Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Covent Garden Alcove Units
Alcove units for your home in Covent Garden: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made in our workshop and fitted by us.
- A place for a small desk
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Alcove units for your home in Covent Garden
Alcove units in Covent Garden: what you get
A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help keep damp out of the breast. Units are planned so any vent stays clear. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in, as cupboards fitted over damp walls can suffer. If you’re living with shelving for books and records and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish can solve it.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. That matters around Covent Garden, as a large share of the homes there were built before 1919. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting, so they sit as if they came with the house.
The written quote is your record of the job. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, what it is made from and how it is finished, and the workshop works from it.
- Where
- Covent Garden (W1F, W1D, W1T)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What it costs
What you pay depends on:
- The internal fittings
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The width and height of the space
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
There is no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing. To arrange a design visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
What we need to know
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Approximate measurements of the space
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
Getting a quote starts with a few details: the room, rough measurements and some photos if you have them. When you are ready, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a written quote.
Nearby places to Covent Garden
More for homes in Covent Garden
Why bespoke in Covent Garden?
In fairness, standalone furniture comes with you when you move. Fitted alcove units stay with the house and remain when you move on. Which suits you depends on your plans. Off-the-shelf furniture is made for flat walls and level floors, which older houses rarely have, so you end up with gaps, wobbles and units that do not meet the skirting. Fitted pieces follow the wall and sit level.
Rooms that aren’t square take more work: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That’s reflected in the quote.
Why work with us in Covent Garden
- Saturday work by arrangement
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
- Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
Built-in living-room furniture in Covent Garden
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Covent Garden were built before 1919 (about 50%) and since 2000 (about 21%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. 34 conservation areas have at least part of their area less than a mile from the middle of Covent Garden. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Purpose-built flats are home to about 77% of households in the area around Covent Garden, based on Census 2021. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
Close to Victoria Embankment Gardens? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. For a flat near London Charing Cross station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in. The wider area includes historic houses like Benjamin Franklin House, about 0.4 miles south. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Covent Garden is within the City of Westminster, about 1 mile west of City of Westminster. From period terraces to newer flats in Covent Garden, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our Westminster coverage includes Covent Garden.
Every home in W1F, W1D and W1T is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. If your home is on a street like Duck Lane, Drury Lane and New Square, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Covent Garden sits close to the A301 and A400. If you are just outside Covent Garden, we also cover Seven Dials (1 mile west), Aldwych (1 mile east), Adelphi (1 mile south), St Giles (1 mile north-west) and Clare Market (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Westminster we cover include Victoria (2 miles south-west), Paddington Green (2 miles west), Paddington (2 miles west), Connaught Village (2 miles west), Belgravia (2 miles south-west) and Lisson Grove (2 miles north-west).
What’s near Covent Garden
In Covent Garden, that includes homes near Punch & Judy pub, Mercers' School and LSE Shaw Library. Covent Garden has its own railway station: London Charing Cross station. A little further out are Savoy Hospital (a few minutes’ walk south-east) and London Museum and Institute of Natural History (less than half a mile east). Green spaces nearby include St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
Before and after fitting day
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
Keep a record of the colour for future touch-ups. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose and adjust a door before a small rub becomes a mark.
Honest limits
It’s useful to know what’s outside our work before you plan:
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can message us from the contact page and we will tell you. How a job runs, step by step.
What it is made from
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
What happens on fitting day
Finishing comes last. With a spray finish from the workshop, there’s normally only filling and touching up to do in the room; 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. If your hall still has its original tiles or boards, they’re covered before any carrying starts. Fixings into older walls are made carefully, as lath and plaster can crack if treated roughly. Any decorating around the new pieces is for your decorator.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- We send a written quote setting out the layout, materials and finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level.
Preparing the room
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
Ask for a quote
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 for you to look over. To book one, get in touch through our contact form.
Read more
Questions from Covent Garden
Can you fit alcove units to the uneven walls of an older house in Covent Garden?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to London Charing Cross station?
Yes, homes across Westminster and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
The fitting depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. We’ll talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Do photos help?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. Show anything the furniture has to work around, like radiators or sockets.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. A desk in one alcove, with shelves above and storage below, works well in many rooms. We plan the height and depth with you.