Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Greenwich · London
Alcove units in Coldharbour, Greenwich
Alcove units in Coldharbour: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Room to work in an alcove
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Alcove units in Coldharbour
Common questions about alcove units
Do you cover homes near Mottingham station?
Yes. We cover all of Greenwich and the rest of London. To get started, you can drop us a line using the contact form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character may need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can I send photos before the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot. To send them, drop us a line using the contact form.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. The height is settled at the design visit.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It’s entirely your choice. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can share a style while doing different things.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
Electrical work is not something we do. New or moved sockets are a job for your electrician, ideally before fitting, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
About our alcove units in Coldharbour
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In a bedroom, it can become a small wardrobe or a linen cupboard, while in a dining room it can keep china, glass and table linen. 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 somewhere to keep books and records and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
In an area like Coldharbour, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. The result is often a long room with a chimney breast, a good spot for alcove units. At the design visit we plan any cable routes and ventilation the room needs.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If something isn’t quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Place
- Coldharbour (SE9, BR7)
- Area
- Greenwich
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, blocks and rented homes
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.
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there is a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you contact us.
Looking after your furniture
These points come up often when people plan alcove units. They help before and after fitting:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
- Think about how the units meet the picture rail and cornice
Do not let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Ventilation helps keep the chimney breast dry, which protects the units too.
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, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.
What affects the cost of alcove units
Several things affect the price:
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- Awkward walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space.
What we need to know
When you contact us, these help most:
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Examples of the look you are after
- How you want to use the space
A quote begins with a few details from you: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of photos if you can take them. To send them, send us a few details through our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.
How fitting day works
Finishing comes last. With a spray finish from the workshop, there’s usually only filling and touching up to do in the room; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. Interwar houses typically have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it’s going, with floors protected throughout.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- You receive a written quote setting out the units, materials and finish, for you to read through at your own pace.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before we arrive
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Arranging a design visit
To make a start, message us from the contact page and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
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Neighbourhoods near Coldharbour
Also in Coldharbour
The problems alcove units solve
A bedroom’s alcoves are often the best place for a wardrobe. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor, which matters in a smaller room.
If any of these sound familiar, it’s worth getting in touch:
- Shelving for books and records
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
If your children go to Mottingham Primary School or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Real projects you can actually look at
Alcove units for homes in Coldharbour
About 50% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Coldharbour went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 33% between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Coldharbour include Geffery' s Homes (Almshouses) (Grade II), less than half a mile north-west. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, such as fixing into original panelling. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. The ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) now covers the whole of London, Greenwich included. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Coldharbour, as it does anywhere else in London. We plan parking and access with you at the design visit.
The wider area includes historic houses like Eltham Palace, about 1.1 miles north. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Close to Elmstead Wood? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Coldharbour is part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, about 4 miles north of Plumstead. Whether your home in Coldharbour is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. We cover places right across Greenwich, large and small.
Design visits and fitting in SE9 and BR7 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. If your home is on a street such as Green Lane, Horley Road and Dorset Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. We also cover the places around Coldharbour: Mottingham (1 mile west), Chinbrook (1 mile west), New Eltham (1 mile north-east), Eltham (1 mile north) and Middle Park (1 mile north-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Plumstead (4 miles north), Greenwich (4 miles north-west), Woolwich (4 miles north), Westcombe Park (4 miles north), Well Hall (2 miles north) and Maze Hill (4 miles north-west).
Around Coldharbour
In Coldharbour, that includes homes near St Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive School. For rail, the closest station is Mottingham station, roughly 0.6 miles north of the centre. Nearby you will also find Eltham Community Hospital (1.3 miles north). Not far away are The Tarn.