Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Croydon · London
Window seats in Shirley Oaks, Croydon
Window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside, designed for your room in Shirley Oaks. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- A sash window with space beneath it going to waste
- No comfortable place to sit in the light
- Needing more storage in the room
Window seats in Shirley Oaks
Is bespoke worth it?
If you only want a simple bench under a straight window, an off-the-shelf piece may be enough. A bespoke seat earns its place where there’s a bay, a radiator or a need for storage. At the design visit, we will tell you honestly which approach suits your window. In an extended or opened-up house, old and new walls often meet slightly out of line, and straight-sided ready-made units make that obvious. Fitted pieces are scribed to both.
How it is painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. The written quote reflects your choice, along with the size and fittings.
Why work with us in Shirley Oaks
- A design visit, then a quote in writing
- Over 300 projects completed
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and what a quote should include.
Window seats in Shirley Oaks
The storage under a window seat is often as useful as the seat itself. A lift-up lid is simple and gives access to the full depth, while drawers are easier to reach if there’s a cushion on top. We’ll talk through which suits the way you use the room. We make window seats from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and the usual reasons to get in touch are an empty bay that doesn’t get used and a recess under the window doing nothing.
In an area where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, as around Shirley Oaks, many have had the loft converted, leaving low eaves and sloping ceilings. Fitted storage can make use of the eaves, the bay or the hall. For lofts, we work in spaces that are already converted or boarded.
The quote comes in writing, so you can read it at your own pace and share it with anyone else involved. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Location
- Shirley Oaks (CR0, SE25, CR9)
- Area
- Croydon
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Practical tips
These points come up often when people plan window seats. They help before and after fitting:
- Choose a colour that suits the room
- Consider how often you’ll reach for what’s stored
- Consider adding shelving around the seat
- Clear the bay or window area before the design visit
We can give you the seat measurements for a cushion maker. Wait until the paint has cured before putting the cushion on, so the fabric does not stick or mark the finish.
Keep the radiator grille clear so the heat can reach the room. Keeping it clear helps the radiator work as it should. Storage over a radiator stays warm, so it is best for things that don’t mind it.
What it costs
A few things affect what fitted furniture costs:
- The number of doors and drawers
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Helping us understand the room
To give us a picture of the room, it is useful to include:
- Your postcode and the borough
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
It is useful to see the room before we come. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them give us a good feel for the space, along with rough measurements. To share them, fill in our short enquiry form, and we will suggest a time for a design visit.
Also near Shirley Oaks
More for homes in Shirley Oaks
Fitted storage in Shirley Oaks
About 42% of the homes in the area around Shirley Oaks went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 18% before 1919, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Shirley Oaks include Church of St Mildred (Grade II), about 0.6 miles west. For a listed home, works inside that affect its character can need listed building consent from the council, for instance removing or fixing into original panelling. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. About 34% of households in the neighbourhood around Shirley Oaks live in terraced houses, based on Census 2021. Many London terraces have a bay or sash windows, good places for a seat with storage.
The wider area includes historic houses like Addington Palace, about 1.8 miles south-east. If your own home is a period one, window seats can be scribed to follow a bay that is rarely square. For a family home near Oasis Academy Shirley Park, window seats can give school bags, shoes and sports kit a proper home. For an older house near Shirley Methodist Church, window seats can be scribed to follow a bay that is rarely square.
Shirley Oaks is in the London Borough of Croydon, about 3 miles north-west of Thornton Heath. Homes in Shirley Oaks are part of the area we cover for window seats, as part of our work in every London borough. We cover places right across Croydon, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Every home in CR0, SE25 and CR9 is within our area for window seats. Whether you live on a street such as Poppy Lane, Baring Road and Craven Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for window seats. Shirley Oaks is near the A232, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Other places close to Shirley Oaks include Shirley (1 mile east), Monks Orchard (1 mile east), Addiscombe (1 mile west), Ashburton (1 mile north-west) and Woodside (1 mile north-west). We also make window seats in nearby places such as Thornton Heath (3 miles north-west), Croydon (2 miles south-west), Coulsdon (6 miles south-west), Purley (4 miles south-west), Broad Green (2 miles west) and Upper Norwood (3 miles north-west).
What’s near Shirley Oaks
We fit furniture in homes around The Cricketers pub and St. John's Church of England Primary School and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Elmers End station, about 1.2 miles north of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include National Psychosis Unit (1.1 miles east) and St George's Walk (1.9 miles west).
Common questions about window seats
Can you make window seats for a home in Shirley Oaks?
Yes, Shirley Oaks is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Croydon and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Shirley Oaks?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
Is a lid or drawers better for a window seat?
Often a mix works best. Drawers are easier for daily use, and a lid section holds larger things. In a child’s room, drawers tend to be simpler for small hands. We will suggest a layout at the design visit.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch, and we will see what we can do.
Can you build a window seat over a radiator?
Yes. A radiator under the window is common, and the seat is designed to work with it. A grille in the front lets the heat into the room. Anything stored over the radiator will stay warm, so we plan the storage with that in mind.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. We don’t treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
How fitting day works
You won’t need to do much on the day. Someone needs to let us in, and the room should already be cleared, as we will have talked about at the design visit. From there, we protect the floors, bring the furniture in and get on with the fitting. How long the fitting takes depends on whether the seat has drawers, a lift-up lid or a radiator grille, and your quote sets out the fitting days. On fitting day, the sections are carried in, assembled, scribed to the wall and levelled. Hand-painted furniture can be finished on site; spray-painted pieces arrive finished from the workshop. Saturday fitting is possible by prior arrangement.
- To begin, drop us a line using the contact form; a brief note on the bay or sash window is enough.
- We visit to measure up and work out how warm air from the radiator will reach the room.
- A written quote follows, covering the seat and the grille.
- In our workshop the seat is built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with the grille made to match.
- We fit it in your home and scribe it to the walls, with the finish sprayed beforehand or painted by hand on site.
How to prepare
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, tell us about the room on our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind and what you want the furniture to do. We then arrange a design visit to measure and go through the design, and a quote in writing follows.
Advice
What window seats cannot fix
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Any change to radiator pipes, which needs a plumber
- Fabric covers and cushions
- Painting the walls of the bay
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can tell us about the room on our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Radiator grilles