Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Croydon · London
Purley Window Seats
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make window seats for homes in Purley, each designed at a visit to your home.
- No space for toys and games
- A bay window that’s hard to furnish
- A period room that needs furniture to suit it
Window seats for your home in Purley
About our window seats in Purley
A window seat can be part of a larger piece of furniture. Bookshelves either side of a window, with a seat between, make a quiet place to read. We design the seat and the surrounding units together, so the lines and the finish match. It is worth talking through during the design visit in Purley. We make window seats from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and the usual reasons to get in touch are an empty bay that doesn’t get used and standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay.
Around Purley, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. In a typical 1930s house, storage tends to hide in the bay, under the stairs and in the box room. Any meters or fuse board under the stairs stay accessible, and the storage is planned around them.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Location
- Purley (CR8, CR2, CR5)
- Area
- Croydon
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Fitted storage in Purley
About 31% of the homes in the streets around Purley went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 28% since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Around a third of the homes in the area around Purley (about 31%) date from between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Many houses of that era have bay windows, natural places for a window seat. Each London borough runs its own parking controls, and Croydon is no exception. If your street in Purley is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension through the council may be needed. Let us know what the parking is like at the design visit.
If you live near Dollypers Hill, living near green space often means muddy boots, bikes and outdoor kit, and window seats can give those things a place. Living in a block of flats near Purley station? Then window seats are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. If your home is one of the older houses near St Swithun's, a radiator under the window just needs a grille in the seat front.
Purley is in the London Borough of Croydon, about 4 miles north of Thornton Heath. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Purley is part of that. Our work takes in places right across Croydon, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Postcode districts we cover here for window seats: CR8, CR2 and CR5. Whether you live on a street such as High Street, Church Road and Brighton Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for window seats. Main roads around Purley include the A2022. We also cover Peaks Hill (1 mile north-west), Woodcote (1 mile west), Russell Hill (1 mile north), Roundshaw (1 mile north-west) and Woodcote Green (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Croydon, we also cover Thornton Heath (4 miles north), Croydon (2 miles north-east), Broad Green (4 miles north), Upper Norwood (6 miles north), Selhurst (5 miles north-east) and South Norwood (5 miles north-east). As one of the bigger places in Croydon, Purley is covered for window seats and everything else we make.
Landmarks near Purley
Our area takes in the homes around The Jolly Farmers pub, Laleham Lea School and Thomas More Catholic School. There’s a railway station in Purley itself: Purley station. Nearby you’ll also find Purley War Memorial Hospital (less than half a mile north-east) and Croydon Airport Visitor Centre (1.4 miles north). For a walk, there is Foxley Wood.
What window seats cannot fix
We design, make and fit the furniture. In practice, that means:
- Fabric covers and cushions
- Repairs to sash windows, cills or shutters
- New sockets or lights near the window, which are for your electrician
If in doubt, you can tell us about the room on our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Radiator grilles
- Hand-painted finish
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
For a straight window with no radiator, a ready-made bench can do the job. A bespoke seat earns its place where there is a bay, a radiator or a need for storage. We’re happy to give an honest view at the measuring visit. Walls in interwar houses are straighter than in older ones, but rarely perfect, and standalone units can lean or gap. Fitted furniture is scribed and levelled on site.
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, and that is part of the price. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Purley
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Built around your room
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- More than 300 projects completed
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
Materials and finishes
Lift-up lids
With a lift-up lid, the whole space beneath the seat opens up. It suits blankets, toys and things you don’t need every day. We make the lid to open and close cleanly.
Pull-out drawers
Pull-out drawers bring everything into view. Children can normally manage drawers more easily than a heavy lid. We make the boxes from birch plywood for strength.
What else we make in Purley
What affects the cost of window seats
A few things affect what fitted furniture costs:
- The number of doors and drawers
- How big the furniture is
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
Helping us understand the room
The more you can tell us at the start, the better the design visit goes. When you contact us, it helps to send:
- Your postcode and the borough
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Rough measurements: width, height and depth
- Examples of the look you’re after
Photos help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line tell us a lot about the space, particularly with rough measurements. To send them over, message us from the contact page, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Common questions about window seats
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Purley?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. It helps to let us know about parking at the design visit.
Is Purley in the area you cover for window seats?
Yes, Purley is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Croydon and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
What does a bespoke window seat cost?
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. The shape of the window, the mix of drawers and lids, and any grille all play a part. Everything is set out in a quote in writing after the visit.
Do photos help?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough measurements. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.
Can you fit a window seat under a sash window?
Yes. Seats suit sash windows in many older homes. The cill height and any shutters are measured carefully, so the seat fits without getting in the way of the window. Repairs to the window itself are not our work.
What happens when you come to measure?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and discuss the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and afterwards we send a quote in writing.
Fitting day, step by step
There isn’t much for you to do on fitting day. We need someone to let us in at the start, and it is useful to have the room cleared beforehand, as we will have talked about during the design visit. After that, it is over to us: the floors are covered, the sections come in and the fitting begins. How long 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. Semis and detached houses often have a front path or a side gate, which can make carrying in easier. Gates, paths and steps up to the door are part of the route we measure. Floors, stairs and doorways are protected on the way in, and the sections are assembled in place.
- You get in touch about a window seat.
- We visit to measure and go through the design, the storage and the finish.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in.
- The seat is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood; a spray-painted finish is done there for a smooth, even surface.
- The seat is fitted and scribed, and any hand painting is done on site.
- Give new paintwork gentle use while it cures; a hand-painted finish is easy to touch up later.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
Arranging a design visit
To make a start, message us from the contact page and tell us a little about the room and what you want the furniture to do. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a written quote follows.