Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Window Seats in The Hyde
Window seats in The Hyde: window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, built in our workshop and fitted by us.
- An empty bay that does not get used
- A radiator that makes the space hard to use
- Standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay
Need window seats in The Hyde?
Is it time for window seats?
A radiator under the window often makes the space hard to use. A seat with a grille in the front keeps the radiator working and the window usable. It solves the problem of what to do with the space.
We’re often asked to help with:
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- Wanting a quiet place to read
- Standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay
- Nowhere to keep blankets, toys or books
Living in a block of flats near Hendon 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
- Whether you’ll get a written quote, not just a figure
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Where they’ll park and unload
Window seats in The Hyde
Some window seats are built in with shelves or cupboards around them. Shelving on each side, with the seat in the middle, makes a natural reading spot. The seat and the units around it are designed as one, so the whole wall looks considered. It’s worth talking through at the design visit in The Hyde. Typical reasons to get in touch are toys spread across a bedroom floor and no comfortable place to sit in the light; the furniture is made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
In a family house, the hall and stairs typically carry the most clutter. With interwar houses, semis and detached homes a large part of the housing around The Hyde, well-planned storage by the door or under the stairs can take a lot of it. Meters and fuse boards stay easy to reach.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, all taken from the design visit.
- Where
- The Hyde (NW9, NW4)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Places near The Hyde
More for homes in The Hyde
Looking after your furniture
Looking after painted furniture is simple. These habits help most:
- Mention any parking rules on your street
- Consider how often you will reach for what’s stored
- Make sure any shutters still open fully
- Choose a colour that suits the room
If you are having a cushion made, we will give you the exact size of the seat. Let the paint cure before the cushion goes on, so the fabric does not stick or mark the finish.
Every so often, look at the hinges and any handles. Tightening early stops a small looseness getting worse. If a lid or drawer starts to catch, message us from the contact page and describe what’s happening.
Materials and finishes
Pull-out drawers
A seat can have drawers along its whole length, or drawers with a lid section. Where there’s a radiator, the drawers are planned around it. The design visit settles the mix.
Lift-up lids
Lift-up lids are a simple way to add storage under a seat. Any cushion has to come off before the lid can lift, so it suits things you reach for now and then.
The Hyde homes and window seats
About 48% of the homes in the area around The Hyde went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 26% since 2000, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of The Hyde include Church of the Holy Innocents (Grade II), under half a mile west, and Church of St John (Grade II), about 0.6 miles south-east. If you live in a listed building, fixing into or taking out original features such as panelling can require listed building consent. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. About 26% of homes in the neighbourhood around The Hyde were built since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Homes built since 2000 rarely have much storage, and they tend to have stud walls, so window seats are designed with fixings to suit.
If your children go to The Hyde School or a school nearby, window seats can be planned around what a family needs to keep, from coats and bags to sports kit. For an older house near St Matthias the Apostle church, a radiator under the window just needs a grille in the seat front.
The Hyde is part of the London Borough of Barnet, about 3 miles north-east of Finchley. From period terraces to newer flats in The Hyde, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. We cover places right across Barnet, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Postcode districts we cover here for window seats: NW9 and NW4. We cover homes on streets such as Alpini Road, Catkin Road and Garrick Road, for window seats and any of our other fitted furniture. The Hyde sits close to the A5. If your home is on one of them, tell us during the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. Close by, we also work in West Hendon (1 mile north), Colindale (1 mile north), The Burroughs (1 mile north-east), Hendon (1 mile east) and Staples Corner (1 mile south-east). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Finchley (3 miles north-east), Barnet (5 miles north-east), Burnt Oak (2 miles north), East Finchley (3 miles east), Whetstone (4 miles north-east) and Edgware (3 miles north).
Local landmarks in The Hyde
Our area takes in the homes around Woodfield School, Brampton College and Moon Under Water pub. The Hyde has its own railway station: Hendon station. Nearby you will also find Brent Cross Shopping Centre (1.1 miles east) and St Andrew's Hospital (1.5 miles south-east). Open spaces near The Hyde include Masons Field.
FAQs: window seats in The Hyde
I live near Hendon station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Barnet and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in The Hyde?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Can you build a seat beneath sash windows?
Yes. Sash windows are a natural place for a seat in many period 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 if my walls and floors are out of level?
Walls and floors that are not true are part of the job in older homes. The furniture is scribed to follow the walls and levelled on feet or a plinth.
What finishes do you offer?
There are two options: a spray finish from the workshop, which is smooth and even, or hand painting, which can be done in your home. The finish is agreed in your quote.
Do I need permission in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation areas mostly control changes to the outside, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
How fitting day works
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the window and the design, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. A front path or side gate can make the carry from the van simpler. 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.
- You get in touch about a window seat.
- At the design visit we agree the seat and talk about colour, with a choice of spray painting or hand painting.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in.
- The seat is made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood; a spray-painted finish is done there for a smooth, even surface.
- We fit it in your home, and a hand-painted finish is applied in the room.
- Fresh paint takes a while to cure, so go gently with the seat and lids at first.
Before we arrive
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Ask for a quote
For a quote for window seats in The Hyde, message us from the contact page. Let us know which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. Next comes a design visit, followed by a written quote.
Advice
What it costs
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Spray painting or hand painting
- The number of doors and drawers
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- The internal fittings
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. 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
To help us picture the room, please include:
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- Your postcode and the borough
- Rough measurements: width, height and depth
- What the furniture needs to hold
If you know what you want, say so; if you do not, that is fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, tell us about the room on our contact form.