Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Kensington and Chelsea · London
Alcove units in Brompton, Kensington and Chelsea
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make alcove units for homes in Brompton, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Alcoves that are wasted space
Ask about alcove units in Brompton
Alcove units for homes in Brompton
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. We can cut units around these details, stop beneath them or run up to meet them, depending on the look you want. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting. These details are settled when we visit, before anything is made. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are shelving for books and records and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around Brompton, plenty of living rooms are two reception rooms knocked into one, each with its own chimney breast. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Older internal walls can be lath and plaster rather than brick, which changes how shelving is fixed.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, its materials and its finish, and the workshop works from it.
- Place
- Brompton (SW3, SW7, SW1X)
- Borough
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- 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
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room carpentry in Brompton: local notes
Homes built before 1919 make up about 69% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Brompton, with about 14% built between 1919 and 1939, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Within a mile of the centre of Brompton, 17 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has covered all of London since it reached the outer boroughs on 29 August 2023. So any van that delivers or fits furniture in Brompton is covered by it. How the van gets to your door is planned at the measuring visit.
Carlyle's House, about 0.8 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For a family home near Hellenic College of London, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Brompton is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, about 2 miles west of Kensington. Homes in Brompton are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. Brompton is one of 13 places on our list for Kensington and Chelsea.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: SW3, SW7 and SW1X. Our area takes in homes on streets such as West Road, Hans Road and Eaton Lane, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. The A315 and A3212 runs close to Brompton, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. If you’re just outside Brompton, we also cover Chelsea (1 mile south), Belgravia (1 mile north-east), South Kensington (1 mile south-west), Victoria (1 mile east) and Little Chelsea (1 mile south-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Kensington (2 miles west), Notting Hill (2 miles north-west), Notting Dale (2 miles north-west), Holland Park (2 miles west), Bayswater (2 miles north-west) and Kensal Town (3 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Brompton
Around Brompton, we cover homes near Natural History Museum Library and Archives, Shuckburgh Arms and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and the streets around them. The closest station to Brompton is London Victoria station, about 0.8 miles east. Other landmarks nearby include Harrods (under half a mile north) and Berkshire & Westminster Dragoons Museum (less than half a mile south-east). Open spaces near Brompton include Serpentine.
Caring for painted furniture
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. Here are some things worth bearing in mind:
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, as they can mark the finish. Wipe it dry when you’ve finished.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight.
Questions we’re often asked
I live in a flat in Brompton. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
We measure the route in along with the room itself: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It is useful to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Brompton?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. 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 is useful to tell us about parking at the measuring visit, and we’ll plan around it.
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.
What happens at the design visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. We will also ask about access and parking, and afterwards we send a written quote.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Typically not. Fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission, even in a conservation area. Listed buildings can need listed building consent for works that affect their character, so ask the council’s conservation officer.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. You will get a written quote once we have measured up.
Is bespoke worth it?
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. Off-the-shelf furniture is made for flat walls and level floors, which older houses rarely have, so you end up with gaps, wobbles and units that don’t meet the skirting. Fitted pieces follow the wall and sit level.
Parking is part of the price picture in London. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay near your home. Tell us about parking at the measuring visit, so it can be planned.
Why us?
- More than 300 projects completed
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- Finished by spray or by hand
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
What prompts alcove units in Brompton
In bedrooms, the alcoves may be the only place for hanging space. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor, which helps in a small bedroom.
Here’s what alcove units can help with:
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
If you live in a period home close to Church of St Simon Zelotes, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Have they thought about parking near you?
How fitting works for alcove units
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together. The time the 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. On fitting day in an older house, the main job is scribing to walls and levelling on floors that slope, so each piece is trimmed and adjusted on site. We protect the floors and keep dust to a minimum. It helps to let us know about parking at the measuring visit, as terraced streets are often busy.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail. 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.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
Preparing the room
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
Arranging a design visit
A quote begins with some details from you: which room it is, rough measurements and a couple of photos if you can take them. To send them, message us from the contact page. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a written quote.
Related advice
What affects the price in Brompton
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. The things that affect it are:
- Parking near your home
- How many doors and drawers there are
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
Access to the room makes a difference too. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, which the quote allows for. Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design.
What to send when you contact us
Ahead of the design visit, we’ll normally ask about:
- Where you live, with the postcode
- What the furniture needs to hold
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
Photos help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, message us from the contact page, and we will arrange a design visit.