Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Alcove Units in Broadfields Estate
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Broadfields Estate. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Space for a growing book collection
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
Need alcove units in Broadfields Estate?
Pricing alcove units in Broadfields Estate
What you pay depends on:
- The internal fittings
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- The width and height of the space
- Spray painting or hand painting
Rooms that are not square take more work: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That is reflected in the quote.
Getting in touch
A little information at the start saves time later. Where you can, include:
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- What the furniture needs to hold
- Your postcode and the borough
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Alcove units in Broadfields Estate
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In a bedroom, it can become a small wardrobe or a linen cupboard, while in a dining room it can keep china, glass and table linen. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, and set out the shelves and rails around it. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a desk that tucks into an alcove and bowed walls and sloping floors.
With interwar houses or semis a big part of the picture around Broadfields Estate, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. That leaves a long room with a chimney breast on one side, which suits alcove units along that wall. At the design visit we plan any cable routes and ventilation the room needs.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If something is not quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Where
- Broadfields Estate (HA8, NW7)
- Area
- Barnet
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How it’s made
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves help brace the unit, while adjustable ones give you room to change things.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF in a moisture-resistant grade is stable and paints beautifully, which makes it our choice for doors and visible panels. It’s a sensible choice where an alcove sits against an external wall.
Questions we are often asked
Can you make alcove units for a home in Broadfields Estate?
Yes. We cover all of Barnet and the rest of London, and Broadfields Estate is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Broadfields Estate?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run 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 is useful to let us know about parking at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Do I need planning permission for fitted furniture?
Not normally. Fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission, even in a conservation area. If the building is listed, works affecting its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Broadfields Estate?
Simply drop us a line using the contact form. It’s useful to send rough measurements and a few photos, and we will arrange a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
Do pictures help?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough sizes. To send them, drop us a line using the contact form.
Living-room storage in Broadfields Estate
About 52% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Broadfields Estate went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 20% since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. More than half of the homes in the area around Broadfields Estate (about 52%) date from between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. 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. Detached and semi-detached houses are home to about 59% of households in the neighbourhood around Broadfields Estate, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. A house like that normally has more rooms to plan around than a flat, and sometimes a driveway that makes unloading easier.
For a flat near Mill Hill Broadway station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If you live near Edgwarebury Park, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Broadfields Estate is within the London Borough of Barnet, about 4 miles south-east of Finchley. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Broadfields Estate is part of that. Our work takes in places right across Barnet, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
In HA8 and NW7, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Streets in the area include Clay Lane, Mowbray Road and Cranmer Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Edgware (1 mile south), Edgware Bury (1 mile north-west), The Hale (1 mile south-east), Burnt Oak (1 mile south-east) and Canons Park (1 mile south-west). Elsewhere in Barnet, we also cover Finchley (4 miles south-east), Barnet (4 miles east), East Finchley (5 miles south-east), Hendon (4 miles south-east), Whetstone (4 miles east) and Friern Barnet (5 miles east).
Around Broadfields Estate
We fit furniture in homes around The Northgate School and London Academy and the streets around them. Broadfields Estate’s nearest station is Mill Hill Broadway station, roughly 1.4 miles south-east of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Elstree and Borehamwood Museum (2 miles north) and Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (1.4 miles west). Open spaces near Broadfields Estate include Edgware Way Grassland.
Nearby places to Broadfields Estate
What else we make in Broadfields Estate
Looking after your furniture
These points come up often when people plan alcove units. They help whatever the room:
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.
Do you need alcove units in Broadfields Estate?
Some homes already have alcove cupboards, but they’ve seen better days. Starting again lets you rethink the layout, from the shelf heights to the doors.
Common reasons to get in touch include:
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Room to work in an alcove
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
For an older house near St Andrew, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
From workshop to your room
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and take up the floor coverings. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together and explain how to look after the paint. How long fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Semis and detached houses often have a front path or a side gate, which can make carrying in easier. 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.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, so you can look it over in your own time.
- The units are made in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
How to prepare
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician beforehand
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Tell us about parking near your home
Ask for a quote
To get a quote, send us a few details through our contact form and let us know which room you have in mind. We then arrange a design visit to measure and talk through the design, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.