Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Alcove Units in Childs Hill
Alcove units for your home in Childs Hill: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made in our workshop and fitted by us.
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Need alcove units in Childs Hill?
Your questions about alcove units in Childs Hill
Is parking a problem for fitting in Childs Hill?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit.
Is Childs Hill in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Childs Hill is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Barnet and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
Which finishes are there for 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.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
That’s your choice. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment isn’t something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away, so we never box a vent in.
Alcove units in Childs Hill
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It’s a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. We plan the desk height and depth with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. Typical reasons to get in touch are empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast and old alcove cupboards that have seen better days; the furniture is made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Picture rails, deep skirting boards and plaster cornices are part of the character of older houses, and they set the lines that alcove units have to meet. Homes built before 1919 make up a large share of the housing around Childs Hill, so those details are worth looking at closely during the design visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
We write quotes in plain English. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, all taken from the design visit.
- Location
- Childs Hill (NW2, NW3, NW11)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it is made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Nearby places to Childs Hill
Also in Childs Hill
How fitting works for alcove units
When we arrive on fitting day, we start by protecting your floors and the route from the front door to the room. Next, we carry in the sections built in our workshop, a piece at a time. How long fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that is your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You send us a few details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and talk through the design, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, for you to read through at your own pace.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before fitting day
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician beforehand
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Getting a quote
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’ve measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Advice
Alcove units for homes in Childs Hill
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Childs Hill were built before 1919 (about 45%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 25%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Childs Hill include Annesley Lodge (Grade II*), under half a mile south, and Church of St Luke (Grade II*), under half a mile south. If your own home is listed, works inside that affect its character, such as fixing into or removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. It’s worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. More than a third of the homes in the streets around Childs Hill (about 45%) were built before 1919, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Most London houses of that age have chimney breasts with an alcove either side in the main rooms, the classic place for alcove units.
For a flat near Cricklewood station, it’s useful to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. For an older house near All Saints, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. For a family home near All Saints' CofE Primary School NW2, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Childs Hill is about 3 miles north of Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet. We cover Childs Hill as part of our work across Barnet. Childs Hill is one of the places in Barnet where we make alcove units.
In NW2, NW3 and NW11, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. If your home is on a street like Nant Road, Ridge Road and Garth Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover Fortune Green (1 mile south), West Hampstead (1 mile south-east), Golders Green (1 mile north), North End (1 mile north-east) and Vale of Health (1 mile east). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Finchley (3 miles north), Barnet (6 miles north), Burnt Oak (4 miles north-west), East Finchley (2 miles north-east), Hendon (2 miles north-west) and Whetstone (4 miles north).
Near you in Childs Hill
The streets we cover here include those near The Old Bull and Bush pub, St Vedasts School For Boys and Hampstead School, among other places. The closest station to Childs Hill is Cricklewood station, roughly 0.7 miles south-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Kenwood House (1.4 miles north-east) and New End Hospital (0.9 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Westbere Copse.
Could you do it yourself?
The real difference is in the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
It is worth being honest about cost: flat-pack is normally cheaper to buy. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is tricky, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
Before and after fitting day
Painted fitted furniture is easy to look after. These habits help most:
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
Don’t let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away, which protects the units too.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose and adjust a door before a small rub becomes a mark.
Boards, parts and paint
Birch plywood
Birch plywood helps shelves stay straight under books over a wider alcove. We size the shelf for the span and the load.
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribe strips are the edges we trim on site to follow the wall. It’s how a straight unit meets a wall that isn’t straight.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
We also make and fit furniture for landlords furnishing a let, as it makes good use of an awkward room. It is made from the same moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood as any of our work, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, which often brings a shared hall and tight turns on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it, after measuring the route at the measuring visit.