Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
City of London · London
Temple Bar Window Seats
Window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside, for homes in Temple Bar. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home.
- A sash window with space beneath it going to waste
- Wanting a quiet place to read
- A ready-made bench that doesn’t fit the bay
Window seats for your home in Temple Bar
How we make window seats for Temple Bar
A window seat can hide a surprising amount of storage. A lift-up lid is simple and gives access to the full depth, while drawers mean you don’t have to move a cushion to reach things. At the design visit in Temple Bar, we’ll help you choose. If your home has a recess under the window doing nothing and a child’s room that needs storage and seating, window seats made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
Hallways in period terraces are often long and narrow, with the stairs rising along one wall. A large share of the homes around Temple Bar were built before 1919, so depth matters as much as width wherever storage goes. Shallow units keep the way through clear.
Everything we agree during the design visit goes into the written quote: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If something isn’t quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Location
- Temple Bar (WC2B, WC2E, EC1N)
- Borough
- City of London
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Temple Bar
My home in Temple Bar is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
Do you make window seats for homes in Temple Bar?
Yes. We cover all of the City of London and the rest of London, and Temple Bar is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, and then we send a quote.
What happens at the measuring visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and afterwards we send a written quote.
What materials do you use for window seats?
The seat is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. The frame and seat top are birch plywood, which is strong and holds screws well, and MDF takes paint well for the fronts and grilles. The finish is spray-painted or hand-painted.
Can you build a seat beneath sash windows?
Yes. Sash windows are a natural place for a seat in many period homes. We measure the cill, the window and any shutters, so the seat sits neatly and the window still works. We don’t repair sashes or cills.
How long will the window seat fitting take?
How long the fitting takes depends on whether the seat has drawers, a lift-up lid or a radiator grille, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. The seat is made in our workshop first, so the time in your home is spent fitting. We work tidily and keep the room as clear as possible.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there is normally a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
The real difference is in the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
Fitted storage in Temple Bar
About 48% of the homes in the area around Temple Bar went up before 1919, and about 22% since 2000, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. The centre of Temple Bar is within about a quarter of a mile of the Strand Conservation Area. 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. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. If your street in Temple Bar joins a main road, it is worth telling us during the design visit. Then we can work out where to load and unload.
Living in a block of flats near City Thameslink station? Then the route in is measured along with the room itself, and the sections are sized to fit it. If you live in a period home close to Temple Church, window seats can be scribed to follow a bay that is rarely square. The wider area includes historic houses such as Dr Johnson's House, about 0.2 miles north-east. If your own home is a period one, the deep reveals of an older window can frame a seat neatly.
Temple Bar is in the City of London, about 1 mile east of City of London. Temple Bar is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Across the City of London, we cover Temple Bar.
Every address in WC2B, WC2E and EC1N is within our area for window seats, from the main roads to the quieter streets. We cover homes on streets like Shoe Lane, Drury Lane and New Square, along with the roads around them, for window seats and any of our other fitted furniture. Temple Bar is near the A4 and A40; on busy main roads, unloading window seats takes a little planning. If you’re just outside Temple Bar, we also cover Temple (1 mile south), Clare Market (1 mile west), Aldwych (1 mile west), Blackfriars (1 mile east) and Covent Garden (1 mile west).
Local landmarks in Temple Bar
Around Temple Bar, we cover homes near British Library of Political and Economic Science, London Nautical School and Mercers' School and the streets around them. Temple Bar has its own railway station: City Thameslink station. Well-known places in the area include St Philip's Hospital (less than half a mile west) and Gabriel's Wharf (a few minutes’ walk south-east). Not far away are Ludgate Hill and St. James's Park Lake.
Also near Temple Bar
Other services in Temple Bar
Fitting day, step by step
With the carcasses fixed and level, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly. 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. Hallways in period houses are often narrow, and the stairs turn sharply, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route in. Floors, stairs and doorways are covered before anything is carried through.
- You get in touch and tell us about the window and the room, including any radiator under it.
- We come to measure and plan the seat, the storage and any radiator grille with you. We also talk about lift-up lids or drawers.
- We send a written quote setting out the design, materials and finish.
- The seat is built in our workshop and painted to your chosen colour. We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The seat is fitted in your home and checked so the lids and drawers run well.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Ask for a quote
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, then send a quote in writing. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. To book a design visit, use our contact form.
Advice
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. We choose fixings to suit the wall, which we check at the design visit.
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. Some leases need the building owner’s consent for alterations, and that’s best sorted before fitting day. We can’t give advice on leases.
How we price window seats
The price for your room depends on:
- Parking near your home
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The width and height of the space
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Before the design visit
Ahead of the design visit, we will usually ask about:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, when we’ve measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, use our contact form.
What window seats cannot fix
Not everything around window seats is carpentry, from an electrician to a plumber or an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Here’s what to know:
- Fixing the window itself
- Plastering and decorating around the seat
- Making the seat cushion, which isn’t our work
If in doubt, you can send us a few details through our contact form and describe the room. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Radiator grilles
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood