Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Window Seats in Forest Gate
In Forest Gate, we design window seats around the room you actually have. We design your window seat at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- A period room that needs furniture to suit it
- A sash window with space beneath it going to waste
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
Ask about window seats in Forest Gate
Window seats for homes in Forest Gate
In many period houses, a bay window is the obvious place for a seat. Bays have angled sides, and their walls are seldom square or flat. Each side is measured and the seat is scribed to fit, so the seat follows the bay exactly. It’s a job that suits bespoke work, in Forest Gate or anywhere else. If your home has looking for a reading spot by the window and a bay window that’s hard to furnish, that’s what window seats are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Where original shutters, doors or panelling survive, they’re worth designing around. With a large share of the homes around Forest Gate built before 1919, fitted storage can be designed to sit alongside them. Door styles can be chosen to suit the age of the house. For a listed home, fixing into original joinery can need consent, so check first.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we have agreed. It sets out the window seat designed for your room, what it’s made from and how it’s finished.
- Place
- Forest Gate (E7, E15, E11)
- Area
- Newham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Is it time for window seats?
Many people want a window seat for the storage beneath it. A seat with a lift-up lid or drawers can hold toys, blankets, books or games. It adds storage in a space you’re not otherwise using.
A few of the things people ask us to solve include:
- A sash window with space beneath it going to waste
- An empty bay that doesn’t get used
- Wanting a seat without blocking the radiator
- Standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay
For a flat near Wanstead Park station, the route in is measured not just the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- How they handle walls that are not straight
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
Neighbourhoods near Forest Gate
More for homes in Forest Gate
Fitting day, step by step
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and take up the floor coverings. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together. The time the fitting takes depends on the shape of the bay or recess and what goes under the seat, and your quote sets out the fitting days. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. We keep dust down and tidy as we go. Where the finish is hand-painted, it can be done after the pieces are in.
- You get in touch and describe the window.
- At the design visit we measure each side of the bay, because walls in older houses are rarely square.
- We send a quote in writing.
- In our workshop we make each section of the seat from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the seat in your home, trimming the edges to meet the walls and cill, with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Preparing the room
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
Ask for a quote
A quote begins with a few details from you: the room, rough sizes and some pictures if you have them. To send them, tell us about the room on our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
Advice
Boards, parts and paint
Pull-out drawers
Drawers let you see everything at once. Children can usually manage drawers more easily than a heavy lid. We make the boxes from birch plywood for strength.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting suits panels, grilles and plain fronts alike. We do it in our workshop, where the finish can be kept even. The colour is your choice.
What window seats can’t fix
Some parts of a job need another trade, such as an electrician, a plumber or a Gas Safe registered engineer. Here’s what to know:
- Electrical work around the seat
- Plumbing work on the radiator under the window
- Painting the walls of the bay
If in doubt, you can drop us a line using the contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Spray-painted finish
- Radiator grilles
- Hand-painted finish
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
One advantage of a standalone bench is that it can go with you. A fitted seat is designed to stay, and it uses the space in a way a standalone piece can’t. Which suits you depends on your plans. Tall standalone furniture needs fixing back to the wall so it cannot tip, and in an older house that can mean fixing into brick or lath and plaster. Fitted furniture is designed with the wall in mind.
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
Why choose us
- Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.
Questions from Forest Gate
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Forest Gate?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. 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’s useful to tell us about parking during the design visit.
Is Forest Gate in the area you cover for window seats?
Yes. We cover all of Newham and the rest of London, and Forest Gate is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
No. Sockets, switches and lighting are for your electrician, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We’ll design around them.
Can you build a seat beneath sash windows?
Yes. The seat is set below the cill so the window can still open and close. If there are working shutters, we leave room for them to fold back. These details are measured when we visit.
Which is better under a window seat, a lid or drawers?
Many seats use both. Drawers are easier for daily use, and a lid section holds larger things. For children’s rooms, drawers are typically easier to manage. We talk it through when we visit.
Can I send photos before the visit?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough sizes. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.
Making use of awkward spaces in Forest Gate
Homes built before 1919 make up about 68% of the housing in the area around Forest Gate, with about 11% built between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. 5 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Forest Gate. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. The share of homes built before 1919 around Forest Gate, about 68%, is well above the figure for Newham as a whole, about 37%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That makes period details like uneven walls, alcoves and picture rails more likely to shape the design.
For a family home near Woodgrange Infant School, window seats can give school bags, shoes and sports kit a proper home. For an older house near A Radical Church, window seats can be scribed to follow a bay that is rarely square.
Forest Gate is about 2 miles south of Plaistow, within the London Borough of Newham. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Forest Gate is part of that. Forest Gate is one of 26 places on our list for Newham.
Here we cover the E7, E15 and E11 postcode area for window seats. If your home is on a street like Elm Road, Ash Road and Cary Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for window seats. Forest Gate sits close to the A114 and A116, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. We also cover the places around Forest Gate: Upton (1 mile south), Aldersbrook (1 mile north), Holloway Down (1 mile west), Plashet (1 mile south-east) and Little Ilford (1 mile east). Other parts of Newham we cover include Plaistow (2 miles south), Canning Town (2 miles south), East Ham (2 miles south-east), Greengate (2 miles south), East Village (2 miles west) and Wallend (2 miles south-east). Being one of the larger places in Newham, Forest Gate is covered for window seats and everything else we make.
Landmarks near Forest Gate
The streets we cover here include those near Forest Gate Community School, The Hudson Bay pub and Tyndale Academy, among other places. Forest Gate has its own railway station: Wanstead Park station. Nearby you’ll also find Passmore Edwards Museum (0.9 miles south-west) and Stratford Centre (1.3 miles south-west).