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Islington · London
Alcove Units in Clerkenwell
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. Our work on alcove units in Clerkenwell starts with a design visit, and everything is made in our workshop.
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
Ask about alcove units in Clerkenwell
Living-room carpentry in Clerkenwell: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Clerkenwell were built before 1919 (about 32%) and since 2000 (about 28%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. 19 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of central Clerkenwell. 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. Purpose-built flats are home to about 75% of households in the neighbourhood around Clerkenwell, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Building management rules on lifts, deliveries and working hours are worth checking early.
Near listed buildings like Priory Church of St John of Jerusalem, less than half a mile south of the centre of Clerkenwell, 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. For a family home near St Peter and St Paul RC Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Clerkenwell is in the London Borough of Islington, about 2 miles north of Highbury. Homes in Clerkenwell are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. Our Islington coverage includes Clerkenwell.
In N1, EC1V and WC1X, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. You will find streets here such as Long Lane, City Road and Noel Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. The A1 and A5201 run close to Clerkenwell; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Clerkenwell: Farringdon (1 mile south), Angel (1 mile north), Smithfield (1 mile south), Holborn (1 mile south-west) and St Pancras (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Islington, we also cover Highbury (2 miles north), Holloway (2 miles north), Mildmay (2 miles north-east), Upper Holloway (3 miles north-west), Nag's Head (2 miles north) and Lower Holloway (2 miles north). Clerkenwell is among the bigger places we cover in Islington.
Near you in Clerkenwell
Our area takes in the homes around The Sekforde pub, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and Tech City College, among other places. Clerkenwell has its own railway station: Farringdon station. Nearby you’ll also find Montfichet's Tower (0.9 miles south) and Finsbury Health Centre (less than half a mile west). Green spaces nearby include Barnsbury Wood and Ludgate Hill.
About our alcove units in Clerkenwell
Some alcoves suit a full-height unit, with doors from floor to ceiling. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. If your home has standard units leaving gaps at the sides and somewhere to keep books and records, that’s what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
A flat’s living room often has to hold the sofa, the TV, the books and the dining table. Around Clerkenwell, where most households live in purpose-built flats, alcove units that use the height of the room help keep the floor clear. A shallow run on one wall can hold a lot without taking much floor.
You get the quote in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Location
- Clerkenwell (N1, EC1V, WC1X)
- Borough
- Islington
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near Clerkenwell
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How it’s made
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF does not have a grain to show through the paint, so a painted finish looks even and calm. Moisture-resistant MDF is what we use for fitted work.
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.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t typically do that in an older room.
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: off-the-shelf furniture normally costs less up front. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is tricky, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
Common questions about alcove units
Do you make alcove units for homes in Clerkenwell?
Yes. We cover all of Islington and the rest of London, and Clerkenwell is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and discuss the design, and then we send a quote.
I live near Farringdon station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Islington and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can use our contact form with some details about the room.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps. If there is damp, it should be sorted before anything is fitted.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That is your choice. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but many people put a desk or a TV in one alcove and cupboards in the other. Shared details, such as the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
What happens at the design visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and a written quote follows.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Why people ask for alcove units in Clerkenwell
Many people ask about alcove units because the alcoves are the most obvious wasted space they have. Off-the-shelf furniture rarely fits them, so there are gaps at the sides and the top. A fitted unit fills the recess from wall to wall.
Most of the enquiries we get are about needs like these:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Shelving for books and records
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Room to work in an alcove
For a flat near Farringdon station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
What happens on fitting day
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it’s going into, and that happens on fitting day. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, closing the gaps a standard unit would leave. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Sections come into the flat in the order they’re fitted, so the flat doesn’t fill up. Floors are covered and dust is kept down. The fixings suit each wall, whether solid or stud.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, and we find a time for the design visit.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you.
- A written quote follows, with the finish set out, ready for you to check.
- We build the units in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
How to get a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the design visit. To get started, use our contact form and tell us about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Related advice
Flats, blocks and rented homes
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. TfL runs the red routes, and the stopping rules are strict, so let us know about it at the design visit.
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Tell us about it when you contact us.