Example photo by Franco Debartolo on Unsplash, not our project
Redbridge · London
Wanstead Window Seats
Window seats in Wanstead: window seats for bays and under sash windows, with storage inside. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Toys spread across a bedroom floor
- Wanting new furniture to sit well in an older room
- No space for toys and games
Window seats designed for your room
What happens on fitting day
When we arrive on fitting day, we start by protecting your floors and the route from the front door to the room. Next, we carry in the sections built in our workshop, one at a time. How long the fitting takes depends on the shape of the bay or recess and what goes under the seat, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. Interwar houses usually have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, though we still measure the route in not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it is going.
- You get in touch and describe the window.
- At the design visit we measure each side of the bay, because walls in older houses are rarely square.
- We send a quote in writing.
- The seat is built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, following the angles we measured.
- On fitting day the seat is set level and scribed to follow the walls and floor, with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Before we arrive
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
Ask for a quote
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you don’t, that is fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Read more
Window seats in Wanstead
A radiator under the window is common, and a seat has to work with it. A seat built over a radiator needs a grille or an open front, so the heat is not trapped. We design the grille into the front of the seat and leave space around the radiator. When we visit in Wanstead, we will check the radiator and plan around it. We make window seats from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a sash window with space beneath it going to waste and an empty bay that doesn’t get used.
Around Wanstead, with interwar houses or semis making up much of the housing, the hallway may be wider than in a Victorian terrace, with room for a cupboard by the door. Bay windows suit seating with drawers or lift-up lids, with a grille so any radiator below keeps heating the room. Window seats are measured and made for the house you have.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It sets out the design we’ve talked through, the materials and the finish.
- Location
- Wanstead (E11, E18)
- Area
- Redbridge
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What it is made from
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.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF can be cut cleanly, which suits the angled panels of a bay and the pattern of a grille. The grade we use is moisture-resistant and paints well. It forms most of the visible parts.
Also near Wanstead
Also in Wanstead
FAQs: window seats in Wanstead
Do you make window seats for homes in Wanstead?
Yes. We cover all of Redbridge and the rest of London, and Wanstead is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Wanstead?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
How is the furniture painted?
You can choose between two finishes: spray painted or hand painted. Spray painting gives a smooth, even finish, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Can you fit furniture to uneven walls?
Walls and floors that are not true are part of the job in older homes. We trim the edges to follow the wall and level the base, so it sits tight to the room.
Is it possible to have a window seat above a radiator?
Yes. Many windows have a radiator beneath, and we design the seat around it. The front includes a grille so the radiator keeps working. Storage above a radiator stays warm, so it suits things that don’t mind that.
Do photos help?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, particularly with rough measurements. You can send them when you tell us about the room on our contact form.
Window seats in Wanstead: local notes
In the neighbourhood around Wanstead, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 33%) and before 1919 (about 28%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. 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. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Wanstead include Church of St Mary (Grade I), about 0.5 miles south, and Christ Church (Grade II*), less than half a mile west. Works inside a listed home that affect its character, for instance removing original joinery or fixing into it, can require listed building consent from the council. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. About 33% of homes in the streets around Wanstead date from between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Many houses of that era have bay windows, natural places for a window seat, with a grille where there’s a radiator underneath.
If you live near Valentines Park, window seats can be designed to hold outdoor kit, from walking boots to picnic things. If you live in a period home close to Wanstead United Reformed Church, a seat under a sash window can keep shutters and cills clear. Valentines Mansion, about 1.6 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the deep reveals of an older window can frame a seat neatly.
Wanstead is in the London Borough of Redbridge, about 2 miles north of Woodford. Anywhere in Wanstead, it works the same way: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. Across Redbridge, we cover Wanstead, along with the rest of the borough.
We make window seats across the E11 and E18 postcode area for window seats. We cover homes on streets such as High Street, Grove Park and The Avenue, along with the roads around them, whether you want window seats or another piece made for the room. Wanstead sits close to the A1008. If you are just outside Wanstead, we also cover Snaresbrook (1 mile north-west), Redbridge (1 mile east), Bushwood Area of Leytonstone (1 mile south-west), Aldersbrook (1 mile south) and South Woodford (1 mile north). Other parts of Redbridge we cover include Woodford (2 miles north), Ilford (2 miles south-east), Loxford (3 miles south-east), Newbury Park (2 miles east), Gants Hill (2 miles east) and Seven Kings (3 miles east). Being one of the larger places in Redbridge, Wanstead is covered for window seats and everything else we make.
What’s near Wanstead
Our area takes in the homes around Forest School, Wanstead High School and The George pub and the streets around them. The closest station to Wanstead is Leytonstone High Road station, about 1.4 miles south-west of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Wanstead Hospital (0.5 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Hollow Pond.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Bespoke seats are scribed to the walls and set level, so there are no gaps at the sides or the base. A bench simply sits in front of the window. The difference is most noticeable in a period room. Ready-made furniture rarely suits a bay, a box room or a bulkhead over the stairs, and interwar homes often have all three. Built-in pieces are designed to fit them.
Tricky rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That’s reflected in the quote.
What you get with us
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Every quote follows a design visit
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
When is bespoke worth it?
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t typically do that in an older room.
How we price window seats
Prices vary from room to room, and it comes down to:
- How big the furniture is
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- How square the room is
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, so size is the starting point. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Getting in touch
Some details help us understand the job before we visit. It is useful to include:
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Examples of the look you’re after
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
Photos help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space, along with rough sizes. To send them over, drop us a line using the contact form, and we will arrange a design visit.