Handcrafted Inlay Window SillsThe Arts & Crafts square motif, made to match Amish bedroom furniture
An inlay window sill is a hardwood sill with a band of contrasting timber let flush into the front edge. On this one the band is 1/2″ tall: three 1/2″ squares sit centred over each window jamb, with long runs filling out to within 2-1/2″ of each end. It carries the same Arts & Crafts square motif that runs through Amish bedroom furniture — Mission, Shaker and Mackintosh-influenced pieces alike — so the sill and the room read as one commission. Cut to your opening in eighteen hardwood finishes and machined before the piece is sanded and finished.
- What it is
- Solid hardwood window sill with a flush contrasting inlay on the front edge
- Designed to match
- Amish-built bedroom furniture, and Arts & Crafts, Mission or Shaker interiors generally
- Inlay pattern
- Three 1/2″ squares over each jamb, long runs between, stopping 2-1/2″ from each end
- Made
- To your own opening measurements, in 18 hardwood finishes
One line, three squares, and a lot of setting out
The band sits on the centreline of the front edge, half an inch tall, so it lands on the one part of a profiled edge that stays flat whatever profile you choose.
Three squares mark each window jamb — on a single opening they fall at the centre of the piece, and on a two- or three-window run they repeat over every pier. Between and beyond them the inlay runs as a continuous line, stopping two and a half inches short of each end so the returns stay clean.
It is routed and filled before the sill is sanded and finished, so the surface is dead flush. Nothing proud, nothing to catch.
Drawn for Amish bedroom furniture
Amish shops have carried the Arts & Crafts vocabulary for a century — quarter-sawn oak, plain end panels, gently curved posts, and the square motif used sparingly. Beds, dressers, chests and nightstands from the Midwest hardwood shops nearly all share it. This sill was drawn to sit in that room without competing with any of it.
Matching the furniture you already have
Order the sill in a finish from the same species as the room — white oak, cherry, brown maple, hard maple or walnut — and the inlay does the rest. Send us a photograph of the piece you are matching and we will tell you which of the eighteen finishes gets closest. See the finishes →
What you get
| Inlay height | 1/2″, centred on the front edge |
|---|---|
| Square motif | Three 1/2″ squares, 1/2″ apart |
| Placement | Centred over each window jamb |
| End clearance | Runs stop 2-1/2″ from each end |
| Sill stock | 3/4″ solid hardwood slab, laminated build-up edge |
| Standard thickness | 1-1/2″ visual front, 2″ build-up |
| Standard edge | 1/4″ bevel, top and bottom arris |
| Finishes | Eighteen photographed hardwood finishes |
| Lead time | Quoted with your drawing |
Four operations
Slab and build-up
The sill is cut from 3/4″ stock and the front edge built up to its finished thickness, so the band has solid timber to sit in rather than a laminate line.
Setting out
Jamb positions come from your own measurements, so the squares land over the piers of your window rather than at an even spacing that only looks right on paper.
Routing
The groove and the square pockets are machined in one setup off the same datum, which is what keeps the line unbroken where the runs meet the squares.
Fill, sand, finish
Contrasting stock is let in, levelled, then the whole face is sanded and finished as one piece. The inlay is flush by the time it is stained.
The configurator draws your piece, inlay and all
Enter your opening and the model updates as you go — the squares move to your jamb positions, the runs stretch to your length, and the finish is the photographed board rather than an approximation. Every quote comes with a dimensioned drawing.
Inlay window sills, answered
What window sill goes with Amish bedroom furniture?
A hardwood inlay sill. Amish-built bedroom pieces almost all carry the Arts & Crafts square motif somewhere — on posts, end panels or drawer fronts — and this sill carries the same motif, as three small squares of contrasting hardwood let into the front edge, centred over the window jamb, with long runs either side. Order it in a finish from the same species as the furniture and the two read as one commission.
What is an inlay window sill?
A window sill with a band of contrasting hardwood let into the front edge. Here the band is 1/2″ tall and centred on the height of the edge: three 1/2″ squares over each window jamb, separated by 1/2″ gaps, with long straight runs filling out to within 2-1/2″ of each end.
Is the inlay flush or raised?
Flush. The groove and square pockets are routed, the contrasting stock is let in and levelled, and the whole face is sanded and finished as one piece. There is a visible glue line but no step and nothing to catch.
Can I see the inlay on my own measurements before ordering?
Yes. The configurator renders your exact sill in 3D with the inlay in place — the squares move to your jamb positions and the runs stretch to your length — and every quote comes with a dimensioned drawing showing it.
Which hardwoods can the inlay sill be made in?
Eighteen photographed hardwood finishes across white oak, walnut, cherry, hard maple, brown maple, hickory and oak. The inlay itself is a contrasting dark hardwood, so it reads strongly against the paler finishes and more quietly against the darkest.