Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Kingston upon Thames · London
Alcove Units in Berrylands
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make alcove units for homes in Berrylands, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Units that sit well with original features
Alcove units for your home in Berrylands
Alcove units for homes in Berrylands
Period alcoves are rarely square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes, often all at once. Each unit is made in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. Typical reasons to get in touch are old alcove cupboards that have seen better days and alcoves that aren’t square, and the answer is made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Plenty of semis and interwar houses have been extended at the back or had the back rooms knocked through, and around Berrylands, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a large share of the housing. In a long knocked-through room, alcove units can run the full length of one wall, or mark out the sitting end from the dining end. New plasterboard in an extension and older brick or block in the original house take different fixings.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If something isn’t quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Where
- Berrylands (KT5, KT3, KT6)
- Borough
- Kingston upon Thames
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What it is made from
Birch plywood
We often use birch plywood for drawer boxes too. It’s painted to match the rest of the unit, or the edge is left as a detail.
Shelves
Shelf thickness depends on the span and the load. For a wide span or heavy books, we use a thicker shelf, a lip on the front or a support.
What prompts alcove units in Berrylands
A move into an older home is a common reason. New owners want storage that suits the house, and the alcoves are an obvious place to start. It is easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
If any of these sound familiar, it’s worth getting in touch:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Room to work in an alcove
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Units that sit well with original features
The wider area includes historic houses like Hampton Court Palace, about 2.4 miles west. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Before you choose who makes it
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
Places near Berrylands
More for homes in Berrylands
FAQs: alcove units in Berrylands
Do you make alcove units for homes in Berrylands?
Yes. Berrylands is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Kingston upon Thames and London. To get started, you can use our contact form with some details.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Berrylands?
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 during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It’s entirely your choice. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need someone to let us in at the start of the day. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
The fitting depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We’ll talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
Caring for painted furniture
Fitted furniture is part of the room, so it is worth looking after. A few pointers help:
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, as strong heat can mark paint over time.
Built-in living-room furniture in Berrylands
About 68% of the homes in the streets around Berrylands went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 13% before 1919, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Berrylands include Christ Church (Grade II), about 0.5 miles south-west. Works inside a listed home that affect its character, for example removing original joinery or fixing into it, can require listed building consent from the council. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. About 68% of homes in the streets around Berrylands date from between 1919 and 1939, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Houses from the 1920s and 1930s often have a bay window and a chimney breast in the front room, and alcove units are planned around both.
For a flat near Berrylands station, it’s useful to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If you live near Beverley Park, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Berrylands is part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, about 2 miles north-west of Kingston upon Thames. Anywhere in Berrylands, the process is the same: a design visit, a written quote, furniture made at our workshop and fitting in your home. Berrylands is one of 16 places on our list for Kingston upon Thames.
Design visits and fitting in KT5, KT3 and KT6 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. You’ll find streets here such as Park Road, The Avenue and Regent Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover the places around Berrylands: Tolworth (1 mile south), Surbiton (1 mile west) and Chessington (2 miles south). Other parts of Kingston upon Thames we cover include Kingston upon Thames (2 miles north-west), Hampton Wick (2 miles north-west), Hook (2 miles south-west), Motspur Park (2 miles north-east), Coombe (2 miles north-east) and Barwell (3 miles south-west).
What’s near Berrylands
Around Berrylands, we cover homes near The Hollyfield School and Sixth Form Centre, Coronation Hall pub and Kingston School of Art. There is a railway station in Berrylands itself: Berrylands station. Nearby you’ll also find Bentall Centre (1.5 miles north-west) and Tolworth Hospital (1.1 miles south). Green spaces nearby include Raeburn Open Space.
From workshop to your room
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. In a 1920s or 1930s house, the hall and stairs are normally straightforward, though we still measure the route in not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it is going, with floors protected throughout.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units, and we find a time for the design visit.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors. 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, ready for you to check.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Preparing the room
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Let us know about parking near your home
Starting with a design visit
For a quote for alcove units in Berrylands, get in touch through our contact form. Tell us which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, plus any rough measurements. Next comes a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
Advice
What it costs
When we put a quote together, we consider:
- The number of doors and drawers
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How square the room is
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, and that is part of the price. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose.
What to send when you contact us
To help us picture the room, please include:
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- What the furniture needs to hold
- A few photos of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- The type of home and how the room is reached
We quote once we’ve seen the room. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, and the written quote comes after. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. To arrange a visit, drop us a line using the contact form.