Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hammersmith and Fulham · London
Alcove Units in Chelsea Harbour
Alcove units in Chelsea Harbour: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Room to work in an alcove
Ask about alcove units in Chelsea Harbour
Where other trades come in
Some parts of a job need another trade, like an electrician, a plumber or a Gas Safe engineer. Here’s what to know:
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can fill in our short enquiry form and we’ll tell you. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
Alcove units in Chelsea Harbour: what you get
We fit alcove units across Hammersmith and Fulham and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. Then you receive a quote; the units are then built in our workshop and fitted in your home. People normally come to us about space for a growing book collection and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, and the answer is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Mansion block flats tend to have tall ceilings and walls that wander, whereas newer blocks are more likely to have plasterboard partitions. Around Chelsea Harbour, most households live in purpose-built flats of one kind or another, so we check what each wall is made of before planning alcove units. Tall pieces are fixed back securely, whichever wall it is.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It describes the alcove unit we’ve designed for the room, its materials and its finish, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Location
- Chelsea Harbour (SW6, SW11, SW10)
- Area
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Nearby places to Chelsea Harbour
Also in Chelsea Harbour
Your questions about alcove units in Chelsea Harbour
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Chelsea Harbour?
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 design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
How do you fit alcove units in a flat in Chelsea Harbour?
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. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
That is a job for your electrician. Ideally it is done before fitting so the sockets line up with the design. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it, along with access and parking. The price comes in a written quote after the design visit.
Do I need permission in a conservation area?
Not typically. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, and furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need it. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
What happens at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and talk through the design with you. We’ll also ask about access and parking, and a written quote follows.
Practical tips
Looking after painted furniture is simple. These habits help most:
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, such as a record player
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Think about what you’ll store before we meet
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
Keep any chimney vent clear once the units are in, even when the cupboards fill up. Ventilation helps keep the chimney breast dry.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. The cause is a job for the right trade, not something paint will hide.
Living-room storage in Chelsea Harbour
Homes built before 1919 make up about 36% of the housing in the area around Chelsea Harbour, with about 28% built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Part of Chelsea Harbour is in a conservation area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you are unsure. Purpose-built flats are more common around Chelsea Harbour than across Hammersmith and Fulham: about 64% of households, against about 48%, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. So the route in, from stairs to lifts, is part of the design.
Close to Imperial Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. Living in a block of flats near Imperial Wharf station? Then each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. For an older house near St Mary's Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Chelsea Harbour is within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, about 1 mile west of Fulham. We can visit homes in Chelsea Harbour on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. Our work takes in places right across Hammersmith and Fulham, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Every address in SW6, SW11 and SW10 is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. Whether you live on a street such as Ann Lane, York Road and Lots Road or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover the places around Chelsea Harbour: Sands End (1 mile south), Walham Green (1 mile north-west), World's End (1 mile north), Little Chelsea (1 mile north) and Parsons Green (1 mile west). Across the rest of Hammersmith and Fulham, our area takes in West Kensington (2 miles north-west), North End (2 miles north-west), Hammersmith (2 miles north-west), Shepherd's Bush (3 miles north-west), Brackenbury Village (3 miles north-west) and White City (3 miles north-west).
What’s near Chelsea Harbour
Around Chelsea Harbour, we cover homes near Natural History Museum Library and Archives, Lots Road pub and Heatherley School of Fine Art and the streets around them. Chelsea Harbour has its own railway station: Imperial Wharf station. Nearby you will also find Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (0.6 miles north) and Southside Wandsworth (1.5 miles south). Green spaces nearby include Battersea Park Lake.
What happens on fitting day
Fitting day follows a set order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. At the end, we tidy up and go over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Where there is no lift, each section is sized to be carried up the stairs safely. The tightest landing sets the largest piece. The pieces are assembled in the flat.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square. Then we go through the design together.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- 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.
How to prepare
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- 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 sizes and a couple of pictures if you can take them. When you are ready, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and go through the design, then send a quote in writing.
Advice
How we price alcove units
Several things affect the price:
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- The internal fittings
There’s no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a quote in writing. To arrange a design visit, message us from the contact page.
Helping us understand the room
Some details help us understand the job before we visit. When you contact us, it is useful to send:
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- How you want to use the space
To make a start, drop us a line using the contact form and tell us which room you have in mind. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
How it’s made
Spray-painted finish
A sprayed coat covers edges and corners evenly and leaves no brush marks. The colour is agreed with you before we start.
Moisture-resistant MDF
In an alcove unit, MDF gives smooth doors and tidy edges. The moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice next to a chimney breast.