8 Incredible Dormer Window Ideas

Home Exteriors • Karen • 0 Comments

Having dormer windows in your house is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is obvious – dormer windows look incredibly cute, both from the inside and (even more) from the outside. They give a house a unique charm that cannot be reproduced in any other way.

The curse, usually, only becomes noticeable after you have fallen in love with the dormer windows and have bought or built that house or apartment — once you start trying to furnish your new home and suddenly find yourself with a lot of “cute” space that you just don’t know how to use, you will understand the curse part.

But never fear! There are tons of wonderful, creative, space-saving, and really useful ways of using the space around/in front of your dormer window, and we are here to show you some of the things you can do!

Window Seat

The dormer window is the single most perfect spot to have a window seat. Or, to put it differently, it is the only place where you can create a true, comfortable, spacious window seat.

All other versions are a cheap copy of the luxury a dormer window seat offers! Why? Because only a dormer window offers you the vast space a truly comfortable window seat to curl up in needs.

The most important ingredients for a cozy window seat are: a thick, springy pad as seat, an array of cushions to lounge against, and a blanket to wrap up in on those long rainy autumn afternoons.

If you want to take it one step further, you can upholster the walls on the side in order to create even more comfort and space to comfortably lounge against.

Reading Nook

If you, like me, are a book lover, the dormer window is a god sent for you!

Similar to the window seat, you can use to space to create a cozy, relaxing nook where you can curl up with your latest purchase and loose yourself within the pages for hours on end.

The difference to the widow seat? The bookshelves lining the walls on both sides. They might not hold your entire library, but they serve as a great place to store your favourites and as a home for your “to be read”-pile.

Bed Room

Depending on the width of your dormer window nook, you might luck out and be able to place a (day) bed there.

Dormer windows in your child’s room are usually a great place to create a royal sleeping space, since the shorter kid’s beds are way easier to fit lenght-wise into a nook than regular sized beds. Add a few flimsy, gauze curtains to create hangings, and we’re sure your little princess will love it! And if you need to accommodate a pirate, a flag, some ropes as decoration and maybe a steering wheel on the wall will make them feel right at home.

As an adult version, you could try to fit the head of your bed into the nook (and we will be so envious!), or you may want to use broader dormer window nooks to frame a daybed. This is also a great idea for rooms that are used to put up visitors in, and double as office space or hobby room when not in use.

Tub

A great way to make use of the space in front of your dormer window is tucking a tub in there.

This works both in a bathroom, as well as in a bedroom (if there are water pipes nearby), and add an additional touch of luxury to the hedonism of finishing the day off soaking in a bubble bath!

Vanity

We all know that the most important aspect of a good dressing table, or vanity, is its lighting. There’s nothing worse than painstakingly applying makeup in your bathroom and noticing that what had seemed like a perfect finish just moments before actually is a splotchy mess the moment you step out of the house.

Placing your vanity in your dormer window nook puts a hold on this problem – you can’t get any better natural lighting than when you’re sitting in front of a window.

And even if you’re not a make-up wearing person, you will find a lot of joy in getting ready for the day while looking out into the beautiful nature outside.

Shower

Having a dormer window inside your bathroom can be a real pain, particularly if you try to work around it.

But if you embrace your dormer window and play up its absolute strength, this type of room design can be a real asset.

What do we mean by that? One of the advantages of having an attic dormer window is the fact that it usually allows to stand up straight in a place where the ceiling would hit your head long before you could straighten out even three steps to the side. Make use of that!

When you place your shower nook around the dormer window you save bathroom space while at the same time gaining shower space. And, let’s be honest, it looks freaking stylish!

Home Office

These days, many of us can work from home, at least part time. And even those who still have to commute to their jobs each and every day, usually need some small “office” space in their homes to get those pesky financial things out of the way, to respond to mails and the occasional letter, or to study.

So it stands to reason that a dormer window can become this much-needed space without having to set aside a whole room or to plonk an office desk down in the middle of your bed- or living-room.

Depending on your needs, this little home office nook can be as simple as a small table and chair combo that holds your laptop and a few pens, or it can become an elaborate space with shelves to house documents, printer, gadgets, reference materials, etc, a desk with drawers, and a comfortable desk-chair that allows for hours of work without getting a crick in your back and neck.

Storage Space

If there’s one thing we all lack, it’s storage space. And dormer windows are the perfect place to squeeze out a few extra inches for drawers, shelves, hooks, and the like.

The possibilities are nearly endless, and the limit is your creativity and your needs.

A few ideas we have come across: shoe shelves, a chest of drawers fit into the nook, a place to hang accessories like necklaces, scarves, and belts from, a small storage bench or ottoman that doubles as seat below the window, hanging baskets, a hanging (herb) garden, and a DIY window bench that houses storage baskets and LPs below it.