Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Waltham Forest · London
Alcove units in Bakers Arms, Waltham Forest
Alcove units for your home in Bakers Arms: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and go through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Alcoves that are not square
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Alcove units for your home in Bakers Arms
Fitting day, step by step
Once the main sections are fixed in place, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Parking on terraced streets can be tight, especially in a controlled parking zone, so it’s useful to tell us during the design visit what’s outside. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, so you can look it over in your own time.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Arranging a design visit
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, get in touch through our contact form, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Read more
Alcove units in Bakers Arms
We work across London, including Bakers Arms. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and talk through the design. Then you receive a quote; the units are then made in our workshop and fitted in your home. If you’re living with furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and a place for a small desk, that is what alcove units are for, made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and they set the lines that alcove units have to meet. Homes built before 1919 make up a large share of the housing around Bakers Arms, so mouldings are something we expect to talk about during the design visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you are getting.
- Where
- Bakers Arms (E17, E10, E11)
- Borough
- Waltham Forest
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Practical tips
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
Painted finishes feel dry quickly but take longer to cure fully. For the first while, treat the units gently: lift things onto the shelves rather than sliding them, and don’t scrub the surfaces.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging, so tell us at the measuring visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
To be fair, a standalone bookcase or cabinet can go with you to your next home. Fitted alcove units stay with the house and remain when you move on. Which suits you depends on your plans. The two recesses beside a chimney breast are seldom an identical size, and standard units bought as a pair rarely suit both. Fitted furniture is made to each one separately.
Tricky rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. The quote allows for it.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Bakers Arms
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Saturday work by arrangement
- 300+ projects completed
- A design visit, then a written quote
Read bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
Pricing alcove units in Bakers Arms
The price reflects the time and materials the job needs. That depends on:
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Parking near your home
- The number of doors and drawers
- Access to the room, like stairs, lifts and narrow halls
There is no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a quote in writing. To start, fill in our short enquiry form.
Before the design visit
Getting a few details early makes the visit more useful. If you can, send:
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
- Your postcode and the borough
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
To get a quote, send us a few details through our contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and a written quote follows.
What it is made from
Plinths and scribe strips
Most alcoves need scribing on both sides and sometimes at the top. It is what makes a fitted unit look fitted.
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish can be done on site, after the units are fitted. Small marks are easy to touch up.
Neighbourhoods near Bakers Arms
Also in Bakers Arms
Built-in living-room furniture in Bakers Arms
About 61% of the homes in the streets around Bakers Arms went up before 1919, and about 11% between 1919 and 1939, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Within a mile of the centre of Bakers Arms, 4 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are largely about how buildings look from outside. The share of homes built before 1919 around Bakers Arms, about 61%, is well above the figure for Waltham Forest as a whole, about 45%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
If you live near Leyton Jubilee Park, alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. The wider area includes historic houses such as Sutton House, about 2.5 miles south-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If your children go to Thomas Gamuel Primary School or a school nearby, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Bakers Arms is about 1 mile north-west of Walthamstow, part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Homes in Bakers Arms are part of the area we cover for alcove units. Our Waltham Forest coverage includes Bakers Arms and the places around it.
Design visits and fitting in E17, E10 and E11 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Whether you live on a street like Ivy Road, Ely Road and Elm Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. The A112 runs close to Bakers Arms, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Walthamstow Village (1 mile north), Leyton (1 mile south), Leyton Grange (1 mile south), Walthamstow (1 mile north-west) and Upper Walthamstow (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Waltham Forest we cover include Chingford (3 miles north), Holloway Down (2 miles south-east), Higham Hill (2 miles north-west), Hale End (2 miles north), Chingford Hatch (3 miles north) and Highams Park (2 miles north). Bakers Arms is one of the larger places we cover in Waltham Forest.
Local landmarks in Bakers Arms
Our area takes in the homes around The European pub, Warwick School for Boys and Leyton Sixth Form College, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Leyton Midland Road station, roughly 0.5 miles south-east of the centre. Nearby you will also find Wanstead Hospital (1.8 miles east) and 17 & Central (0.7 miles north-west). Not far away are Hollow Pond.
Questions from Bakers Arms
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, internal works that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Bakers Arms?
Yes, we work across Waltham Forest, Bakers Arms included, and across the rest of London. You can drop us a line using the contact form to arrange a design visit.
Can the two alcove units be different?
It is entirely your choice. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made to its own measurements. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
How do I get a quote?
It’s easiest to get in touch through our contact form. After that, we arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a route left for cables.
Should I send photos?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, particularly with rough measurements. To send them, get in touch through our contact form.