Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Clare Market Alcove Units
Planning alcove units for a home in Clare Market? We start with a design visit and a quote in writing.
- Room to work in an alcove
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Alcove units designed for your room
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways not just the room, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through without a struggle.
We also make and fit furniture for landlords furnishing a let, as it makes good use of an tricky room. It is made from the same moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood as any of our work, finished by spray or by hand.
Alcove units in Clare Market: what you get
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Clare Market has a pair of alcoves, each alcove gets a unit designed for it, starting with a design visit to measure. Most enquiries start with toys and paperwork with no proper home and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, and the answer is built in our workshop from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
With a large share of homes around Clare Market built before 1919, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. 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.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Location
- Clare Market (WC2H, W1D, WC2B)
- Area
- Westminster
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room storage in Clare Market
In the streets around Clare Market, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 48%) and the years since 2000 (about 22%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Clare Market is partly covered by the Strand Conservation Area, one of the conservation areas recorded by Historic England. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you are unsure. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. If your home in Clare Market is on or near a main road, tell us at the measuring visit. That way we can plan where to load and unload.
If you live in a period home close to Enon Chapel, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For a family home near St Clement Danes CofE Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else. If you live near Lincoln's Inn Fields, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Clare Market is about 2 miles west of City of Westminster, part of the City of Westminster. Homes in Clare Market are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. We list Clare Market among 29 places we cover in Westminster.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: WC2H, W1D and WC2B. We cover homes on streets like Drury Lane, New Square and Old Square, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Clare Market is near the A4 and A301; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Clare Market: Aldwych (1 mile south), Temple Bar (1 mile east), Covent Garden (1 mile south-west), Temple (1 mile south-east) and Seven Dials (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Westminster, we also cover City of Westminster (2 miles west), Victoria (2 miles south-west), Paddington Green (3 miles west), Paddington (2 miles west), Connaught Village (2 miles west) and Belgravia (2 miles south-west).
Around Clare Market
We fit furniture in homes around Mercers' School, Ye Old White Horse pub and LSE Shaw Library. Clare Market’s nearest station is London Charing Cross station, roughly 0.6 miles south-west. Well-known places in the area include Hunterian Museum (a few minutes’ walk north-east) and Gabriel's Wharf (0.6 miles south-east). For a walk, there’s St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
FAQs: alcove units in Clare Market
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Clare Market?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Clare Market?
Yes, Clare Market is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Westminster 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.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. We send a quote in writing after the design visit.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. A desk in one alcove, with shelves above and storage below, works well in many rooms. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a way planned for cables to reach the sockets.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Off-the-shelf units can work in an alcove, and they normally cost less to buy. The catch is the fit: standard widths rarely match the recess, and uneven walls make every gap obvious. A bespoke unit is built to the alcove and scribed to follow the wall. Tall ceilings in older homes leave a band of empty wall above standard furniture, and that space collects dust instead of storage. Fitted furniture can go all the way up.
In London, parking can affect the price. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so a van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension near your home. Tell us about parking during the design visit, so it can be planned.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Clare Market
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Work across the whole of London
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.
How fitting day works
Every fitting follows the same order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so it helps to tell us at the design visit what’s outside. The van is unloaded quickly, with the sections carried straight in. Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement.
- 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. Then we go through the design together.
- You get a quote in writing for the units, materials and finish.
- 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.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
Before fitting day
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
How to get a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit. To arrange it, message us from the contact page and let us know about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Related advice
How we price alcove units
Several things affect the price:
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- The overall size of the piece
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
Access to the room makes a difference too. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit.
What to send when you contact us
The more you can tell us at the start, the better the design visit goes. When you contact us, it helps to send:
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Materials and finishes
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish often suits alcove units in older houses. The colour is agreed with you.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF in a moisture-resistant grade is stable and paints beautifully, so we use it for doors, panels and the faces you see. It’s a sensible choice where an alcove sits against an external wall.