Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Wandsworth · London
Alcove units in Balham, Wandsworth
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Balham. Every piece is built in our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units for your home in Balham
How we make alcove units for Balham
A classic layout is a low cupboard with open shelves above. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, and the shelves are for books and favourite objects. The top of the cupboard makes a useful surface at a comfortable height. We set the heights to suit the room and what you’ll store. Typical reasons to get in touch are clutter with nowhere to go and somewhere to keep books and records, and the answer is built in our workshop from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Ceilings in homes built before 1919 are often taller than in later houses, and around Balham, a large share of homes are that age. That gives full-height alcove units room to reach the picture rail or the cornice, with the top line set to match the room’s own mouldings. Blocked fireplaces are common too, and a capped chimney should still be ventilated before anything is built against it.
We write quotes in plain English. They say what will be made, what it is made from and how it will be finished.
- Where
- Balham (SW12, SW17, SW4)
- Area
- Wandsworth
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Do you need alcove units in Balham?
Some homes already have alcove cupboards, but they’ve seen better days. New units are a chance to rethink how the space works, from the shelf heights to the doors.
We’re often asked to help with:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Shelving for books and records
If you live near Wandsworth Common, a room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Before you choose who makes it
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- How parking will work on your street
- How doors and drawers are fitted
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
Nearby places to Balham
What else we make in Balham
How fitting works for alcove units
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and fitting day is where that happens. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, closing the gaps a standard unit would leave. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so we ask for a clear space to work near the room. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that’s your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, and we find a time for the design visit.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a written quote, ready for you to check.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that is what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before we arrive
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
How to get a quote
To make a start, message us from the contact page and tell us which room you have in mind and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
Read more
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths.
Built-in living-room furniture in Balham
In the area around Balham, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 64%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 9%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Balham include Church of St Mary (Grade II), less than half a mile south-west, and The Bedford Hotel (Grade II), under half a mile east. If your own home is listed, internal works that affect its character, such as fixing into or removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. About 64% of homes in the neighbourhood around Balham were built before 1919, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Houses of that age normally have a chimney breast with an alcove each side, and alcove units are built to those exact widths.
Carlyle's House, about 2.9 miles north, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If your children go to Ravenstone Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Balham is within the London Borough of Wandsworth, about 2 miles north-west of Clapham Junction. Balham is part of the area we cover. We cover places right across Wandsworth, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Here we cover the SW12, SW17 and SW4 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as Lynn Road, Weir Road and Byrne Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Grange Mills (1 mile north-east), Hyde farm estate (1 mile east), Clapham Park (1 mile north-east), Streatham Park (1 mile south-east) and Tooting Bec (1 mile south-west). Across the rest of Wandsworth, our area takes in Clapham Junction (2 miles north-west), Battersea (2 miles north-west), Putney (3 miles north-west), Wandsworth (2 miles north-west), Southfields (2 miles west) and Summerstown (2 miles south-west).
Around Balham
The streets we cover here include those near Chestnut Grove Academy, Oak Lodge School and The Bedford pub, among other places. There’s a railway station in Balham itself: Balham station. Nearby you will also find Southside Wandsworth (1.9 miles north-west) and London Sewing Machine Museum (0.6 miles south-west).
Honest limits
Our work is the furniture itself: designing it, making it in our workshop and fitting it. In practice, that means:
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can drop us a line using the contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. How it works.
What goes into it
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Hand-painted finish
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Let us know about them at the design visit.
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so each section is sized to get through.
Common questions about alcove units
My house in Balham is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
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. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Balham?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. 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. It’s useful to tell us about parking at the measuring visit.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
It is up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We discuss the options at the design visit.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, by arrangement. If a Saturday works better for you, say so when you get in touch.
How is the price worked out?
Each room is quoted on its own: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
What are your alcove units made from?
Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF is stable and takes paint well, while birch plywood is strong and holds screws well, and the quote says which is used where.