Problem
One of a window’s most important functions is to put you in touch with the outdoors. If the sill is too high, it cuts you off.
Solution
When determining exact location of windows also decide which windows should have low sills. On the first floor, make the sills of windows which you plan to sit by between 12 and 14 inches high. On the upper stories, make them higher, around 20 inches.
Related Patterns
… this pattern helps to complete Natural Doors and Windows (221), and the special love for the view, and for the earth outside, which Zen View (134), Window Place (180) and Windows Overlooking Life (192) all need.
Make the sill part of the frame, and make it wide enough to put things on - Waist-High Shelf (201), Frames as Thickened Edges (225), Windows Which Open Wide (236). Make the window open outward, so that you can use the sill as a shelf, and so that you can lean out and tend the flowers. If you can, put flowers right outside the window, on the ground or raised a little, too, so that you can always see the flowers from inside the room - Raised Flowers (245) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 1050.