How to Install Window Bar Seating at the Front Cabin

Do you have a neglected window that you don’t really know what to do with? Why not create a space-saving and cute window bar seating and give yourself a new place to sip your morning coffee?

The Front Cabin here at One Hundred Acres Home has a small kitchen with an awkward window area. Instead of ignoring that window, I decided to embrace it AND add space-saving seating in this small kitchen. This post will show you how to install a window bar seating and add a nice morning coffee spot to your home.

That Awkward Unused Window:

Here is the window just off the kitchen area in the Front Cabin. Can you tell from the photo below that it’s a bit of an awkward space and an unused window? Let’s put it to use and install some window bar seating. This project is part of a whole kitchen remodel. I’ve also added kitchen open shelving, painted the laminate countertops, and DIY refinished the pine flooring. Click on those links if you want to check out those other projects.

Window Bar Countertop:

Ok, let’s get moving on this window bar seating! It is actually pretty simple to install and will consist of a countertop supported by brackets on either side of the window. For the countertop material, we’ll use what’s called a Farmhouse Project Panel that is a 1-1/2 inch thick pine board I found at Lowes. This will match the pine in the kitchen open shelves and the floating shelves in the bathroom for design consistency.

The good things about this pine board are:

1. The pine board is relatively inexpensive and can be stained to your desired look.
2. It will span well between support brackets on each side of the window. If I wanted to use a different countertop material, I would need to add something structural underneath to support the window span. This way, the pine board is the structural spanning element.
3. The pine board is easily cut to the desired length and countertop depth. You can cut it with a skill saw or a table saw.
4. The pine board is kiln dried and glued so it is more dimensionally stable than 2x boards from the lumber yard.
5. The Farmhouse Project Panel looks a lot like butcher block but is less expensive!

Here is Farmhouse Project Panel that I picked up from Lowes. It comes as a 6ft long x 30 inch wide pine board, so I’ll need to cut it down to size.

Here’s the label from the pine board in case you want to find it to use as well.

Cut the Countertop to Size:

I got my husband to help me cut the Farmhouse Project Panel on the table saw. Here’s a photo of us hard at work.

We cut the board to a 14 inch width for the window seat. It’s a nice width for a coffee and a small plate without being too deep. Then, from the 30 inch board, we had about 16 inches leftover (minus the thickness of the saw blade). So I decided to use that to continue the window countertop around the corner for a floating appliance area. This will give the small kitchen a bit more working space. More on that after we get the support brackets installed.

The table saw has come in really handy for my various projects, and I really like that it has it’s own scissor stand. I awkwardly carry it around from project to project. It stands right where I place it and I get to work.

Install Window Bar Support Brackets:

Here is the window all cleaned up. You may have noticed in the first photo that the window had a lot of duct tape around it. That took forever to scrape off. I had to use GooGone and a lot of elbow grease to clean it up. Then, I also primed and painted the window sill white (along with the rest of the windows in the cabin!) to lighten things up a bit.

Now, we’ll simply install an L-shaped bracket on either side of the window. It makes more sense to install this counter at counter height, not bar stool height, because I’ll be continuing this around the corner for a true appliance counter space.

Here is a close up of the L brackets I picked up on Amazon.com. They come with black screws as well.

Then, simply install the brackets to the counter height (36 inches) minus the thickness of the countertop board. Make sure to use a level between brackets so the countertop comes out level.

Here are the installed window brackets. The blue tape marks show other wall studs were I will install more brackets for the corner countertop.

Did you notice the lower section of the window now has a frosted look? Well, I also installed a privacy film on that lower section because once the countertop is up, it will be difficult to lower the window shade completely. This way, we can lower the shade to the countertop and still have full privacy. Good thinking yeah?

Test Fit Countertop:

Next I test fit the pine boards. Here they are over the newly installed support brackets. I will use wooden dowels and wood glue to connect the two pieces once they stained and ready to be screwed to the brackets.

The left-hand countertop will hold light appliances such as a blender, maybe a coffee maker, and maybe a small microwave. Since we don’t have any wall outlets above the counter, I need a way for the appliance chords to reach below the countertop. To do this, I drilled two small 2 inch diameter holes in the countertop near the wall and covered them with black plastic cable hole covers that I found on Amazon. The hole covers are typically used for desks, but they work great here.

In the photo below, you can see the two holes with covers for appliance chords.

For now, the countertops are supported by the L brackets. However, I want to mention that later on, I bought a small microwave to use on the wall counter and the L brackets had a little too much flex under the weight of the microwave. So I found some brackets with a diagonal to stiffen the support and installed two under the appliance area, aligned at wall studs.

Stain & Seal Countertops:

Next, I set up a temporary outdoor work station with some metal saw horses so I could stain the board in the fresh air.

Give the project boards a nice sand to smooth out any rough spots before staining. From there, I applied a coat of pre-stain conditioner and then one coat of Early American stain

This is a photo of the newly conditioned pine board.

Then I applied one coat of Early American.

After that, two coats of American Walnut. I like to apply stain with simply an old cotton rag. Wear some protective gloves when you stain as the stain will color your skin.

I propped the boards up on the side that will face the wall to dry so it won’t matter if any marks show up. Luckily, it was not a windy day! Those extra two boards you see are the floating shelves for the bathroom – so all the pine boards match!

Be sure to let the stain fully dry! If you try to seal it too soon, the seal wont get a good grip and will eventually start peeling. I learned this mistake the hard way. So let your stain dry for a few days.

Next, to seal the countertops, I applied two coats of matte finish polyurethane seen here with a foam brush.

Install Pine Countertops:

Here are the installed pine countertops that wrap the corner for a window bar seat! I love how these look, but something is missing…

If you remember, this is part of a larger kitchen remodel. After I installed the open shelving in the kitchen, I had a long 10 inch wide section of that project panel pine board leftover. It would work perfectly as an upper shelf above the floating appliance counter.

Here is a photo where I am determining the height for the upper shelf and marking out wall studs. The new shelf needs to be high enough to allow for our blender on the counter below.

I finished the upper shelf to match the countertops and installed it with similar L brackets.

The Reveal – Window Bar Seating & Wrap Around Counter:

Whew! Without further ado, here is the finished window bar seat and wrap-around floating counter!

I changed out the stools to something more fitting for the space. These are IKEA Dalfred stools in black.

Here I am enjoying the new window bar seating after all that hard work! It’s so nice to have this new usable space and enjoy the view out the window.

Ok, one more photo. I thought you might like to see how this window space worked with the kitchen. Here is a panoramic shot. You can see our counter space is limited, so it was nice to add a bit more.

The full kitchen remodel includes the open shelving shown above, the painted white countertops, and the refinished floors. There is a post about that wall mounted entry organizer on the far right if you want to check that out as well.

I’d love to hear in the comments below if this was inspirational or gave you some new ideas for your space.