Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Merton · London
Alcove units in Copse Hill, Merton
Thinking about alcove units in Copse Hill? We start with a design visit and a written quote, before anything is made.
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Storage that suits a period room
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units for your home in Copse Hill
Questions from Copse Hill
Do you make alcove units for homes in Copse Hill?
Yes, we work across Merton, Copse Hill included, and across the rest of London. To get started, you can message us from the contact page with some details.
Does a conservation area in or near Copse Hill affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character may need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
How do I get a quote?
Just fill in our short enquiry form. It’s useful to send rough measurements and a few photos, and we’ll arrange a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. Access and parking are worth talking about too.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, by arrangement. Let us know when you get in touch if a Saturday suits you best.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Ventilation helps keep a capped chimney dry, which protects the units as well as the wall. If there is damp on the breast already, it is best sorted before fitting.
Alcove units in Copse Hill: what you get
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that sit as part of the room. If your home in Copse Hill has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it. If your home has toys and paperwork with no proper home and walls too uneven for standard furniture, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
Ceilings in interwar houses tend to be lower than in Victorian ones, so alcove units are proportioned to the room rather than copied from a taller one. If yours is one of the interwar houses, semis or detached homes that make up much of the housing around Copse Hill, there may be little or no cornice, which lets the furniture run straight up to the ceiling. Any skirting is cut around neatly.
A written quote follows the design visit. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- Copse Hill (SW20, SW19)
- Borough
- Merton
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, conversions and lettings
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, and that is best sorted before fitting day. We cannot give advice on leases, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
We also make and fit furniture for landlords furnishing a let. It is made from the same moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood as any of our work, finished by spray or by hand.
Neighbourhoods near Copse Hill
More for homes in Copse Hill
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
Off-the-shelf furniture comes in set heights, which usually leaves a gap above. We can take a bespoke unit to the ceiling or stop it at the picture rail, whichever looks right in your room. Walls in interwar houses are straighter than in older ones, but rarely perfect, so standalone furniture can still lean or leave gaps. Built-in pieces are adjusted to the room on site.
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. We’ll talk through what you need inside at the measuring visit.
Why us?
- Saturdays by arrangement
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Honest limits
We make and fit furniture, and we do not do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can drop us a line using the contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
How fitting day works
The last stage of the day is the finish. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; hand painting, if that is what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. Either way, the finish is the one set out in your quote. In a 1920s or 1930s house, the hall and stairs are usually straightforward, though we still measure the route in along with the room itself. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it’s going, with floors protected throughout.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- We send a quote in writing for the units.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
How to prepare
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Starting with a design visit
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. Afterwards, we send a quote in writing, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Related advice
Alcove units in Copse Hill: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Copse Hill were built before 1919 (about 34%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 33%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax 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 Copse Hill, Historic England’s list includes Southside House (Grade II*), under half a mile north-east, and Church of the Sacred Heart (Grade II*), about 0.6 miles east. 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. On TfL’s red routes, the rules on stopping and loading are strict. If your home in Copse Hill is on or near a main road, tell us during the design visit. It lets us plan the stop before fitting day.
For a flat near Raynes Park station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. Close to Cottenham Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. If you live in a period home close to Christ Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Copse Hill is in the London Borough of Merton, about 1 mile north-east of Wimbledon. We design and make alcove units for homes in Copse Hill. Copse Hill is one of 20 places on our list for Merton.
We cover every part of the SW20 and SW19 postcode area for alcove units. You will find streets here like Camp Road, Almer Road and Mckay Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. If you are just outside Copse Hill, we also cover Crooked Billet (1 mile north-east), Bushey Mead (1 mile south-east), Motspur Park (1 mile south-west), Wimbledon (1 mile north-east) and Raynes Park (1 mile south). Other parts of Merton we cover include Colliers Wood (3 miles east), Morden (2 miles south-east), Eastfields (3 miles east), South Wimbledon (2 miles east), Merton Abbey (2 miles east) and Mitcham (4 miles east).
Around Copse Hill
The streets we cover here include those near Ursuline Preparatory School, Crooked Billet pub and The Norwegian School in London and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Raynes Park station, about 0.6 miles south. Well-known places in the area include Atkinson Morley Hospital (a few minutes’ walk west) and Wimbledon Museum (0.8 miles north-east). For a walk, there is Henman Hill and Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads.
Looking after your furniture
New paint needs time to cure fully, so treat it gently at first. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
Once the cupboards are filled and in daily use, a door may settle slightly. Hinges can normally be adjusted to bring a door back in line, which deals with a door that starts to catch.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, because constant heat is not kind to a painted finish.