Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove Units in Bexley
Alcove units in Bexley: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Every piece is made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Units that sit well with original features
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
Need alcove units in Bexley?
Caring for painted furniture
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Think about what you will store before we meet
Don’t let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Ventilation helps keep the chimney breast dry.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose and adjust a door before a small rub becomes a mark.
Alcove units for homes in Bexley
Many people choose cupboards at low level and shelves above them. 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. Heights are agreed with you to suit the room and your things. Typical reasons to get in touch are somewhere to keep books and records and room to work in an alcove, and the answer is built in our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
In an area like Bexley, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. The result is often a long room with a chimney breast, a good spot for alcove units. Cable routes for a TV or speakers, and space for set-top boxes, are planned at the measuring visit.
The quote comes in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Place
- Bexley (DA5, DA6, DA14, DA1)
- Area
- Bexley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near Bexley
What else we make in Bexley
From workshop to your room
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details, so it sits neatly against the room. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. In a 1920s or 1930s house, the hall and stairs are usually simple, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it is going, with floors protected throughout.
- You let us know which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- We visit to measure, look at how the walls run and note the skirting, picture rail and any vent. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- You receive a quote with the design, the materials and the paint finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- Fitting day: the units go in, are scribed to the alcoves and levelled on a plinth or feet.
Before we arrive
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Keep pets in another room while we work
How to get a quote
For a quote for alcove units in Bexley, send us a few details through our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea, plus any rough sizes. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.
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Common questions about alcove units
Is parking a problem for fitting in Bexley?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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 tell us about parking at the design visit.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Bexley?
Normally not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character can require listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. We plan the height and depth with you.
Is the furniture made to order?
Everything is made at our workshop for your room, then brought to your home and fitted. We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made to its own measurements. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Which boards do you build with?
We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF gives a smooth, stable surface for paint; birch plywood is strong and good for shelves and drawer boxes, and the quote says which is used where.
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: flat-pack is normally cheaper to buy. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is tricky, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
If you are handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Living-room storage in Bexley
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Bexley were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 45%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 31%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The centre of Bexley is within about a quarter of a mile of the Parkhurst Conservation Area. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. More than a third of the homes in the area around Bexley (about 45%) 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.
The wider area includes historic houses like Red House, about 0.9 miles north. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. Near listed buildings like Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, under half a mile east of the centre of Bexley, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. Close to Danson Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Bexley is part of the London Borough of Bexley, about 2 miles south-west of Sidcup. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Bexley included. We cover places right across the rest of London, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Every home in DA5, DA6, DA14 and DA1 is within our area for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. Whether you live on a street such as Bexley High Street, Camden Road and The North Glade or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Bexley sits close to the A2018 and B2210. Close by, we also work in Blendon (1 mile north-west), North Cray (1 mile south), Bexleyheath (1 mile north), Upton (1 mile north) and Coldblow (1 mile east). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Sidcup (2 miles south-west), Welling (2 miles north-west), Erith (3 miles north-east), Belvedere (3 miles north), Northumberland Heath (2 miles north-east) and Lessness Heath (3 miles north).
Near you in Bexley
The streets we cover here include those near St Columba's Catholic Boys' School, Townley Grammar School and The Railway Tavern, among other places. The closest station to Bexley is Bexley station, about 0.6 miles east. Other landmarks nearby include Bexley Museum (1.1 miles east) and Broadway Shopping Centre (1 mile north-east).
When you need someone else
Some parts of a job need another trade, from an electrician to a plumber or a Gas Safe registered engineer. Here is what to bear in mind:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- 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 will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What it is made from
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there’s a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Let us know about it when you contact us.
If the property is let, we’ll need access agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. An agent can arrange access for you.