Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Bromley Common
In Bromley Common, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made at our workshop.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
Need alcove units in Bromley Common?
Living-room carpentry in Bromley Common: local notes
In the streets around Bromley Common, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 28%) and before 1919 (about 23%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. 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. The Bromley, Hayes and Keston Commons Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Bromley Common. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. The council can confirm if you’re not sure. 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’s useful to mention it. That way we can plan where to load and unload.
The wider area includes historic houses like Bromley Palace, about 1.5 miles north-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If you live in a flat close to Bickley station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in. Near listed buildings like Oakley House, under half a mile south-east of the centre of Bromley Common, 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.
Bromley Common is about 3 miles east of Orpington, within the London Borough of Bromley. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Bromley Common included. Across Bromley, we cover Bromley Common and the places around it.
Design visits and fitting in BR2 and BR1 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. You’ll find streets here like Pope Road, Crown Lane and Church Lane, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover the places around Bromley Common: Southborough (1 mile north-east), Hayes (1 mile south-west), Locksbottom (1 mile south-east), Shortlands (2 miles north-west) and Keston (2 miles south). Elsewhere in Bromley, we also cover Orpington (3 miles east), Bromley (2 miles north-west), Beckenham (3 miles north-west), St Mary Cray (3 miles east), Chislehurst (2 miles north-east) and Penge (5 miles north-west).
Near you in Bromley Common
In Bromley Common, that includes homes near Bishop Justus CofE School and The Chequers Public House, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Bickley station, roughly 1.2 miles north. Other landmarks nearby include The Mall (1.5 miles north-west) and Bridgeways Day Hospital (a few minutes’ walk east).
About our alcove units in Bromley Common
We work across London, including Bromley Common. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and discuss the design. After that we send a quote in writing; the units are then made at our workshop and fitted in your home. If you are living with everyday clutter left on show and furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove, alcove units made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish can solve it.
Ceiling heights across London vary a lot, from tall period rooms to compact modern ones. In Bromley Common, as anywhere, we measure the height as carefully as the width, since it sets how tall alcove units can be. Each section is sized to fit the route into the room.
The quote comes in writing, so there is time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Location
- Bromley Common (BR2, BR1)
- Area
- Bromley
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Places near Bromley Common
More for homes in Bromley Common
Practical tips
Fitted furniture is part of the room, so it is worth looking after. Here are a few tips worth knowing:
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that’s barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, which can dull or mark the paint. Wipe it dry when you have finished.
Watch for damp marks on the chimney breast or the walls near the units. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade.
Common questions about alcove units
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Bromley Common?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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 at the measuring visit, and we’ll plan around it.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Bromley Common?
Just fill in our short enquiry form. It helps to send rough sizes and a few pictures, and then we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design.
What materials do you 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.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice. The height is settled during the design visit.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture to avoid condensation. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
What happens on fitting day
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. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Clearing the room and the way in beforehand makes the day easier, including pictures on nearby walls. We cover floors and doorways first. Then the sections come in and are joined in place.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and talk through the design, including the paint finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A written quote follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
Arranging a design visit
If you know what you want, say so; if you do not, that is fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we’ve measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Advice
Pricing alcove units in Bromley Common
We quote each job after the design visit, because no two rooms are the same. These are the things that affect it:
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Parking and unloading on your street
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- The overall size of the piece
In London, parking can affect the price. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay. It’s useful to talk about parking during the design visit.
What to send when you contact us
Ahead of the design visit, we’ll typically ask about:
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Approximate measurements of the space
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. Afterwards, we send a quote in writing. To book one, drop us a line using the contact form.
When is bespoke worth it?
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Bespoke furniture is not instant: it needs a design visit, a quote and time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, not the nearest catalogue size. Ready-made pieces come with a fixed inside layout, which may not suit what you need to store. Fitted furniture is laid out inside around your things.
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, then set it out in the quote.
Why choose us
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
- Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Made for your room, not a standard size
See how bespoke compares with ready-made and what a quote should include.