01

Start where you would sit.

The best place to understand a window is not always directly in front of it. Sit where a sofa, a desk or the kitchen table might go. Notice the proportion of sky, ground and trees. At our imagined Pine Fold, the forest becomes part of several daily routines, rather than a view reserved for one special room.

02

Look at the edge.

A deep reveal can give a window a sense of shelter. A slim frame can make the opening feel almost absent. Neither is automatically better. Look at how the window meets the wall, how a curtain might hang and where you would put a lamp on a darker afternoon. The useful details often live around the image, rather than within it.

03

Leave a question for later.

A single visit shows a single moment. Ask how the rooms feel at another time of day, or in another season. Keep those questions alongside your first impressions. Our Field Notes tool helps you collect them, so the next conversation can go a little further than “beautiful light”.

An original Strata editorial feature. All homes and settings described are fictional.

Make your own field notes