Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Havering · London
Alcove units in Collier Row, Havering
Planning alcove units for a home in Collier Row? We start with a design visit and a written quote.
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Need alcove units in Collier Row?
When is bespoke worth it?
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. In a room with square walls and standard sizes, it can work well.
Alcove units in Collier Row: what you get
Period alcoves are rarely square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes, sometimes all in one recess. Each unit is built in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. Adjustable feet or a plinth set it level. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and people most often get in touch about a place for a small desk and alcoves that aren’t square.
Around Collier Row, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. In a typical 1930s house, the front room has a bay at one end and a chimney breast with an alcove to either side, and that layout shapes where alcove units work best. Walls are often truer than in older houses, but they’re still measured carefully and scribed where they wander.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we have agreed. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, its materials and its finish, and the workshop works from it.
- Location
- Collier Row (RM1, RM5, RM7)
- Borough
- Havering
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Neighbourhoods near Collier Row
What else we make in Collier Row
Materials and finishes
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.
Moisture-resistant MDF
With no grain to show through, MDF keeps the painted surface smooth and even. We choose the moisture-resistant grade for fitted furniture.
Built-in living-room furniture in Collier Row
In the streets around Collier Row, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 59%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 33%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Near the centre of Collier Row, Historic England’s list includes Numbers 215 (Grade II), about 0.6 miles south. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, such as fixing into original panelling. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. Since the zone was extended to the outer boroughs in August 2023, the whole of London has been inside the ULEZ. Vans bringing furniture to Collier Row fall under it, just as they do across the rest of London. We plan parking and access with you at the design visit.
Living in a block of flats near Romford station? Then each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. The wider area includes historic houses like Hare Hall, about 1.7 miles east. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Collier Row is within the London Borough of Havering, about 1 mile south of Romford. We cover Collier Row as part of our work across Havering. Our work takes in places right across Havering.
Every home in RM1, RM5 and RM7 is within our area for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. We cover homes on streets such as Elm Road, Percy Road and Seymer Road, along with the roads around them, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. We also cover the places around Collier Row: Rise Park (1 mile north-east), Romford (1 mile south), Chadwell Heath (2 miles south-west), Rush Green (2 miles south) and Becontree Heath (2 miles south-west). Across the rest of Havering, our area takes in Hornchurch (3 miles south-east), Gallows Corner (2 miles east), Heath Park (2 miles south-east), Elm Park (3 miles south), Rainham (5 miles south) and Upminster (4 miles south-east).
Landmarks near Collier Row
Around Collier Row, we cover homes near Marshalls Park Academy and Colley Rowe Inn and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Romford station, about 1.3 miles south. Well-known places in the area include Romford Shopping Hall (1 mile south) and Oldchurch Hospital (1.5 miles south). For a walk, there is Bedfords Park.
How fitting works for alcove units
There is not much for you to do on fitting day. Someone needs to let us in, and the room should already be cleared, as we’ll have talked about at the design visit. From there, we protect the floors, bring the furniture in and get on with the fitting. How long 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. On fitting day, the sections are carried in, assembled, scribed to the wall and levelled. Hand-painted furniture can be finished on site; spray-painted pieces arrive finished from the workshop. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, and we find a time for the design visit.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish set out.
- 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.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before fitting day
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
How to get a quote
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we’ve measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Advice
Before and after fitting day
Getting the most from alcove units starts with the planning and carries on after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, because constant heat isn’t kind to a painted finish.
Is it time for alcove units?
Moving into a period house often prompts it. People who have just moved in want storage that suits the age of the house, and the alcoves are an obvious place to start. It is also a good moment, before the room fills up.
Common reasons to get in touch include:
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Alcoves that aren’t square
For families living near Rise Park Infant School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight
- Are the boards named, such as MDF or plywood?
Questions from Collier Row
Do you make alcove units for homes in Collier Row?
Yes. Collier Row is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Havering and London. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with a few details.
I live near Romford station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Havering and the rest of London. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with some details about the room.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to let us in at the start of the day. It is good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. It’s best done before the units go in. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
We design around any vent so it stays open. Air moving through a capped chimney helps stop damp. Any existing damp should be dealt with before the units go in.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps to avoid condensation. If there’s damp, it should be sorted before anything is fitted.