Why do buyers love bay windows, and how should they be styled?

To sit and gaze at the world from a protected indoor perch is the ideal way to decompress. Even better if it’s a timeless architectural feature, updated by an interior designer, to create a special space that elevates a home’s appeal.

Bay windows are the centrepiece of this home in Kurraba Point, now on the market. Designed by renowned architect B. J. Waterhouse, this graceful home blends artisan elements with its distinctive 1905 heritage. Its layout features enticing lateral living zones, and its design includes generously curved bay windows.

From an architectural perspective, a bay window boosts kerb appeal, creating a more dynamic, visually interesting facade. For home owners with a dazzling view, it is an ideal way to frame nature or water like a piece of living artwork.

Atlas Lower North Shore director Michael Coombs says bay windows are mostly found in historic or older homes and may have neutrally coloured decor and storage space beneath.

If you own a home with a bay window and would like to move away from the more traditional idea of what that space looks like, it is possible to inject it with contemporary personality, says Sarah Wilson, senior interior designer at Decus in Sydney.

“With different materials and forms you can create something that is quite a focal point,” she says. “For example, an asymmetrical marble element can sweep underneath the banquette that is traditionally placed in the window.

“That banquette can also be updated with a contemporary mix of colour tones, such as a bronze or rust-coloured weave with a metallic fleck to it.”

Rather than full-height curtains, Roman blinds can sit inside the bay window, Wilson says. “These are not intended to block out light but to filter it and create privacy.”

While many home owners do use a banquette for storage, it is not compulsory if a more cutting-edge design appeals, she adds.

Nor is interacting with others in the room once your place on the bay window seat has been claimed.

“This space is not intended to have direct relationship with elements around it, even if the bay window is in a living room,” Wilson says. “Rather, it can be a real point of difference in a space.”

Coombs says clients mostly use bay windows as a place to read and relax, or just recharge.

“With more people working from home, it can also be a special space to sit with your laptop, enjoying the scenery and the beautiful natural light,” he says.

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33 Shellcove Road, Kurraba Point NSW 2089

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