room over the pine floor.
5. **honey pine floor**: Warm pine takes the chill off navy and white.

## The beige stripe that went brown in the room

A buyer ordered two pieces from the workshop: a window seat cushion 2 in (5 cm) thick and a bench cushion about 35 1/2 x 14 1/2 in (90 x 37 cm), both piped. Before production she switched the fabric from a pink stripe to a beige stripe, N01, and the cushions arrived in time for her party.

Then came two surprises. That striped fabric comes only 55 in (140 cm) wide, so the stripes ran horizontally on the cushions, which she had not pictured. And the beige looked browner in her room than it had on her screen. Both covers were remade in pink stripe N19.

Nobody did anything wrong, exactly. The message just left two questions unasked: which way will the stripe run, and what does this code look like in daylight?

## Five lines to put in your order message

Copy these into your order note and you will have answered the questions a remake usually asks too late.

1. **The fabric code and the piping code**, both from the charts. A code is exact; a color name is a guess.
2. **Which way the stripe runs**, front to back or along the length. On long pieces the roll width can decide it, so ask. The [stripe direction guide](https://cushionguide.com/guides/striped-cushion-stripe-direction/) shows both.
3. **A daylight photo of the code** before production. Navy can read as black on screen, and beige can turn brown in a room.
4. **The exact size**, with a photo of the seat and the tape in the shot. For an odd shape, mark every edge on the picture.
5. **Flat or tufted.** Tufted covers are stitched through and cannot come off to wash; plain piped covers can.

> Before a striped cushion is cut, confirm which way the stripe will run: a fabric roll only 55 in wide can decide it for you.
>
> — Rosa

> **Tailor's margin:** Navy stripes often photograph black. Ask for a daylight close-up of both codes side by side before you choose between navy and black.

## The navy seat, written up for the order

|   |   |
|---|---|
| Cushion | Window seat cushion, box edge, about 4 in (10 cm) thick |
| Fabric | Navy and white awning stripe cotton |
| Stripe | Runs down the front band as well as across the top |
| Piping | Self piping |
| Pillows | Two white linen squares and a woven jute lumbar |
| Throw | Gray, fringed, at the far end |
| Floor and base | Honey pine boards, white paneled box |
| Best for | Corner window seats in coastal and Hamptons-style rooms |

## Questions buyers ask next

### Should the stripes on a window seat cushion run front to back or along the seat?

Front to back reads as a classic awning stripe from across the room; along the length makes a long seat look longer. Say which you want in your message, because a fabric's roll width can limit the direction on long pieces.

### How can I tell navy from black before I order?

Ask for close-up photos of both codes taken in daylight, side by side. Screens often push dark navy toward black, and seeing the two codes together in one photo makes the difference plain.

### Can I change my fabric after placing a custom order?

Before production, yes: one buyer switched from a pink stripe to a beige stripe with a message. Once cutting starts, a change means a new cover, so settle the code, the stripe direction and a daylight photo first.

### How thick should a window seat cushion be for a stripe to show on the front?

A box cushion about 4 in (10 cm) thick gives the stripe enough front band to read from across the room. Thinner cushions show mostly the top, so the stripe does less of the work.

## Related at the atelier

- [Window Seat Cushion in Pink Stripe: A Buyer's 82-Inch Story](https://cushionguide.com/readings/pink-herringbone-stripe-box-edge-closeup/): If your window seat is bigger than the size option you pick, say so before production and agree any balance up front.
- [Window Seat Cushion Fastening: Ties, Non-Slip Base, Zipper Side](https://cushionguide.com/readings/taupe-pencil-stripe-home-office-window-seat/): A window seat cushion on a built-in box seat rarely needs ties: cut it to the full length and depth so the edges have nowhere to go, add a non-slip base if the top is painted and slick, and put the…
- [Cornflower Stripe Window Seat Cushion by Open French Doors](https://cushionguide.com/readings/cornflower-stripe-window-seat-cushion-french-doors/): A striped window seat cushion looks hand-finished when the stripes sit square to the front edge and line up where the top meets the boxing, the piping runs in one unbroken line, and the corners…
- [Colonial window seat cushions for deep sills and old benches](https://cushionguide.com/concepts/colonial-window-seat-cushions/): A colonial window seat cushion is usually a custom size, so order the nearest listed option and restate the true length in the order note.
- [Window seat cushions for Massachusetts capes, colonials and triple-deckers](https://cushionguide.com/places/custom-cushions-massachusetts/): Window seat cushions in Massachusetts should be cut to the real walls of an old house, not to a perfect rectangle.
- [Window seat cushions for New England's old houses and long winters](https://cushionguide.com/places/new-england-cushions/): New England window seat cushions work best when they are cut to the real, out-of-square walls, split over radiators, and covered in a fabric that wipes clean where winter glass sweats.
- [Choosing cushion fabric: seven families compared for real homes](https://cushionguide.com/guides/cushion-fabric-types-compared/)
- [How to order a custom cushion size that isn't in the size menu](https://cushionguide.com/guides/custom-size-cushion-not-on-menu/)

*Porch light's on — Rosa*

---

Written by Rosa Delgado (https://cushionguide.com/masters/rosa/) 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/readings/navy-awning-stripe-window-seat-pine-floors/