Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lewisham · London
Alcove Units in Brockley
In Brockley, 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.
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
Alcove units designed for your room
Honest limits
We are carpenters, so some jobs belong to other trades. These are worth knowing before you plan:
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
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.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
About our alcove units in Brockley
Even a chimney that’s been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help stop damp. Units are planned so any vent stays clear, 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. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and the things people most often want solved are somewhere to keep books and records and tired cupboards in the alcoves.
Rooms in houses from before 1919 tend to have generous ceiling heights, and a large share of the homes around Brockley date from then. That gives full-height alcove units room to reach the picture rail or the cornice, with the top line set to match the room’s own mouldings. Blocked fireplaces are common too, and a capped chimney should still be ventilated before anything is built against it.
The furniture is built in our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Location
- Brockley (SE4, SE23, SE6)
- Area
- Lewisham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Where it’s made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room storage in Brockley
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Brockley were built before 1919 (about 57%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 12%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Near the centre of Brockley, Historic England’s list includes Church of St Hilda (Grade II), less than half a mile west, and Church Hall of St Hilda's (Grade II), less than half a mile west. Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside, so works that affect a listed home’s character, like removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. It’s worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. Terraced houses are home to about 34% of households in the streets around Brockley, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. Many London terraces have a chimney breast and alcoves in the main rooms, which suit alcove units built to their exact widths.
The wider area includes historic houses such as Queen's House, about 2.4 miles north-east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Close to Blythe Hill Fields? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. For a flat near Crofton Park station, the route in is measured as well as the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Brockley is part of the London Borough of Lewisham, about 1 mile north of New Cross. Brockley is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Brockley is one of 22 places on our list for Lewisham.
Every address in SE4, SE23 and SE6 is covered for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets like Ivy Road, Nash Road and Lindal Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Crofton Park (1 mile south-east), Honor Oak (1 mile west), Ladywell (1 mile east), Forest Hill (1 mile south-west) and Nunhead (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Lewisham we cover include Deptford (2 miles north), Surrey Canal (2 miles north), Sydenham (2 miles south-west), Bell Green (2 miles south), Lee (2 miles east) and Blackheath (2 miles north-east).
Around Brockley
In Brockley, that includes homes near Blythe Hill Tavern and Prendergast Ladywell School and the streets around them. Brockley has its own railway station: Crofton Park station. Other landmarks nearby include Lewisham Shopping Centre (1.2 miles north-east) and Horniman Museum and Gardens (1.4 miles south-west). Not far away are One Tree Hill.
Boards, parts and paint
Spray-painted finish
Because the units are sprayed before they come to you, there’s less painting to do in your home, in the colour agreed with you. Give the paint time to cure fully once fitted.
Birch plywood
We often use birch plywood for drawer boxes too because it stands up to daily use. It’s painted to match the rest of the unit, or the edge is left as a detail.
Places near Brockley
Other services in Brockley
Flats, conversions and lettings
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, unloading takes some planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so let us know about it during the design visit.
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. If there’s a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you get in touch.
What it costs
What you pay depends on:
- The internal fittings
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Parking and unloading on your street
- Spray painting or hand painting
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
What to send when you contact us
Getting some details early makes the visit more useful. Where you can, include:
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Examples of the look you are after
- How you want to use the space
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
For a quote for alcove units in Brockley, send us a few details through our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea. Next comes a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
FAQs: alcove units in Brockley
Is Brockley in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Brockley is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Lewisham and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Brockley?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. 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. It helps to tell us about parking at the measuring visit.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that aren’t square?
Yes. Few alcoves in older houses are truly square, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. A plinth or adjustable feet set it level on a sloping floor.
How do I get a quote?
Just use our contact form. Rough measurements and a few pictures help, and we will arrange a design visit, followed by a written quote.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
We offer spray painting in the workshop and hand painting on site. Spray painting gives a smooth, factory-like finish. We talk through both at the measuring visit.
What happens on fitting day
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and that happens on fitting day. Walls in older homes are rarely flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Scribing is done on site, which means some cutting in the room or close by, so we ask for a clear space to work near the room. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that’s your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You contact us with a few details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a written quote.
- In our workshop the units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a little extra left on the edges that meet the wall.
- At fitting, we set each unit level on a plinth or feet and trim that edge to follow the wall. Spray-painted units arrive finished; hand-painted ones are painted once fitted.
Before we arrive
- Tell us about parking near your home
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
Arranging a design visit
If you know what you want, say so; if you don’t, that is fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.