Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Kingston upon Thames · London
Window seats in Coombe, Kingston upon Thames
In Coombe, we design window seats around the room you actually have. Your window seat is designed at a visit to your home and made in our workshop.
- Wanting a seat without blocking the radiator
- Nowhere to keep blankets, toys or books
- Off-the-shelf pieces that never quite fit the window
Window seats for your home in Coombe
About our window seats in Coombe
Each window seat is made in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Birch plywood is strong and holds screws well, which suits a seat that takes weight every day, while MDF takes paint well for the fronts and panels. It is then spray-painted or hand-painted and fitted in your home in Coombe. We make window seats from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and people most often get in touch about wanting a seat without blocking the radiator and an empty bay that doesn’t get used.
Walls in houses from between the wars are usually straighter than in older ones, but seldom perfect. Much of the housing around Coombe is interwar, semi-detached or detached, so we still scribe every piece to the wall. Lids, doors and drawers are set level on site so they run true.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it is easier before the furniture is made.
- Location
- Coombe (KT2, KT3, SW20)
- Borough
- Kingston upon Thames
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What happens on fitting day
Fitting day follows a set order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. At the end, we tidy up and go over the work with you. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the window and the design, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a 1930s house with a converted loft, the stairs to the loft room are often steeper than the main flight, so any section going up there is sized for them. Elsewhere in the house, the route is typically more generous. The pieces are joined and fixed once in place.
- You get in touch and tell us about the window and the room.
- We come to measure and plan the seat, the storage and any radiator grille with you. We also talk about lift-up lids or drawers.
- We send a quote in writing setting out the design, materials and finish, for you to look over.
- We make the seat, the lids or drawers and any grille in our workshop.
- The seat is fitted in your home and checked so the lids and drawers run well.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
How to get a quote
You do not need exact measurements to get started. We measure everything properly at the design visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To arrange it, send us a few details through our contact form and let us know about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Related advice
Why bespoke in Coombe?
Off-the-shelf benches are not designed to sit over a radiator. Put in front of one, they can trap the heat. We design a grille into the seat so the radiator keeps working. Doors, windows and radiators rarely leave a gap that matches a standard width, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Built-in pieces are planned around those fixed points.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, which the quote allows for. Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured.
Why work with us in Coombe
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Built around your room
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Making use of awkward spaces in Coombe
About 45% of the homes in the streets around Coombe went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 24% between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. There are 19 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Coombe. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. Detached and semi-detached houses are home to about 81% of households in the neighbourhood around Coombe, based on Census 2021. In a semi or detached house, a driveway, where there is one, can make unloading easier.
If your children go to Coombe Hill Junior School or a school nearby, window seats can give school bags, shoes and sports kit a proper home. Southside House, about 1.4 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, a bay or a sash window is a natural place for a window seat.
Coombe is about 2 miles west of Kingston upon Thames, part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Coombe included. We list Coombe among 16 places we cover in Kingston upon Thames.
Every home in KT2, KT3 and SW20 is within our area for window seats. If your home is on a street like West Road, Crown Road and Traps Lane, or close by, we can visit to measure up for window seats. If you are just outside Coombe, we also cover Motspur Park (1 mile south-east), Coombe Hill (1 mile north), Kingston Vale (1 mile north-east), Norbiton (1 mile south-west) and New Malden (1 mile south). Other parts of Kingston upon Thames we cover include Kingston upon Thames (2 miles west), Surbiton (2 miles south-west), Hampton Wick (2 miles west), Chessington (4 miles south), Seething Wells (3 miles south-west) and Hook (4 miles south-west).
Landmarks near Coombe
We fit furniture in homes around Coombe Girls' School, The Royal Oak Public House and Canbury School and the streets around them. Coombe’s nearest station is Norbiton station, about 1 mile south-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include White Lodge Museum (1.8 miles north) and Bentall Centre (1.8 miles west). Not far away are Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads and Kingston Hill Road area.
Your questions about window seats in Coombe
Is parking a problem for fitting in Coombe?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It is useful to let us know about parking at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Can you make window seats for a home in Coombe?
Yes. Coombe is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Kingston upon Thames and London. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It can be done with some care: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Do pictures help?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.
Is it possible to have a window seat above a radiator?
Yes. The seat has a grille or open front, so the warmth can reach the room. Space is left around the radiator too. Moving the radiator is for your plumber, if you’d prefer it elsewhere.
How long will the window seat fitting take?
The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the window and the design, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Every part is made at our workshop before we arrive. If you’d like the fitting on a Saturday, that can be arranged.
Is it time for window seats?
In a period home, a window seat can suit the character of the room. Painted to suit the room, it can sit with the original features. That appeals to people restoring or updating an older home.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Needing more storage in the room
- Wanting new furniture to sit well in an older room
- No comfortable place to sit in the light
- Unused space below a sash window
If your home is one of the older houses near Christ Church New Malden, the deep reveals of an older window can frame a seat neatly.
Before you choose who makes it
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder.
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is normally a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
Nearby places to Coombe
Other services in Coombe
What it’s made from
Pull-out drawers
Drawers can run the full width or be combined with a lid. Around a radiator, the drawers are placed to leave room for the heat. We agree the layout at the measuring visit.
Lift-up lids
Lids can be made in one piece or in sections. Sections are lighter to lift and easier to handle. The design visit is where we agree the layout.