A Reading by ÉlodieWindow Seat Cushions
A periwinkle and maroon striped window seat cushion, read in garden-room light from morning to dusk
Terracotta underfoot, rattan all around, and one long stripe that cools the room down. My friends, this is a lesson in choosing color for the light you have, not the light on your screen.
SaveThe quick answer
In a sunny garden room, a two-tone striped window seat cushion is a safer choice than one plain color: the stripe hides gradual fading and crumbs, and each color can answer something in the room. Here the maroon repeats the terracotta floor and the periwinkle cools the warm rattan. Judge both colors from a swatch in the room's own daylight.
Buyer questions
- A common question
Do you have performance fabrics that are easy to wash?
The workshop's answerYes. The workshop told the buyer that all its fabrics are machine-washable performance fabrics and that they are pre-shrunk, which suits seats that see a lot of use.
- A common question
How do I find out what a custom trapezoid window seat cushion will cost?
The workshop's answerThe price appears on the trapezoid listing as soon as you enter the size range. Two quoted examples: a seat 70 in (178 cm) across the front, 44 in (112 cm) across the back and 20.5 in (52 cm) deep, 2 in thick with 2.5 in notches; and a pointed bay variant priced at 13 in (33 cm) deep and 89 3/8 in (227 cm) long.
- A common question
Could you make a 25 x 17 in window seat cushion in a beige velvet or chenille?
The workshop's answerYes. Choose the 17 x 25 in (43 x 64 cm) option on the custom window seat listing and give the color number from the velvet chart; for this buyer it was color 33.
Now, the reading
Periwinkle at nine, maroon at five: one stripe through a day
Daylight never lies; your screen sometimes does. This garden room proves it every hour.
The seat is long and shallow, a white paneled window seat under a three-pane garden window, and the cushion stays slim so the sill is clear and the proportions stay light. The cloth is a tight cotton stripe in periwinkle and a maroon brown, cut so the stripes stand upright on the boxing band and meet the top panel at a self-piped edge.
In cool morning light, periwinkle leads. It reads as a clear blue with a breath of lilac, and the maroon sinks back to a quiet brown. By late afternoon the light turns gold and bounces up off the terracotta tiles, and the order reverses: the maroon warms toward brick, the periwinkle grays a shade, and the whole seat moves closer to the floor. That is not a flaw. The maroon was chosen to echo those tiles, so seat and floor belong to each other at the warmest hour.
Every prop is a natural fiber, so none of them argues with the pattern. A leafy fern on a rattan stool softens the open end of that long, hard line. A macrame hanger lifts trailing pothos into the corner and draws the eye up. The rattan armchair, with its ivory pillow and oatmeal knit throw, gives the smooth printed stripe a rough-textured neighbor. A wicker basket and the tiles hold the warm half of the palette; periwinkle holds the cool half alone.
The Pattern on screen versus daylight explains how to judge a swatch at home, and sunroom cushions gathers more seats that live in full light.
Which color does your sunroom floor throw back at dusk?
Pinned by Élodie: the band, the fern, the hanger, the chair, the tiles
Five pins follow the color from the stripe on the boxing band out to the terracotta floor that chose it.
- Stripe on the boxing band
The band is cut so the maroon and periwinkle stripes stand vertical and line up with the top panel at the piped edge.
- Fern on rattan stool
A leafy plant at the open end softens the long hard line of the seat.
- Macrame plant hanger
Trailing greenery brings height to the corner so the eye travels up from the cushion.
- Rattan chair and throw
Oatmeal knit and rattan give a textural foil to the smooth printed stripe.
- Terracotta tiles
The maroon stripe was chosen to echo these tiles, tying the seat to the floor.
- Stripe on the boxing bandThe band is cut so the maroon and periwinkle stripes stand vertical and line up with the top panel at the piped edge.
- Fern on rattan stoolA leafy plant at the open end softens the long hard line of the seat.
- Macrame plant hangerTrailing greenery brings height to the corner so the eye travels up from the cushion.
- Rattan chair and throwOatmeal knit and rattan give a textural foil to the smooth printed stripe.
- Terracotta tilesThe maroon stripe was chosen to echo these tiles, tying the seat to the floor.
Swatch strip: the garden-room palette
- Periwinkle#8E9AD4The cool stripe; it leads in morning light
- Maroon brown#6B2E2AThe warm stripe, taken from the floor tiles
- Terracotta#B5623DThe floor that sets the warm half
- Rattan honey#C39A5FArmchair, stool and basket
- Oatmeal#D8CBB3The knit throw, a soft neighbor for the stripe
- Fern green#5B7E45The only green, at the open end of the seat
A striped corner bench, split in two on purpose
A buyer in the US ordered samples first, which always makes me smile. Then they asked for cushions on an L-shaped corner bench in a striped fabric, N05, about 3 in (8 cm) thick.
The workshop made it as two cushions meeting flush at the corner rather than one L-shaped piece. The final sizes were 16.5 x 62.4 in (42 x 158 cm) and 16.5 x 45.5 in (42 x 116 cm), ordered in the 17–20 x 61–63 in and 17–20 x 44–46 in size ranges.
Two butt-jointed cushions are easier to cover and to wash, and they let the stripe run true on each leg. On a single L piece, one leg would have to carry the stripe the other way. The Pattern on stripe direction shows why, and the striped cotton and ticking shelf holds more two-tone stripes.
On the cutting table: the sunroom window seat
| Product | Custom window seat cushion, long and shallow |
|---|---|
| Fabric | Periwinkle and maroon brown cotton stripe, code IN-07 |
| Stripe | Vertical on the boxing band, matched to the top panel at the edge |
| Piping | Self piping in the stripe |
| Edge | Box edge, kept slim to clear the sill |
| Palette logic | Maroon repeats the terracotta floor; periwinkle cools the rattan |
| Light | Bright garden light for most of the day |
| Best for | Sunrooms and garden rooms with warm floors |
Have it made
Have this made — ask Élodie’s workshop
A fabric reads one way at noon and another at dusk. Mention your light, and the workshop will weigh it with you. — Élodie
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.
A two-tone stripe on a sunroom window seat hides slow fading and crumbs better than one plain color, and gives you two colors to pull through the room.
Élodie
Questions buyers ask next
Why does a periwinkle cushion look grayer in the evening?
Evening light is warmer and lower, and it carries the color of whatever it bounces off. In a room with terracotta floors, gold light washes over cool blues and mutes them, while warm reds and browns grow stronger. Check a swatch at both ends of the day.
Should the stripes on a window seat boxing band run up and down or along the seat?
On this seat the band is cut so the stripes stand vertical and meet the top panel's stripes at the piped edge. The pattern stays continuous as your eye moves from the top to the side, and the seat looks deliberate from across the room.
Do striped cushions fade more slowly than plain ones in a sunny room?
Not necessarily, but they hide it better. A tight two-tone stripe breaks up the surface, so gradual fading and crumbs show less than on one plain color. Turning the cushion now and then spreads the sun's work more evenly across it.
With color and care — Élodie
