Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Islington · London
Window seats in Upper Holloway, Islington
We make window seats in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Upper Holloway. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- Nowhere to keep blankets, toys or books
- A radiator under the window getting in the way
Need window seats in Upper Holloway?
Window seats in Upper Holloway: local notes
Homes built before 1919 make up about 59% of the housing in the streets around Upper Holloway, with about 16% built between 1973 and 1999, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Part of Upper Holloway is in a conservation area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. The ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) now covers the whole of London, Islington included. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Upper Holloway, as it does anywhere else in London. We go through parking and access at the measuring visit.
Near listed buildings like Cromwell House, about 0.6 miles north-west of the centre of Upper Holloway, 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. If you live in a period home close to St Andrew's Whitehall Park, a seat under a sash window can keep shutters and cills clear.
Upper Holloway is part of the London Borough of Islington, about 2 miles south-east of Highbury. We design and make window seats for homes in Upper Holloway and the rest of Islington, as part of our work in every London borough. We cover places right across Islington.
Every address in N19, N7 and N6 is within our area for window seats. Our area takes in homes on streets like Ward Road, Kiver Road and Foxham Road, along with the roads around them, for window seats and any of our other fitted furniture. The A103 runs close to Upper Holloway; on busy main roads, unloading window seats takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Upper Holloway: Tufnell Park (1 mile south), Dartmouth Park (1 mile south-west), Highgate (1 mile north-west), Nag's Head (1 mile south-east) and Holloway (1 mile south-east). Across the rest of Islington, our area takes in Highbury (2 miles south-east), Farringdon (3 miles south), Clerkenwell (3 miles south-east), Finsbury (3 miles south-east), St Luke's (3 miles south-east) and Islington (2 miles south-east).
Near you in Upper Holloway
Around Upper Holloway, we cover homes near City of London Academy, Vaughan Williams Memorial Library and The Mother Red Cap pub and the streets around them. Upper Holloway has its own railway station: Upper Holloway station. Other landmarks nearby include Royal Northern Hospital (0.5 miles south-east) and Arsenal Football Club Museum (1.2 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Parkland Walk and Dartmouth Park Hill.
About our window seats in Upper Holloway
Each window seat is made at our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Birch plywood gives the seat its strength, as it is strong and holds screws firmly, and MDF gives the fronts and panels a smooth surface for paint. It’s then spray-painted or hand-painted and fitted in your home in Upper Holloway. Typical reasons to get in touch are wanting a seat without blocking the radiator and a room with shutters and sashes that deserves a proper seat, and the answer is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Older homes like many around Upper Holloway have floors and ceilings that slope, and a large share of the homes around Upper Holloway date from then. Each piece is scribed and levelled on site so it looks straight in a room that is not. Original skirting and mouldings are met neatly, and the paint colour is agreed with you.
Everything we agree at the design visit goes into the written quote: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If something is not quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Place
- Upper Holloway (N19, N7, N6)
- Area
- Islington
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What it costs
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- The width and height of the space
- The number of doors and drawers
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. A larger piece means more material and more time, so size comes first. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
What to send when you get in touch
To help us picture the room, please include:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Examples of the look you’re after
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. We measure everything properly at the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, use our contact form. The written quote follows the visit.
Also near Upper Holloway
Other services in Upper Holloway
The problems window seats solve
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.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- Wanting a seat without blocking the radiator
- No comfortable place to sit in the light
- Standard furniture leaving gaps in a bay
For a family home near St John's Upper Holloway CofE Primary School, a place for each person’s coat and shoes stops the hallway filling up.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Real projects you can actually look at
Questions from Upper Holloway
My home in Upper Holloway is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
I live in a flat in Upper Holloway. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
We measure the route in as well as the room: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It’s useful to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
What is a window seat made from?
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. Your quote confirms the materials and finish.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and go through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and a quote in writing follows.
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.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps. If there’s damp, it should be sorted before anything is fitted.
What happens on fitting day
Getting everything level comes first. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference, and that keeps the doors and shelves true. After that, it’s fixed to the wall using fixings that suit the wall, whether that is solid brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Original hallway tiles and old floorboards are worth protecting, so they’re covered before anything comes in. Fixings into older walls are made carefully, as lath and plaster can crack if treated roughly. Any decorating around the new pieces is for your decorator.
- You get in touch about a window seat.
- We visit to measure and talk through the design, the storage and the finish.
- 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.
- Give new paintwork gentle use while it cures; a hand-painted finish is easy to touch up later.
Before we arrive
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
How to get a quote
To make a start, fill in our short enquiry 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 send you a quote in writing afterwards.
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Where other trades come in
It helps to know what’s outside our work before you plan:
- Fabric covers and cushions
- Any wiring, which needs an electrician
- Work on the window frame or glass
Not sure whether your space suits window seats? You can tell us about the room on our contact form and we’ll tell you before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
What goes into it
- Lift-up lids or drawers
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Radiator grilles
Could you do it yourself?
It is worth being honest about cost: flat-pack is usually cheaper to buy. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.