Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Window Seats in Temple Fortune
We make window seats in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Temple Fortune. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- A nursery or bedroom short of storage
- A radiator under the window getting in the way
- Standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay
Window seats designed for your room
Window seats in Temple Fortune: what you get
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. The seat and the units around it are designed as one, so the lines and the finish match. It’s worth talking through at the measuring visit in Temple Fortune. We make window seats from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a bay with no furniture that fits and a radiator under the window getting in the way.
Original features like shutters, cupboard doors and panelling are worth keeping where they survive. With a large share of the homes around Temple Fortune built before 1919, new storage can be made to sit beside them rather than replace them. Door styles can be chosen to suit the age of the house. For a listed home, fixing into original joinery can need consent, so check first.
The furniture is made in our workshop after you’ve had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Where
- Temple Fortune (NW11, NW4, N3)
- Area
- Barnet
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
What it’s made from
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting on site lets the seat be finished alongside the woodwork around it. It’s easy to touch up later. Like any new paint, it needs time to cure fully.
Birch plywood
Seats take weight every day, so they need to be strong. Birch plywood suits them, as it’s strong and holds screws firmly. It is also good for drawer boxes.
Could you do it yourself?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t normally do that in an older room.
If you are handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Also near Temple Fortune
What else we make in Temple Fortune
Questions from Temple Fortune
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character may need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Is Temple Fortune in the area you cover for window seats?
Yes, we work across Barnet, Temple Fortune included, and across the rest of London. You can get in touch through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
How is the furniture 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.
How is a window seat priced?
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. The size of the window, the storage and the finish all shape the price. To get a quote, fill in our short enquiry form and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need someone to let us in. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Can you build a seat beneath sash windows?
Yes. The seat is set below the cill so the window can still open and close. If there are working shutters, we leave room for them to fold back. We check all of this at the design visit.
Window seats for homes in Temple Fortune
Homes built before 1919 make up about 52% of the housing in the area around Temple Fortune, with about 30% built between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (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. 3 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Temple Fortune. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. About 43% of households in the neighbourhood around Temple Fortune live in detached or semi-detached houses, the 2021 Census shows. In a semi or detached house, a driveway, where there is one, can make unloading easier.
Heath Hall, about 1.3 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, a radiator under the window just needs a grille in the seat front. Near listed buildings like Church of St Jude, under half a mile east of the centre of Temple Fortune, older homes may keep original joinery that window seats can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. Close to Princes Park? Living near green space often means muddy boots, bikes and outdoor kit, and window seats can give those things a place.
Temple Fortune is within the London Borough of Barnet, about 1 mile north-east of Finchley. Wherever you are in Temple Fortune, the process is the same: a design visit, a quote in writing, furniture made in our workshop and fitting in your home. Our work takes in places right across Barnet, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Here we cover the NW11, NW4 and N3 postcode area for window seats. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Hoop Lane, Bridge Lane and Limes Avenue, along with the roads around them, for window seats and any of our other fitted furniture. Temple Fortune sits close to the A598, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Neighbouring places we cover for window seats include Golders Green (1 mile south), Hampstead Garden Suburb (1 mile east), East Finchley (1 mile north-east), North End (1 mile south-east) and Childs Hill (1 mile south). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Barnet (4 miles north), Burnt Oak (3 miles north-west), Whetstone (3 miles north), Edgware (4 miles north-west), Friern Barnet (3 miles north-east) and Southgate (4 miles north-east).
Local landmarks in Temple Fortune
In Temple Fortune, that includes homes near The Henrietta Barnett School and The King Alfred School and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Brent Cross West station, roughly 1.5 miles south-west of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Jewish Museum - Finchley (1 mile north-east) and Brent Cross Shopping Centre (1.1 miles west). Open spaces near Temple Fortune include Turner's Wood.
What happens on fitting day
With the carcasses fixed and level, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the window and the design, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturday fitting can be arranged.
- You get in touch with a few details about the window.
- At the design visit, we look at the window, the radiator and what you need.
- A quote in writing follows, with the fitting days agreed. Read it through and ask if anything is unclear.
- Your window seat is made in our workshop, shaped to the window.
- We fit it in your home and leave it ready to use, with the lids or drawers checked with you.
Before fitting day
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Starting with a design visit
We quote once we have seen the room. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. To arrange a visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Advice
What we do not do
It is worth being clear about where our work stops:
- Moving or replacing a radiator, which is for your plumber
- Repairs to sash windows, cills or shutters
- New sockets or lights near the window, which are for your electrician
Not sure whether your space suits window seats? You can fill in our short enquiry form and we’ll tell you. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Radiator grilles
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Ready-made seats rarely allow for a radiator. Placed in front of a radiator, they block the warmth. A bespoke seat has a grille or open front designed in, so the heat can reach the room. Recesses in older houses come in every size except the standard ones, so off-the-shelf pieces either don’t fit or leave a gap either side. Furniture made for the space fills it.
The finish affects the cost: spray painting happens in the workshop, and hand painting can be done in your home. The written quote reflects your choice, along with the size and fittings.
What you get with us
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- A design visit, then a written quote
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
See how bespoke compares with ready-made and how to compare quotes.