Improvement of wireless and sensing technology enabled the design of a new network technology called Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). However, its applications are greatly limited due to the resource constraint nature of wireless sensor nodes and the lack of flexibility in protocol design. Until recently, almost all the WSN protocols were developed for different layers independently based on traditional OSI layered architecture. Nowadays, researchers are envisioning optimized resource utilization by breaking the barrier of layer abstraction. In this chapter, the authors present basic concepts of layered architecture design and its pros and cons for WSN applications followed by a survey on different applications of Cross-Layer Design (CLD) in WSNs. All the different techniques used for CLD are also discussed in detail. They then highlight some guidelines provided for stable and efficient cross-layer design. Finally, the authors indicate some open issues to show the future direction of research in cross-layer protocol design for WSNs. They conclude the chapter with a great hope that the CLD will have widespread use in next generation WSNs communication.