Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Brent · London
Alcove Units in Cricklewood
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Cricklewood. Every piece is made in our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units designed for your room
How fitting works for alcove units
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details, so it sits neatly against the room. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturday fitting can be arranged.
- You contact us with some details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level.
- You get a written quote for the units, materials and finish.
- 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.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
Before we arrive
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
Arranging a design visit
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit. To arrange it, send us a few details through our contact form. The written quote follows the visit.
Advice
About our alcove units in Cricklewood
Skirting boards, picture rails and coving are common in older rooms. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, depending on the look you want. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting. We agree these details at the design visit. If your home has shelving for books and records and cupboards in keeping with an older house, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Around Cricklewood, a large share of homes date from before 1919, which in London mostly means Victorian and Edwardian houses. Main rooms in houses like these usually have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side, which gives alcove units an obvious place to go. Because old walls bow and floors slope, the units are scribed to follow the wall and levelled at the base, then cut neatly around the skirting and any picture rail or cornice.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you, so it can be arranged before fitting day. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- Cricklewood (NW2, NW6, NW10)
- Borough
- Brent
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Looking after your furniture
These points come up often when people plan alcove units. They’re worth knowing before and after fitting:
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Tell us about parking and access during the design visit
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose, and adjust any door that starts to catch.
Boards, parts and paint
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting lets the colour be judged in the room itself as it goes on. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. Fixings are chosen to suit whatever the wall is made of, after checking the walls at the design visit.
If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before fixing furniture to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, and that’s best sorted before fitting day. We cannot advise on your lease, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
Questions from Cricklewood
Can you make alcove units for a home in Cricklewood?
Yes. Cricklewood is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Brent and London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details.
My home in Cricklewood is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and talk through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. You don’t need to watch us work, but it helps to be around at the end.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
An outside wall can be colder and damper than an inside one, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Every job is priced for its room: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. You’ll get a quote in writing once we have measured up.
What it costs
To work out the quote, we look at:
- The number of doors and drawers
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- How big the furniture is
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
How it’s painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. Your choice, along with the size and the fittings, is reflected in the written quote.
What to send when you get in touch
To help us picture the room, please include:
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. 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, use our contact form.
Living-room storage in Cricklewood
In the neighbourhood around Cricklewood, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 63%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 12%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Cricklewood is partly covered by a conservation area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Around Cricklewood, about 63% of homes date from before 1919, well above the figure for Brent as a whole, about 28%, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
For an older house near St Gabriel's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Fenton House, about 1.7 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For families living near Anson Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Cricklewood is about 1 mile south-east of Kilburn, within the London Borough of Brent. Design visits and fitting in Cricklewood can be on a Saturday, by arrangement. Our Brent coverage includes Cricklewood and the places around it.
Every home in NW2, NW6 and NW10 is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. If your home is on a street such as Ivy Road, Walm Lane and Dean Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Main roads around Cricklewood include the A407, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Other places close to Cricklewood include Brondesbury (1 mile south-east), Willesden (1 mile south-west), Dollis Hill (1 mile north-west), Willesden Green (1 mile south-west) and Neasden (1 mile west). Other parts of Brent we cover include Harlesden (2 miles south-west), Wembley (3 miles west), Queen's Park (2 miles south-east), Kenton (4 miles north-west), Church End (2 miles south-west) and Kensal Rise (2 miles south).
Local landmarks in Cricklewood
In Cricklewood, that includes homes near Hampstead School, Brondesbury College and The Crown Public House. Cricklewood has its own railway station: Cricklewood station. Nearby you will also find St Andrew's Hospital (0.8 miles north-west) and Brent Museum and Archives (0.7 miles south-west). Open spaces near Cricklewood include Westbere Copse.