The Window Seat

Every house I have loved has had one good window seat, and it was never the one the architect intended. It was a deep sill, or a stair landing, or the corner of a kitchen where the afternoon came in sideways.

I think we are drawn to them for the same reason cats are: they let us be inside and outside at once. You can read, but you can also watch. You can be alone without being cut off.

If you have a room that is not working, try this. Put a cushion where the light falls at four o'clock, bring a book, and leave for twenty minutes. Come back and see what the room has decided to be.