I have a room off my kitchen with
windows below chair seat height. The windows
are beautiful but the room is not functional.
I toyed with the idea of taking these tall windows
out so I could expand my countertops.
They are not bay but it is the same issue of trying
to find a way to make them work. Not block them
and decorate with them.

Here are some pics of bay windows. It is a quandry
you are in. Best of luck

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This is my kitchen. Before the Renovation.
It is an eat in area. Not a bay window but the
idea of windows on all side. You can see how low they
are to the ground. The expense of taking these windows
out to put in counter height windows was not worth
it. And my family does like being able to sit and
play cards in a room with windows around.
A nice breeze in the summer from all sides.
{{!gwi}}

boxerpups-- WOW. Thank you. Yes, that is exactly the problem. We thought about cabinets also, but not only would it have been expensive, we would not have been able to match the exterior of the house. To make matters worse, our kitchen is on an angle, so while we have plenty of room on one side, we are closer to the island on the other. In addition, it is a second story window -- in the back of the house, where the kitchen is located, the basement is at ground level -- so we cannot extend the windows out. Not sure what to do. Thinking about making the built-in round.

I'm taking my bay window...much like the one in boxerpups 5th picture and rasing the bottom of the windows a few inches so that I can get a banquette seat with a little bit of a backrest.

Here is our bay window in the kitchen (Anderson 30 degree bow)

and

Here's one I did a few years ago:

I really like what PrestonBeary did.

Ludy, Thinking about your idea of Round.
It would be truly amazing.

I had pretty much the same problem as you: Tall bay windows at the rear of the kitchen, on the 2nd floor of the house. My original plan was to do a built-in banquette but I ditched that idea at the last minute. As you will see in the photo below, my NYC galley kitchen is small (which drives me even more vigorously to use every inch of it)! I feared that if I ended up not liking the banquette when all was said and done, the functional and financial costs of a built-in would be too great. That's when I opted for more flexibility and less expense and decided to create an art deco style "Paris Bistro" in the space instead. Now, my little bay window area does double duty as my in-kitchen dining space as well as my TV/internet lounge spot. Here's a photo:

Thank you to all! The pictures have been very helpful. Some beautiful suggestions.