Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hammersmith and Fulham · London
Alcove Units in College Park
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in College Park. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it is made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Units that sit well with original features
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
Alcove units in College Park
What happens on fitting day
On the morning of the fitting, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. Next, we carry in the sections made at our workshop, a piece at a time. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so it is useful to tell us during the design visit what’s outside. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturday fitting can be arranged.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units, with a note of the room they’re in.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing.
- We build the units in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that is what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place.
Preparing the room
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Empty the space we will be working in
Getting a quote
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, once the room is measured and the design talked through. For a quote, get in touch through our contact form.
Related advice
About our alcove units in College Park
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, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. 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 storage that suits a period room and somewhere to keep books and records, alcove units made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
Victorian and Edwardian houses were built with solid brick outside walls, and internal walls may be brick or lath and plaster. Since a large share of the homes around College Park date from before 1919, we check which you have before deciding how alcove units are fixed. Lath and plaster needs a lighter touch and the right fixings.
A written quote follows the design visit. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
- Where
- College Park (NW10, W10, NW26)
- Borough
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Common questions about alcove units
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Willesden Junction station?
Yes, homes across Hammersmith and Fulham and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details about the room.
Can you fit alcove units to the uneven walls of an older house in College Park?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp, so we never box a vent in.
Can the two alcove units be different?
It is up to you. A matching pair balances 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.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. You can have a desk in one alcove and cupboards in the other if you want the two sides to differ. The desk is planned around the way you work.
Nearby places to College Park
Also in College Park
What we do not do
We design, make and fit the furniture. That means:
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can send us a few details through our contact form and we will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
Pricing alcove units in College Park
When we put a quote together, we consider:
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The number of doors and drawers
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
Every room is priced on its own, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
What we need to know
To give us a picture of the room, it’s useful to include:
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Where you live, with the postcode
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
The quote is built from the design visit. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A written quote follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, use our contact form.
Do you need alcove units in College Park?
A bedroom’s alcoves are often the best place for a wardrobe. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor, which helps in a small bedroom.
Alcove units can help with:
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Room to work in an alcove
- Everyday clutter left on show
The wider area includes historic houses such as Leighton House, about 2.6 miles south-east. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
Alcove units in College Park: local notes
About 79% of the homes in the area around College Park went up before 1919, and about 8% between 1919 and 1939, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Near the centre of College Park, Historic England’s list includes The Anglican Chapel (Grade I), less than half a mile south-east, and Kenmont Primary School (Grade II), under half a mile north. If your own home is listed, changes inside that alter its character, such as fixing into or removing original joinery, can require listed building consent. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. More than half of the homes in the area around College Park (about 79%) were built before 1919, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. 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 family home near Kenmont Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room. For a flat near Willesden Junction station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room.
College Park is about 4 miles south of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Whether your home in College Park is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, we measure the room as it is and design around it. We list College Park among 16 places we cover in Hammersmith and Fulham.
In NW10, W10 and NW26, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Tubbs Road, Waldo Road and Hythe Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Kensal Green (1 mile east), Old Oak Common (1 mile south-west), Harlesden (1 mile north-west), Willesden Green (1 mile north) and Kensal Rise (1 mile east). Across the rest of Hammersmith and Fulham, our area takes in Fulham (4 miles south), Parsons Green (4 miles south), Walham Green (4 miles south-east), West Brompton (4 miles south-east), Hurlingham (4 miles south) and Chelsea Harbour (4 miles south-east).
What’s near College Park
Our area takes in the homes around The Masons Arms, Newman Catholic College and Brondesbury College, among other places. College Park has its own railway station: Willesden Junction station. Nearby you will also find Princess Louise Hospital (0.9 miles south-east) and Westfield London (1.7 miles south).
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, and standard units leave gaps.