Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Islington · London
Window seats in St Luke's, Islington
Window seats in St Luke's: window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Needing more storage in the room
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- Unused space below a sash window
Window seats in St Luke's
How we make window seats for St Luke's
A seat under a bedroom or nursery window can store toys, bedding or books. Drawers or a lift-up lid turn it into storage as well as seating. Drawers can be easier than a lid for children to use. Whatever the room, the process for a home in St Luke's is the same. People typically come to us about standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay and wanting new furniture to sit well in an older room; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
A large share of the homes around St Luke's date from 2000 onwards, and newer houses that have had the loft converted often have sloping ceilings and eaves to use. For lofts, the storage goes into spaces that are already converted or boarded. Elsewhere, fitted storage is fixed to plasterboard walls with fixings that suit it.
After the design visit, we send you a quote in writing. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- St Luke's (N1, EC1V, EC2A)
- Borough
- Islington
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from St Luke's
Will a conservation area stop me having window seats fitted in St Luke's?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can you make window seats for a home in St Luke's?
Yes, we work across Islington, St Luke's included, and across the rest of London. To get started, you can use our contact form with some details.
What does a bespoke window seat cost?
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. A bay with angled sides involves more work than a straight recess, and drawers more than a lid. We set it all out in a written quote.
What finishes do you offer?
There are two ways to finish it: spray painted or hand painted. Spray painting gives a smooth, even finish, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the space and discuss the design, materials and finish. We look at the walls, floors and anything the furniture has to work around, and the written quote comes afterwards.
Which materials go into your window seats?
Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish. Next to a window, the moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice. The materials and finish are agreed in your quote.
Making use of tricky spaces in St Luke's
The biggest shares of homes in the area around St Luke's were built since 2000 (about 37%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 28%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. St Luke's is partly covered by a conservation area, going by Historic England’s data. The controls in a conservation area are mostly about the outside of buildings, so furniture fitted inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. About 37% of homes around St Luke's were built since 2000, well above the figure for Islington as a whole, about 19%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Newer homes often have stud walls and compact rooms, so fixings and sizes are planned with that in mind.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Wesley's Chapel, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. If your home is one of the older houses near Jewin Welsh Presbyterian Chapel, the deep reveals of an older window can frame a seat neatly.
St Luke's is within the London Borough of Islington, about 2 miles north of Highbury. Whether your home in St Luke's is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our Islington coverage includes St Luke's, along with the rest of the borough.
In N1, EC1V and EC2A, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Long Lane, City Road and Moor Lane, along with the roads around them, for window seats and any of our other fitted furniture. The A1 and A501 runs close to St Luke's, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you contact us. We also cover the places around St Luke's: Finsbury (1 mile south), Barbican Estate (1 mile south), Shoreditch (1 mile east), Hoxton (1 mile north-east) and City of London (1 mile south). We also make window seats in nearby places such as Highbury (2 miles north), Barnsbury (2 miles north-west), Holloway (2 miles north-west), Mildmay (2 miles north), Upper Holloway (3 miles north-west) and Nag's Head (2 miles north-west). Being one of the larger places in Islington, St Luke's is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Landmarks near St Luke's
In St Luke's, that includes homes near St Mary-at-Hill, The Masque Haunt pub and Charterhouse Square School. There’s a railway station in St Luke's itself: Old Street station. Nearby you will also find Gabriel's Wharf (1.3 miles south-west) and St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics (within half a mile east). Open spaces near St Luke's include Barnsbury Wood and Ludgate Hill.
Neighbourhoods near St Luke's
More for homes in St Luke's
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
A standalone bench can be moved, which is useful if you rent or plan to move soon. 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. In an open-plan room, standalone pieces can look scattered, while fitted furniture can give the space structure.
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, then set it out in the quote.
Why choose us
- Every quote follows a design visit
- More than 300 projects completed
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Designed for the room you have
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made or what a quote should include.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Let us know about them at the design visit.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, which often brings a shared hall and tight turns on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, after measuring the route during the design visit.
Is it time for window seats?
Most people simply want to use the window. A bay can be an awkward space for furniture, and a seat makes it part of the room. It becomes a place to sit, read or look out.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- A radiator that makes the space hard to use
- A period room that needs furniture to suit it
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- A bay with no furniture that fits
Living in a block of flats near Old Street station? Then the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
Fitting day, step by step
Finishing comes last. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; hand painting, if that is what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. In a newer home, floors, walls and door frames are often freshly finished, so everything on the way in is covered before the sections arrive. Door frames and corners get covers too. Once inside, the pieces are joined in place.
- You get in touch with some details about the window.
- We visit to measure and talk about how you’ll use the seat. Shutters and cills are noted too.
- A quote in writing follows, with the fitting days agreed.
- We make the seat, the lids or drawers and any grille in our workshop.
- The seat is fitted and set level, ready for a cushion.
Getting ready for fitting day
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician ahead of time
Arranging a design visit
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, when we’ve measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Read more
What it costs
What you pay depends on:
- The width and height of the space
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. A larger piece means more material and more time. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
What we need to know
A few details help us understand the job before we visit. It is useful to include:
- Whether it is a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit. To arrange it, use our contact form. The written quote follows the visit.