New Year’s Sale: Get 20% off Dwell with promo code YEAR20
SubscribeSign In
All Photos/Editor’s Picks/windows

Windows Design Photos and Ideas

Both bedrooms now glory in the inlet views.
Deep window boxes double as cosy reading nooks and bench seats that immerse the residents in the landscape.
In the house’s front room Monkman relaxes on a stool from local retailer Andrew Richard Designs. A new window system draws in sunlight and views of the front courtyard designed by local landscape architect Terry McGlade, the building’s former owner.
The original home was preserved and renovated. In the front bedroom, a small window was replaced with a large painted-steel window seat, a favorite of the residents' grandchildren.
Minimizing both financial and economic waste, the SHED is a flexible dwelling that takes only one day to build or deconstruct. After it is deconstructed, it can be rebuilt in other buildings, filling derelict structures that would remain otherwise vacant. Composed of OSB, lamb’s wool insulation, and recycled polyester, the design is affordable and sustainable.
Inspired by a homesteading commune he documented in Western North Carolina, photographer Mike Belleme built the Nook, a minimalist retreat in the woods that draws from both Japanese and Scandinavian design. He foraged much of the wood for the 400-square-foot cabin. "Every kind of wood has a certain mood and personality," he says. The exterior features an entranceway of oak blackened in the traditional Japanese method known as shou sugi ban.
Seeking to add a third level to his home in China’s Fujian Province, a sea captain was deterred due to the toll his property had taken from the coastal climate. The ocean and rain had caused erosion and water seepage, dooming the building’s structural integrity. Beijing-based Vector Architects stepped in with a solution—a 4.72 inch-thick layer of concrete wall that would be added to the home’s existing brick masonry. This allowed for a reconfiguration of the interior spaces, so living areas and the master bedroom would be situated on the sea-facing side for an abundance of natural light, the best views, and better ventilation.
Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design reimagined this family retreat in Sea Ranch, a 1960s planned community that stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California. Clear, vertical grain fir wraps the interior, while ample windows offer stunning glimpses of the sea and surrounding meadows.
The Lost Cottage vacation rental is nestled in the remote lakeside town of Treangarriv in County Kerry, Ireland. The principal bedroom features a massive picture window that looks out over Caragh Lake and the surrounding farmland. A glass roof was also installed above the sunken tub in the bathroom so that guests can gaze up at the stars in the International Dark Sky Reserve.
A large, circular opening with sliding glass doors leads to the curved terrace on the front of each structure. For one of the terraces, the architects designed a cutout to accommodate a mature tree that continues to grow through the platform.
Twelve electrically heated windows pierce the facade, framing views of the surrounding forest and fields.
"As one moves between levels, a variety of unexpected vantage points and views are revealed," says the firm.
This cozy perch is begging you to sit down with a good book.
Pivoting brass shutters were custom built to highlight the shape of the windows. They can be turned to block views for privacy.
A gradient of skylights in the hallway ranges from a vermilion triangle at the master bedroom end to a bright yellow at the living area.
The living room of Wood H by Dualchas Architects has a sweeping view of the surrounding landscape and the Atlantic Ocean.
As a thought-provoking exploration of environment and design, this minimalist ring-shaped holiday home in Aragon, Spain, abandons boundaries and opens itself up to nature. Designed with a distinct shape and circular symmetry, the indoor and outdoor spaces of Solo Circle are visually and physically linked to the house’s hilltop wilderness setting, as well as a sun-soaked interior courtyard with a pool.
Historic centres usually have a clear, harmonious melody, but oftentimes the soundscapes of the outer layers of a city are disrupted, lacking a conductor able to integrate architectonic interventions throughout space and time.
The gable roofs of the house are expressed on the second floor, where the lofted ceilings are covered with birch plywood.
The lower level is clad in locally sourced stone. The punched windows feature weathered steel accents.
Miguel Angel Aragonés is seen in the cantilevered second-floor bedroom that overlooks the rear courtyard.
Available as a holiday rental, the house comes with multiple bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, living areas, a hot tub, and a fitness center.
While modern in style, Heva channels the beauty of nature.
Like Irving Gill’s Dodge House, Zamarbide’s dwelling is designed to capture changing shadows and daylight with its minimalist surfaces while framing views through arched windows.
Locally sourced, low-emitting materials were used inside and out. The floors throughout are bamboo.
A narrow glass window that cuts through the interiors from floor to ceiling.
The living room resembles a large eye with a curved window and an eyelash-like eave that protects against dust, wind, sun, and rain.
Views from the main living area focus on the surrounding vegetation. "Instead of placing the house on the spot with the best view, it is situated in a way that is tailored to the specific terrain, and gives prominence to the views from the outdoor room," write Lung Hagem Arkitekter.
The upper section of the façade is clad in timber, and features large steel-framed windows that extend slightly beyond the siding.
In the entryway, a Tati lamp by Ferruccio Laviani for Kartell sits on a shelf Christopher made from kitchen cabinetry scraps.
The unique window arrangement floors the space with light and improves the flow of air through the space.
The outcrop of rock and a tree have been incorporated into the design of the home.
This writer’s studio features ample lighting and carefully chosen windows and openings—essential elements of an uplifting she shed or other outbuildings.
Potrero Residence Facade
Windows and skylights have been strategically placed throughout to capture striking views of the surrounding trees. Here, a bedroom cantilevers above the entrance patio.
Casement windows let cooling breezes in from the west.
Windows transcend floor levels to discretely frame views of the surrounding neighborhood, offering slices of the vistas beyond.
The Weiners sit in one of the many large window bays, showing how the reused truck bodies look from within.
Kristine climbs out onto the concrete-tile roof deck through a hatch door in the upstairs loft.
The main living area is connected to the back unit by a modern bridge. Polished concrete is used for both floors and ceilings, and a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Stool accents the space.
A tall, slender window in front of the sink creates a built in light well, allowing daylight to reflect further inward.
The home of Primo Orpilla and Verda Alexander in Orinda, in the hills east of Berkeley, California has a corridor with full glass walls and flat, glass roof and plenty of rooms that let sunlight in from many angles.
Inside the house, the speed of the planet’s rotation is indicated by the rate of the light beam’s movement over the floor and walls. When the Burkes first moved in, the speed of shifting light made them dizzy.
Blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, this 1,300-square-foot home on the island of Honshu, Japan by architect Keisuke Maeda has multiple windows and skylights surrounding its concrete base.
The Sculpture Gallery in architect Philip Johnson’s Glass House Estate in New Canaan, Connecticut is a skylighted space with an almost entirely glass roof that showcases Johnson’s art collection.
At the entry looking upward towards a Velux skylight, a vertical "sleeve" is made of stacked end grain plywood. The theme of vertical and horizontal architectural elements providing different environmental perspectives carries through to the rest of the home. Horizontal forms look out to the lake, while the vertical columns look up the sky.
Corner Window
Vignettes show off what Aumas does best. In this one, he takes advantage of the apartment’s tall windows.
12