Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Croydon · London
Window seats in Forestdale, Croydon
Window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside, for homes in Forestdale. After a design visit and a written quote, it is made at our workshop and fitted in your home.
- A period room that needs furniture to suit it
- An empty bay that does not get used
- A recess under the window doing nothing
Window seats in Forestdale
Questions from Forestdale
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Forestdale?
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. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
I live near Sanderstead station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Croydon and the rest of London. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Do you move sockets or add lighting?
No. We’re carpenters, so electrical work is for your electrician. We can allow for cable routes in the design, and new sockets should be in place before fitting day.
Can you fit furniture to uneven walls?
Walls and floors that are not true are part of the job in older homes. We trim the edges to follow the wall and level the base.
Is the furniture spray painted or hand painted?
There are two choices: spray painting, done in the workshop for a smooth, even finish, or hand painting, which can be done on site. The finish is agreed in your quote.
Is a lid or drawers better for a window seat?
It depends on what you’ll store and how often you will reach for it. A lift-up lid opens the full depth, which suits bulky things you don’t need every day, while drawers mean you do not have to move the cushion.
Window seats for homes in Forestdale
Lots of period homes across London have sash windows. A seat beneath one needs to sit below the cill so the window still opens and closes easily. Where there are working shutters, the seat must leave room for them to fold back. These details are measured when we visit your home in Forestdale. Most enquiries start with a room with shutters and sashes that deserves a proper seat and off-the-shelf pieces that never quite fit the window, and the answer is made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
Post-war housing makes up a good share of the homes around Forestdale, and in London that can mean houses or flats in blocks. Post-war houses typically have space under the stairs that can do more, while in a flat, the hallway and any recess are the places to look. Meters, fuse boards and boilers keep the access they need.
Our quotes are written in plain words. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish.
- Location
- Forestdale (CR0, CR2)
- Area
- Croydon
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Honest limits
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, and there are a few other limits too:
- Making the seat cushion, which isn’t our work
- New sockets or lights near the window, which are for your electrician
- Plumbing work on the radiator under the window
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can fill in our short enquiry form and we will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. How it works.
What goes into it
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Hand-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Radiator grilles
Flats, leases and landlords
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Let us know about them at the design visit, and we will plan the fitting around them.
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Mention it when you get in touch.
Is it time for window seats?
Storage is another big reason. 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.
Here’s what window seats can help with:
- No space for toys and games
- A ready-made bench that does not fit the bay
- A period room that needs furniture to suit it
- A bay window that is hard to furnish
If your children go to Courtwood Primary School or a school nearby, deep drawers suit the bulky things families collect, from scooters to swimming kit.
Choosing a carpenter
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
Fitted storage in Forestdale
In the area around Forestdale, the largest groups of homes date from between 1945 and 1972 (about 53%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 37%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how window seats are fixed and fitted. About 53% of homes in the streets around Forestdale were built between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Post-war homes often have wide windows with radiators below, so a window seat needs a grille or open front to keep the heat moving. Controlled parking zones are common across London, and Croydon sets its own rules. If your street in Forestdale is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed. Parking near your home is worth mentioning at the measuring visit.
The wider area includes historic houses like Addington Palace, about 0.9 miles north. For a period home anywhere nearby, a bay or a sash window is a natural place for a window seat. Living in a block of flats near Sanderstead station? Then the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in.
Forestdale is within the London Borough of Croydon, about 5 miles north-west of Thornton Heath. Wherever you are in Forestdale, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. We list Forestdale among 32 places we cover in Croydon.
Here we cover the CR0 and CR2 postcode area for window seats. If your home is on a street like Courtwood Lane, Goldfinch Road and Bardolph Avenue, or close by, we can visit to measure up for window seats. If you are just outside Forestdale, we also cover New Addington (1 mile east), Addington (1 mile north) and Coombe (2 miles north-west). Across the rest of Croydon, our area takes in Thornton Heath (5 miles north-west), Croydon (3 miles north-west), Coulsdon (5 miles south-west), Purley (4 miles west), Broad Green (4 miles north-west) and Upper Norwood (6 miles north-west).
Near you in Forestdale
The streets we cover here include those near John Ruskin College, among other places. The closest station to Forestdale is Sanderstead station, roughly 2.4 miles west of the centre. Nearby you’ll also find Warlingham Park Hospital (1.9 miles south). Not far away are Hutchinson's Bank.
Tips worth knowing
New paint needs time to cure fully, so go gently with it for a while. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Clear the bay or window area before the design visit
- Check the shutters so the seat can leave room for them
- Think about the cushion you’d like and who will make it
- Think about what you will store under the seat
Before we leave, we check every lid and drawer with you. Any grille is checked so the radiator can still warm the room. That way, everything works as planned.
Every so often, look at the hinges and any handles. Tightening early stops a small looseness getting worse. If a lid or drawer starts to catch, send us a few details through our contact form and describe what’s happening.
What happens on fitting day
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made at the measuring visit and set out in your quote, so the day itself is about careful fitting. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the window and the design, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. In a post-war block of flats, the route in may include communal stairs, landings and a lift, so window seats are made in sections sized for each. Tell us about any building rules on lifts or working hours at the measuring visit.
- You tell us about the window and the room.
- We measure the window, the cill and any radiator or shutters. Then we talk through the seat height and storage.
- The design is agreed and a written quote follows.
- The seat is made at our workshop and painted in your colour.
- We fit it in your home and check every lid and drawer with you.
Preparing the room
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
Arranging a design visit
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. A quote in writing follows the visit for you to look over. To arrange the visit, message us from the contact page.