Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lewisham · London
Bellingham Alcove Units
In Bellingham, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made in our workshop.
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units in Bellingham
Alcove units in Bellingham: what you get
Even a chimney that’s been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, rather than boxing it in. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in so the new furniture starts on a dry wall. If your home has alcoves that aren’t square and alcoves that are wasted space, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
In a semi from the 1920s or 1930s, the front room typically has a bay at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall. Interwar, semi-detached and detached houses make up a big part of the housing around Bellingham, so it is a layout worth planning for. Alcove units normally go on the chimney breast wall, leaving the bay clear.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- Bellingham (SE6, SE26, SE23)
- Borough
- Lewisham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions we are often asked
Is parking a problem for fitting in Bellingham?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by 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. It helps to let us know about parking at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Do you cover homes near Bellingham station?
Yes, homes across Lewisham and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can drop us a line using the contact form with a few details about the room.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
That depends on how you use the room. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
How long will the fitting take?
It depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards if you want the two sides to differ. The desk is planned around the way you work.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. We don’t treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Alcove units for homes in Bellingham
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 55% of the housing in the streets around Bellingham, with about 18% built before 1919, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. There are 5 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Bellingham. Being near listed buildings does not make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. London’s red routes are run by TfL, and stopping on them is tightly controlled. If your home is on or just off a main road, it’s useful to mention it. We will plan where the van can stop.
If you live in a flat close to Bellingham station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. Kingswood House, about 2.5 miles west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If your home is one of the older houses near St Dunstan, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Bellingham is about 3 miles north of New Cross, in the London Borough of Lewisham. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Bellingham is part of that. Our Lewisham coverage includes Bellingham and the places around it.
In SE6, SE26 and SE23, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. If your home is on a street like Oslac Road, Orford Road and Aitken Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Main roads around Bellingham include the A2218, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. If you are just outside Bellingham, we also cover Southend (1 mile north), Bell Green (1 mile west), Catford (1 mile north-east), Perry Vale (1 mile west) and Sydenham (1 mile west). Across the rest of Lewisham, our area takes in New Cross (3 miles north), St Johns (3 miles north), Deptford (3 miles north), Lewisham (2 miles north), Surrey Canal (4 miles north) and Hither Green (2 miles north-east).
Landmarks near Bellingham
We fit furniture in homes around Sedgehill School and Fellowship Inn. Bellingham has its own railway station: Bellingham station. Well-known places in the area include University Hospital Lewisham (1.6 miles north) and Prefab Museum (1 mile east). Not far away are Downham Woodland Walk.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.
A lot of London’s terraced houses are now converted flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, after measuring the route at the design visit.
When is bespoke worth it?
If you are handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it’s quick to buy.
What it’s made from
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves help brace the unit, while adjustable ones let you change heights later.
Spray-painted finish
Because the units are sprayed before they come to you, there is less painting to do in your home, in the colour agreed with you. Give the paint time to cure fully once fitted.
How fitting day works
Before anything is fixed, we set the furniture level. 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. A front path or side gate can make the carry from the van simpler. Gates, paths and steps up to the door are part of the route we measure. Floors, stairs and doorways are protected on the way in, and the sections are assembled in place.
- To begin, get in touch through our contact form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns. Parking is worth mentioning too, since a van often needs a permit or a paid bay in London.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- In our workshop we build the units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, sized so each piece gets up the stairs and round the corners.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls.
Before fitting day
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
Arranging a design visit
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To arrange it, send us a few details through our contact form and let us know about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Advice
Tips worth knowing
None of this takes much effort. Here’s what we suggest:
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Think about what you’ll store before we meet
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
Once the cupboards are filled and in daily use, a door may settle slightly. Hinges can normally be adjusted to bring a door back in line, so a small gap or rub is easy to correct.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. The cause is a job for the right trade, not something paint will hide, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.