Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Alcove Units in Bedfont
In Bedfont, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
Alcove units in Bedfont
FAQs: alcove units in Bedfont
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Bedfont?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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 design visit.
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
We do not do electrical work. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room, but it’s useful to be around at the end.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway. They can share a style while doing different things.
About our alcove units in Bedfont
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Bedfont has a pair of alcoves, 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 people most often get in touch about a desk that tucks into an alcove and alcoves that are wasted space.
Many homes around Bedfont date from the post-war decades. Post-war rooms tend to be squarer, with fewer alcoves and often no chimney breast. So alcove units often run along a whole wall, or create their own recesses around the screen or a window. Walls may be concrete, block or brick, so fixings are chosen for the wall.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- Bedfont (TW14, TW6, TW13)
- Borough
- Hounslow
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What we don’t do
Our work is the furniture itself: designing it, making it in our workshop and fitting it. That means:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can drop us a line using the contact form and we will tell you before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
Tips worth knowing
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units.
How fitting works for alcove units
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it is going into, 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. 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. Drilling into concrete is noisier than into brick or plaster, so a word with the neighbours before fitting day can help. Fitting day is planned around any building rules on noisy work. Dust is kept down and cleared as we go.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you’ve picked.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
How to get a quote
Getting a quote starts with a few details: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of photos if you can take them. When you’re ready, use our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
Read more
Built-in living-room furniture in Bedfont
About 35% of the homes in the area around Bedfont went up between 1945 and 1972, and about 26% between 1973 and 1999, 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 Bedfont include Fawns Manor (Grade II), under half a mile south, and Church of St Mary (Grade II), under half a mile north. If your own home is listed, internal works that affect its character, like fixing into or removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. Ask the council’s conservation officer before anything is fixed. About 42% of households in the area around Bedfont live in detached or semi-detached houses, according to Census 2021. A house like that usually has more rooms to plan around than a flat, and sometimes a driveway that makes unloading easier.
For a flat near Heathrow Terminal 4 Rail station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If your children go to Fairholme Primary School or a school nearby, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else. If your home is one of the older houses near Church of St Mary, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Bedfont is in the London Borough of Hounslow, about 4 miles east of Hounslow. Design visits and fitting in Bedfont can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. Our work takes in places right across Hounslow, large and small.
Every home in TW14, TW6 and TW13 is within our area for alcove units. If your home is on a street like Elm Road, New Road and East Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Other places close to Bedfont include Feltham (1 mile east), Hatton (1 mile north-east) and Hounslow (1 mile south). Across the rest of Hounslow, our area takes in Hounslow (4 miles east), Brentford (6 miles north-east), Isleworth (5 miles east), Chiswick (8 miles east), Strand-on-the-Green (7 miles east) and Woodlands (4 miles east).
What’s near Bedfont
Our area takes in the homes around Space Studio West London and Spelthorne College, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Heathrow Terminal 4 Rail station, about 0.7 miles north-west of the centre. A little further out are Ashford Hospital (1.4 miles south-west).
What affects the cost of alcove units
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The internal fittings
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
Before the design visit
To give us a picture of the room, it is useful to include:
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, once the room is measured and the design talked through. For a quote, get in touch through our contact form.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
In fairness, standalone furniture comes with you when you move. Fitted alcove units stay with the house and are left behind when you go. It depends on how long you expect to stay. Big ready-made pieces can be tricky to carry up communal stairs, whereas fitted furniture is made in sections sized for the way in. The sections are joined once inside.
Rooms that aren’t square take more work: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. The quote allows for it.
Why choose us
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Saturday work by arrangement
- Every quote follows a design visit
- A spray or hand-painted finish
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.