How To Frame A Window Seat

Equally attractive as window seats are, only a few older homes with deep dormers seem to have them. And adding a window seat has ever been considered impractical. Outset, you need a niche that features a window. Then, the seat has to be custom-built past a cabinetmaker or trim carpenter to fit the exact width and sill height of the window. Not surprisingly, this approach is expensive and time-consuming.

Here's how to build a beautiful, custom window seat in just a couple of days using ready-fabricated kitchen cabinets. This unproblematic, practice-it-yourself arroyo provides both the "niche" and the window seat, and an abundance of storage space. This seat was built nether a half dozen-foot-broad kitchen window, only its design tin can hands be adapted for any size window in near any room. The seat is made up of six kitchen wall cabinets and two 48-inch-tall bookcase units, which are trimmed with decorative crown molding. The window seat itself is composed of two 15-inch-tall, over-the-refrigerator cabinets set side-by-side.

Step one

Build the Toekick

Start by building a perimeter base, called the toekick, out of 2x4s or 2x6s to the aforementioned height as the existing baseboard. The depth of the toekick must equal the depth of the cabinets, not including their doors. Fasten the toekick together with 3-inch screws; bank check to brand sure it's level. Anchor the toekick with a couple of screws driven into the floor or wall studs.

Tip: When deciding where to install a window seat, keep in heed that most windows have an air register or baseboard heater beneath them. (This one did not.) To ensure that the window seat does not block the menstruation of oestrus into the room, you must extend the ductwork under the seat and mount the register in the forepart of the toekick base. For a hot-water heating organisation, have a heating contractor install a apartment toekick radiator with electric blower under the window seat.

Step 2

Begin the Assembly

Begin the assembly by setting the two over-the-fridge cabinets onto the toekick. Center the two units under the window, then clench them together with their confront frames perfectly flush.

The cabinets used hither feature solid-maple raised-panel doors, concealed hinges, and a love-tone Spice Maple stop. The total cost of all the cabinets and prefinished molding was around $1,700. If that's a upkeep-breaker, you can relieve up to forty percent past using plastic-laminate cabinets or oak cabinets with recessed, flat-panel doors.

Pace 3

Fasten the Cabinets

Drill through the kickoff face frame and partially into the second 1 with a countersink drill bit. Be sure to drill deep plenty so that the screw heads are affluent with the surface. Fasten the cabinets together with two two½-inch drywall screws.

Stride 4

Install Cabinets to Toekick

Side by side, install a 12-inch-deep x 24½-inch-alpine x xxx-inch-wide chiffonier to each end of the toekick. Clamp and spiral these terminate cabinets to the window seat cabinets. Again, exist sure the face frames are perfectly flush earlier driving in the screws.

Footstep 5

Level and Secure Cease Cabinets

Bank check each end cabinet with a level, then secure it to the wall with two screws driven into wall studs. If necessary, place shims behind the cabinets to prevent the screws from pulling them out of alignment.

Step 6

Fasten Blocks to Add Meridian (if Needed)

The end cabinets are topped with 15-inch-alpine intermediate cabinets, which and so receive the bookcase units. However, before proceeding, fasten 6 3½-inch-long 2x2 blocks to the superlative of each end cabinet. These blocks raised the overall height of the cabinets so that the bookcases reached the soffit above.

Step vii

Fit All Components Together and Install Bookcases

Continue the assembly by setting the intermediate end cabinets on top of the end cabinets and screwing them to the wall. Next, install the bookcase units past beginning clamping them to the intermediate cabinets, and so fastening them with 2 ½-inch screws driven through the face frames.

Step 8

Muffle the Joints

To create the await of a custom-made window seat, it'southward of import to use matching prefinished moldings and accessories, which are sold by the chiffonier manufacturer. Start by concealing the joints between the three cabinets on each end with prefinished plywood skins. Cut the skins to length, then attach them with contact cement.

Step 9

Install Waist-Ring and Baseboard Molding

Next, nail the waist-band molding along the joint between the finish cabinets and the intermediate cabinets. This narrow piece of trim covers the large gap created by the 2x2 blocks. Install baseboard molding around the bottom of the cabinets to hide the rough toekick. If the molding is too tall, rip it downwards to the proper width on a tabular array saw.

Step 10

Install Finishing Crown

Blast 1½-inch crown molding forth the tops of the cabinets. If small-scale spaces remain above the molding, fill them with caulk. Finally, replace the cabinet doors, install the adjustable bookshelves and set the upholstered cushion onto the window seat cabinets.

Finally, need an upholstered, foam-rubber seat cushion. This expense will vary depending on the size of the cushion, the textile you select, and the quality of the foam.

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/furniture/21016399/how-to-build-a-window-seat

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