Internal windows are a great way of ensuring natural light reaches dark areas of a building. We’d originally planned to lighten our dark hallway by adding a skylight when we removed the lift, but that does not work with our chosen layout, so the next best solution is to put an internal window between the hall and the south facing dining room next door. The question is how to do it without it looking silly or out of place.
I’ve included a video of our current hall and how we expect it to look at the end of the post or you can go straight to it on YouTube.
Ideas for internal windows
I’ve concluded there are a number of options, although they vary depending on the rooms being considered (look at my Pinterest board for inspiration). The ideas relevant to us are:
- plain window – these can vary in shape to follow the shape of the stairs
- patterned window – either stained glass or a frosted pattern
- row of shallow windows
- tall windows
Internal windows for our house
As well as wanting to add an internal windows we have the added complication of rotating the staircase so the turn will be located on the wall between the hall and dining room. This means we physically don’t have the wall we intend to add the windows to so have to imagehow they’ll look.
Our first idea was to put a window across the width of the turn, but thought it would look like an after thought rather than a planned addition. Our second thought was to add detailing to the window such as stained glass and match it with detailing in the front door when it is replaced. However we can’t change the fact that the window would be floor to hip height on the stairs and would be a high window in the dining room. We considered a row of windows but discounted it partly because the windows would probably be too high for the children comfortably to look through. This left narrow windows which would be great for the children to look though, but may not give enough light so we added two taller windows on either side of the staircase and hoped this would look more ‘normal’ from the dining room.
Sorry about the change in the height of the tall windows. I didn’t notice I’d saved the pictures at different times during my playing, trying to work out whether full length or three quarter length windows look better. My initial thought was to have the shorter windows so we could put furniture underneath them such as a sideboard in the dining room. I don’t think the full length windows are practical, but there is something special about them. What do you think?
To help you appreciate the scale of transformation we are planning to our hallway, I’ve made a video showing our hall now and how we expect it to look when it is completed. We don’t know when we’ll start the work as the lift removal needs careful planning, but the prospect is very exciting.
Seeing our finished hall in 3D has really helped us understand how it will look with internal windows, however it has also raised some questions. For example the staircase in the current plan overlaps the lounge doorway (see the third image) and it may be easier to access the room if the staircase started further back by having steps on the turn; of course this could impact on our windows plan. I’m looking forward to modelling our kitchen / dining room and see if we can resolve the issue of where the kitchen should be located.
Disclaimer: I’ve created the 3D images in RoomSketcher and was given a free VIP account to try. They also offer a free access level which will enable you to create floor plans, see them in 3D and take 3D snapshots (but you won’t be able to take premium photos as I’ve used here).
Edit: Since publishing this post I’ve been told RoomSketcher can produce 360° views of of floor plans, so here is our hallway (note the central point is not the same as the video because there would be a a very boring section of just wall).
Crikey it’s so much work. Loving the 3d images though – technology does help envisage what things look like.
I love the full length windows, but they will make that space inflexible. In our house we’ve got windows both end of our kitchen, and on 3 sides of our living room – means serious lack of space for storage.
Yes, the technology is great. I’ve been happy using the 2D plans for the floor, but as we’re also changing things on the walls the 3D is great. I have to admit I’m concerned about the storage because I haven’t got the cloakroom I wanted so where will we keep coats and shoes. The software also includes furniture so once I’ve done the dining room on the other side of the wall I will start trying to include the furniture we want and find out what fits.
And yes it is a lot of work. Removing the lift and moving the staircase are the biggest things, but we have work in every room.
Must be very exciting planning it all! I’d echo Emma’s comment re strorage/furniture along that wall, but having the two half height windows may be enough to solve that. Secondly, you will need to be careful of that overlap of the stairs with the door and the distance that you offset the stairs, although it may just be a visual issue. It also might be worth adding your banister into the visualisations, it may look quite different with it in place. (sorry, the building engineer in me just took over…!). Back to my starting point, very exciting!
Thank you for your comments Sara, I’m very interested in what you have to say from your experience so please let me know any more thoughts. I’m married to an engineer (oil and gas mechanical so not exactly applicable) so he can visualise the plans well so he wants to move the staircase back two steps and those on the turn. I will make that change in the software, I can also add a banister but didn’t do it initially because it is also on the turn and would hide the windows. I really don’t know what we’re going to do about those windows – maybe we make the smaller holes and see what we think before actually ordering the windows 😉
I think that the full length windows would work really well. I especially like the decorative window in the first selection, too.
Thank you Nell, I like the full length windows, but don’t know if they are practical. I think if the window was going to be higher on the wall we’d go for stained glass as we’ve found a local shop, but don’t think it will work at the height we’ve got.
Wow – what a lot to think about! Roomsketcher looks like a really helpful tool!
Good luck making your decisions – they seem very ambitious to me.
Thank you Laura, our plans are very ambitious. We need to do something in every room, but we’re not in a rush to do it and will enjoy the journey (she says before we’ve started). I think RoomSketcher is going to be very useful especially as we start building the rooms up in the plan and can walk through them.
Ooh, I love planning house alterations! I think your hall will be totally transformed and will really open up your entire house. As regards windows, personally I think the 3/4 length windows look better as I feel they give a more balanced look, the full length ones make the area look smaller to me. Also in practice full length windows will end up being covered with fingerprints!
Good luck making your decisions, I love the 3D drawings, so much easier to picture the final product.
Planning house alterations is new to me so I’m learning about things as we go along (we did some in our old house but there weren’t many options so there wasn’t a lot of planning involved). I really don’t know which windows I prefer at the moment so I think I’ll delay the decision until I’ve done the plan of the dining room on the other side and can see what furniture will fit in them – they may make the decision for us.
Did yo decide on the internal window. We are currently building a new house and have a similar idea but was thinking of having a frosted window and some method of lighting it in the evenings. Have you come across any such designs.
Hello Joe,
We have decided to go with the internal lights, but have not got as far as planning it. I love the idea of having some built in lights and noticed recently that the leisure centre we sometimes go to has internal windows with etched patterns and lights fitted above the glass. As I’m always there with children I’ve forgotten to get close to them to investigate how the lights works, but will try and and investigate next time. I’ve looked for a picture online and this is the best I’ve found, but it is not a great view of the windows I mean (on the copper colour wall).