Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove units in Bickley, Bromley
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. Our work on alcove units in Bickley starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
Need alcove units in Bickley?
Living-room storage in Bickley
Homes built before 1919 make up about 33% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Bickley, with about 25% built between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. The Bickley Park Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Bickley. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you are unsure. 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 is useful to mention it. We’ll plan where the van can stop.
Close to Jubilee Country Park? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. For families living near Bullers Wood School for Boys, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Bickley is about 3 miles south-east of Orpington, within the London Borough of Bromley. Design visits and fitting in Bickley can be on a Saturday, by arrangement. In Bromley, Bickley is one of the places we cover.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: BR1, BR2 and BR7. Our area takes in homes on streets like Golf Road, The Avenue and Canon Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. If you’re just outside Bickley, we also cover Widmore (1 mile north), Elmstead (1 mile north), Chislehurst (1 mile north-east), Bromley (1 mile west) and Sundridge (1 mile north-west). Elsewhere in Bromley, we also cover Orpington (3 miles south-east), Beckenham (3 miles west), St Mary Cray (3 miles east), Penge (5 miles west), Anerley (5 miles west) and Crystal Palace (5 miles west).
Local landmarks in Bickley
We fit furniture in homes around Bird In Hand Public House, St George's and Holy Trinity College Bromley and the streets around them. There is a railway station in Bickley itself: Bickley station. Nearby you’ll also find Bridgeways Day Hospital (1 mile south) and The Mall (1.3 miles west). Open spaces near Bickley include Summer Hill.
How we make alcove units for Bickley
We fit alcove units across Bromley and the rest of London. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and discuss the design. Then you receive a quote; the units are then built in our workshop and fitted in your home. If your home has walls too uneven for standard furniture and storage that suits a period room, that is what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Wherever your home in Bickley sits in London’s mix of housing, alcove units start with the room you actually have. Period rooms bring sloping floors and mouldings; newer rooms bring stud walls and service boxing. We measure for whichever you have, and the pieces are made to suit.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both, depending on the design. The finish is stated too, whether that is spray painting or hand painting.
- Place
- Bickley (BR1, BR2, BR7)
- Borough
- Bromley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Other services in Bickley
Common questions about alcove units
I live near Bickley station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Bickley?
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 let us know about parking during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
Do I need planning permission for fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, and furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need it. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
We design around any vent so it stays open. Air moving through a capped chimney helps stop damp. If there’s damp on the breast already, it is best sorted before fitting.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. You’ll get a quote in writing once we have measured up.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that are not square?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
Where other trades come in
Some parts of a job need another trade, from an electrician to a plumber or an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Here is what to bear in mind:
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
If in doubt, you can tell us about the room on our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
Flats, conversions and lettings
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. Fixings are chosen to suit whatever the wall is made of.
If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before fixing furniture to the walls. Some leases need the building owner’s consent for alterations. We can’t give advice on leases, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
What affects the cost of alcove units
There’s no set price, because there is no set room. What affects it comes down to:
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- How square the room is
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How many doors and drawers there are
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
What we need to know
To help us picture the room, please include:
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
We quote once we have seen the room. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, then send a quote in writing. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. To book a design visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Fitting day, step by step
You will not need to do much on the day. Someone needs to let us in, and it is useful to have the room cleared beforehand, as we’ll have talked about during the design visit. From there, we protect the floors, bring the furniture in and get on with the fitting. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Before fitting day, we check the route in along with the room itself, so alcove units arrive in sections that fit through. Floors and doorways are protected while the pieces come in.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level. Then we go through the design together.
- You get a quote in writing for the units, materials and finish.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
Before fitting day
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, send us a few details through our contact form and tell us a little about the room. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a written quote afterwards.
Related advice
What prompts alcove units in Bickley
Sometimes it is the clutter of a busy living room. Toys, games, post and chargers all need a home, and closed cupboards hide them away. The shelves above can then stay tidy.
Most of the enquiries we get are about things like these:
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Units that sit well with original features
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
For an older house near Church of St George, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?