Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Tower Hamlets · London
Alcove units in Coldharbour, Tower Hamlets
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Coldharbour. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units in Coldharbour
Alcove units for homes in Coldharbour
Even a chimney that is been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, with nothing covering it. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in. We make alcove units from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and the usual reasons to get in touch are clutter with nowhere to go and walls too uneven for standard furniture.
Homes built since 2000 are often open-plan, with the kitchen, dining and living space in one room, and around Coldharbour many homes date from those years. In a room like that, alcove units can help separate the sitting area from the kitchen, without putting up a wall. Finished floors in newer homes mark easily, so they’re covered while we work.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Location
- Coldharbour (E14, SE10, E22)
- Borough
- Tower Hamlets
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Is bespoke worth it?
Shop-bought shelving and cabinets can go in an alcove, and they’re usually cheaper. The trouble is typically the gaps: standard widths rarely match the recess, and uneven walls make every gap obvious. A bespoke alcove unit is made to your measurements and scribed to the plaster. Large standalone pieces don’t always fit the lift or the hallway, while fitted furniture comes in sections sized for the route. The sections are joined and fixed once inside.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, which the quote allows for. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit.
Why us?
- We visit, measure and go through the design before we quote
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Over 300 projects completed
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
See how bespoke compares with ready-made or what to look for in a quote.
How fitting day works
At the end, we tidy up. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Newer homes often have finished floors, painted walls and new doors that mark easily, so we protect the route before carrying anything in. Corners and door frames are covered as well. Once inside, the pieces are joined in place.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you’ve picked.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Before we arrive
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician in advance
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
How to get a quote
For a quote for alcove units in Coldharbour, use our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea, with sizes if you have them. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Read more
Is it time for alcove units?
A move into an older home is a common reason. New owners want storage that suits the house, and the alcoves are the natural place for it. It is easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
Some of the things we’re asked to solve include:
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
If your children go to Woolmore Primary School or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Before you choose who makes it
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- A written quote that sets out the job
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Can you see real work of theirs?
Built-in living-room furniture in Coldharbour
About 82% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Coldharbour went up since 2000, and about 10% between 1973 and 1999, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. We take that into account at the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Within a mile of the centre of Coldharbour, 10 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. More than half of the homes in the neighbourhood around Coldharbour (about 82%) were built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. In homes built since 2000, living rooms are often open-plan with stud walls, so alcove units are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor.
Queen's House, about 1.5 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If you live in a period home close to All Saints Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Coldharbour is part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, about 3 miles west of Whitechapel. From period terraces to newer flats in Coldharbour, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our work takes in places right across Tower Hamlets.
Design visits and fitting in E14, SE10 and E22 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets like Canada Square, Simpson's Road and Amsterdam Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. The A1206 and A1261 run close to Coldharbour, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you contact us. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Blackwall (1 mile north-east), London Docklands (1 mile west), Poplar (1 mile north-west), Canary Wharf (1 mile west) and Heron Quays (1 mile west). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as Whitechapel (3 miles west), Spitalfields (3 miles west), Tower Hill (3 miles west), Bethnal Green (3 miles north-west), Cambridge Heath (3 miles north-west) and Mile End (2 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Coldharbour
Around Coldharbour, we cover homes near Tower Hamlets College, The Gun pub and Canary Wharf College 3, among other places. The closest station to Coldharbour is Canary Wharf station, roughly 0.5 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Greenwich Castle (1.7 miles south) and Poplar Hospital (0.6 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Lavender Pond.
Common questions about alcove units
Do you cover homes near Canary Wharf station?
Yes, homes across Tower Hamlets and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Coldharbour?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
We offer spray painting in the workshop and hand painting on site. A sprayed finish is very smooth and even; a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later. We talk through both during the design visit.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
We don’t do electrical work. 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 plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. We send a written quote after the design visit.
Materials and finishes
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 is a good match for alcoves on an external wall.
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. For a wide span or heavy books, we use a thicker shelf, a lip on the front or a support.
Neighbourhoods near Coldharbour
What else we make in Coldharbour
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: off-the-shelf furniture normally costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is tricky, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.