Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Havering · London
Alcove units in Cranham, Havering
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make alcove units for homes in Cranham, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units for your home in Cranham
Alcove units in Cranham: what you get
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF suits doors and panels because it paints so evenly, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. The finish is spray painted in the workshop or hand painted on site, in a colour agreed with you. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and people most often get in touch about empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast and clutter with nowhere to go.
A typical 1930s semi has a bay window at the front and a chimney breast with a recess either side. Around Cranham, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so that layout is worth knowing well. We tend to plan alcove units along the chimney breast wall so the bay keeps its light, though every room is measured first.
The furniture is made at our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Location
- Cranham (RM14)
- Borough
- Havering
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Looking after your furniture
None of this takes much effort. Here’s what we suggest:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
Once the cupboards are filled and in daily use, a door may settle slightly. Hinges can typically be adjusted to bring a door back in line, which deals with a door that starts to catch.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.
Do you need alcove units in Cranham?
Often the alcoves are simply the biggest unused space in the room. Standard furniture seldom fits an alcove, so there are gaps at the sides and the top. A fitted unit fills the recess up to the ceiling if you want.
Alcove units can help with:
- Shelving for books and records
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Room to work in an alcove
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
The wider area includes historic houses such as Hare Hall, about 3 miles north-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Choosing a carpenter
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
Could you do it yourself?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Places near Cranham
More for homes in Cranham
Alcove units for homes in Cranham
About 64% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Cranham went up between 1945 and 1972, and about 21% between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Near the centre of Cranham, Historic England’s list includes Upminster Hall (Grade II*), about 0.5 miles north-west. For a listed home, internal works that affect its character may need listed building consent from the council, for instance removing or fixing into original panelling. It is worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has covered all of London since it reached the outer boroughs on 29 August 2023. Vans bringing furniture to Cranham fall under it, just as they do across the rest of London. We plan parking and access with you during the design visit.
If you live in a flat close to Upminster 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. Close to St. Andrew's Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Cranham is about 4 miles west of Romford, within the London Borough of Havering. Anywhere in Cranham, the process is the same: a design visit, a quote in writing, furniture made in our workshop and fitting in your home. Cranham is one of 22 places on our list for Havering.
Design visits and fitting in RM14 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Avon Road, Moor Lane and Front Lane, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Upminster (1 mile west), Puddle Dock (1 mile east), Upminster Bridge (1 mile west), North Ockendon (2 miles south-east) and Emerson Park (2 miles north-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as Romford (4 miles west), Hornchurch (2 miles west), Gallows Corner (3 miles north-west), Heath Park (3 miles west), Elm Park (3 miles west) and Collier Row (5 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Cranham
We fit furniture in homes around The James Oglethorpe Primary School and The Crumpled Horn pub and the streets around them. The closest station to Cranham is Upminster station, roughly 0.7 miles west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Upminster Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia (0.6 miles north-west). Not far away are Cranham Brickfields.
Questions from Cranham
Do you make alcove units for homes in Cranham?
Yes. Cranham is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Havering and London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Upminster station?
Yes, homes across Havering and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
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 alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice. The height is settled during the design visit.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch, and we will see what we can do.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
Electrical work isn’t something we do. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. We size our shelves for their span and what they’ll carry, with birch plywood where it is needed. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you are renting or moving soon. Doors, windows and radiators rarely leave a gap that matches a standard width, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Built-in pieces are planned around those fixed points.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space.
What you get with us
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
How fitting works for alcove units
Fitting day follows a set order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. It’s useful to clear the room and the route before we arrive. Fitting day starts with protecting the floors and setting out the pieces. Each piece is levelled, scribed where the wall wanders and fixed to suit the wall.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units, and we find a time for the design visit.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician ahead of time
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
Starting with a design visit
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit, when we’ve measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.