Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Redbridge · London
Alcove Units in Barkingside
Thinking about alcove units in Barkingside? We start with a design visit and a quote in writing.
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Alcove units for your home in Barkingside
Fitting day, step by step
Getting everything level comes first. Where the floor slopes, we bring the furniture up to level on adjustable feet or a plinth. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Semis and detached houses often have a front path or a side gate, which can make carrying in easier. Gates, paths and steps up to the door are part of the route we measure. Floors are covered from the door to the room.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units, with a note of the room they’re in.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before fitting day
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Getting a quote
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Advice
About our alcove units in Barkingside
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that sit as part of the room. If your home in Barkingside has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it, starting with a design visit to measure. We make alcove units from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are toys and paperwork with no proper home and tired cupboards in the alcoves.
Around Barkingside, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. If yours is a 1920s or 1930s house, the front room may have a bay window at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall, which decides where alcove units sit. Walls in houses of that age are typically straighter than in Victorian ones, though they’re still checked and scribed where needed.
The written quote is your record of the job. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, what it’s made from and how it is finished, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Location
- Barkingside (IG6, IG2, IG5)
- Borough
- Redbridge
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
How we price alcove units
To work out the quote, we look at:
- How square the room is
- Parking near your home
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Getting in touch
What helps most when you first contact us:
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you don’t, that’s 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 arrange a visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Nearby places to Barkingside
Also in Barkingside
Built-in living-room furniture in Barkingside
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 59% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Barkingside, with about 15% built since 2000, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Barkingside is partly covered by the Barnardo's Village Homes Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. Red routes are run by TfL, with tight limits on where and when vehicles can stop. If your home is on or just off a main road, it helps to mention it. We can then plan where the van will stop.
Living in a block of flats near Seven Kings station? Then alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. The wider area includes historic houses like Valentines Mansion, about 1.2 miles south-west. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For an older house near Children's Church And Lych Gate At Barnardo's, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Barkingside is about 3 miles north-west of Woodford, part of the London Borough of Redbridge. We can visit homes in Barkingside on weekdays, or on a Saturday by prior arrangement. We cover places right across Redbridge, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Here we cover the IG6, IG2 and IG5 postcode area for alcove units. You will find streets here such as Bute Road, Duke Road and Oaks Lane, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Newbury Park (1 mile south), Gants Hill (1 mile south-west), Seven Kings (1 mile south-east) and Redbridge (2 miles south-west). Elsewhere in Redbridge, we also cover Woodford (3 miles north-west), Ilford (2 miles south), Loxford (3 miles south), Wanstead (2 miles west), South Woodford (3 miles west) and Goodmayes (2 miles south-east).
What’s near Barkingside
Around Barkingside, we cover homes near The New Fairlop Oak pub and Ilford County High School, among other places. The closest station to Barkingside is Seven Kings station, about 1.6 miles south of the centre. Well-known places in the area include King George Hospital (1.2 miles east) and Redbridge Museum (2 miles south).
How it is made
Hand-painted finish
With a hand-painted finish, you see the colour in your own light before the final coat. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribe strips are the edges we trim on site to follow the wall. This closes the gap between a straight unit and a bowed alcove.
Flats, conversions and lettings
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways as well as the room, so each section is sized to get through.
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, unloading takes some planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so tell us about it at the measuring visit.
Caring for painted furniture
A little care keeps the finish looking good. These practical tips help:
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
- Think about how the units meet the picture rail and cornice
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
Make a note of the paint colour used so any touch-ups match. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up, and it helps to keep a little of the paint.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging, so mention heavy collections when we plan the unit.
FAQs: alcove units in Barkingside
Does a conservation area in or near Barkingside affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Barkingside?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run 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. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away and we design around it.
How tall should alcove units be?
That is your choice. Full-height units give the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We will go through what suits your room when we visit.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Each alcove is measured during the design visit, make the units in our workshop and trim the edges on site to meet the wall, so there are no tricky gaps.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch.