Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Coney Hall
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Coney Hall. After a design visit and a written quote, it is built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Alcoves that aren’t square
Alcove units in Coney Hall
Alcove units in Coney Hall: what you get
Even a chimney that’s 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, rather than boxing it in. If there are signs of damp on the chimney breast or in the alcoves, they’re best sorted before fitting. People typically come to us about space for a growing book collection and shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess; the furniture is made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
In a semi from the 1920s or 1930s, the front room typically has a bay at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall. Around Coney Hall, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so it is a layout worth planning for. Alcove units typically go on the chimney breast wall, leaving the bay clear.
Once you have read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is built in our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- Coney Hall (BR4, CR0, BR3)
- Area
- Bromley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What happens on fitting day
You won’t need to do much on the day. Someone needs to let us in, and the room should already be cleared, as we’ll have talked about at the measuring visit. After that, it’s over to us: the floors are covered, the sections come in and the fitting begins. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Semis and detached houses often have a front path or a side gate, which can make carrying in easier. Gates, paths and steps up to the door are part of the route we measure. Floors are covered from the door to the room.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square. Then we go through the design together.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- In our workshop the units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a little extra left on the edges that meet the wall.
- At fitting, we set each unit level on a plinth or feet and trim that edge to follow the wall.
Before we arrive
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
Ask for a quote
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and talk through the design with you, and the written quote comes after. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. To book a design visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Advice
Your questions about alcove units in Coney Hall
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Coney Hall?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Coney Hall?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London, and Coney Hall is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. Ideally it’s done before fitting. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
How long will the fitting take?
The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Most of the making happens in our workshop, so the work in your home is about fitting and finishing.
How do I get a quote?
It is easiest to use our contact form with a few details about the room. After that, we arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by arrangement. Tell us when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.
What affects the cost of alcove units
What you pay depends on:
- How big the furniture is
- Parking near your home
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. We will talk through what you need inside at the design visit, then set it out in the quote.
Getting in touch
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Where you live, with the postcode
Rough measurements are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the design visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To get started, use our contact form with a few details about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
What alcove units cannot fix
We don’t treat damp or carry out building work, so these points are worth knowing:
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can fill in our short enquiry form and we will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
What it’s made from
Plinths and scribe strips
A plinth lifts the cupboard off the floor and hides any slope. Its height can match the skirting board for a tidy finish.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting can be done in your home once the units are in. It is easy to touch up later.
Also near Coney Hall
Other services in Coney Hall
Coney Hall homes and alcove units
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 63% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Coney Hall, with about 24% built between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. There are 5 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Coney Hall. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. About 63% of homes in the neighbourhood around Coney Hall date from between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Interwar front rooms usually have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, which shape where alcove units go.
For a flat near West Wickham station, the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in. For an older house near St Francis of Assisi, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. The wider area includes historic houses such as Addington Palace, about 1.2 miles south-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Coney Hall is within the London Borough of Bromley, about 5 miles east of Orpington. Design visits and fitting in Coney Hall can be on a Saturday, by arrangement. Across Bromley, we cover Coney Hall.
Every address in BR4, CR0 and BR3 is within our area for alcove units. You will find streets here like Ash Road, Kent Road and Briar Lane, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover the places around Coney Hall: West Wickham (1 mile north), Spring Park (1 mile north-west), Addington (1 mile south), Eden Park (1 mile north) and Hayes (1 mile east). Across the rest of Bromley, our area takes in Orpington (5 miles east), Bromley (3 miles north-east), Beckenham (3 miles north), St Mary Cray (6 miles east), Chislehurst (5 miles north-east) and Penge (3 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Coney Hall
Around Coney Hall, we cover homes near The Wheatsheaf pub and All Saints Catholic School, among other places. The nearest railway station is West Wickham station, roughly 0.8 miles north-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include National Psychosis Unit (0.8 miles north-west).
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
To be fair, a standalone bookcase or cabinet can go with you to your next home. Built-in units become part of the room and are left behind when you go. Which suits you depends on your plans. Bays, box rooms and stair bulkheads are where off-the-shelf furniture struggles most, and interwar homes often have all three. Fitted furniture is made around them.
Awkward rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. The quote allows for it, which we write after seeing the room.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Coney Hall
- 300+ projects completed
- Built around your room
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.