Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lewisham · London
Alcove Units in Crofton Park
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. We make alcove units for homes in Crofton Park, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Shelving for books and records
- Alcoves that aren’t square
Need alcove units in Crofton Park?
Materials and finishes
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish often suits alcove units in older houses. The colour is agreed with you.
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves add stiffness to the unit, while adjustable ones give you room to change things.
Alcove units in Crofton Park
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope, sometimes all in one recess. Each unit is made at our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the sides meet the wall closely rather than showing a dark line. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and people most often get in touch about alcoves that are wasted space and clutter with nowhere to go.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and alcove units need to meet those lines neatly. A large share of the housing around Crofton Park went up before 1919, so those details are worth looking at closely during the design visit. The top of the furniture can stop at the picture rail or carry on to the cornice, whichever suits the room.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you, so it can be arranged before fitting day. The quote itself covers our work, from the design to the materials and finish.
- Where
- Crofton Park (SE4, SE6, SE23)
- Area
- Lewisham
- Cost
- 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 plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: alcove units in Crofton Park
I live near Crofton Park station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Lewisham and the rest of London. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away, so we never box a vent in.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
What happens when you come to measure?
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, and afterwards we send a written quote.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You do not need to watch us work.
Neighbourhoods near Crofton Park
Also in Crofton Park
From workshop to your room
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and fitting day is where that happens. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so we scribe the edges by hand to follow the wall, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Hallways in period houses are often narrow, and the stairs turn sharply, so alcove units are made in sections sized to get through. Floors and stair carpets are protected on the way in and out, and the sections are joined and scribed in the room.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, for you to read through at your own pace.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
How to prepare
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Keep pets in another room while we work
How to get a quote
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. To book a design visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Read more
What we don’t do
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your 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 will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
Caring for painted furniture
Getting the most from alcove units starts with the planning and carries on after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
Painted finishes feel dry quickly but take longer to cure fully. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, because constant heat isn’t kind to a painted finish.
Alcove units in Crofton Park: local notes
In the area around Crofton Park, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 57%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 12%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Within a mile of the centre of Crofton Park, 4 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Around Crofton Park, about 57% of homes date from before 1919, well above the figure for Lewisham as a whole, about 36%, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
Living in a block of flats near Crofton Park station? Then it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. The wider area includes historic houses like Queen's House, about 2.4 miles north-east. 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. If your children go to Stillness Infant School or a school nearby, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Crofton Park is part of the London Borough of Lewisham, about 1 mile north of New Cross. Whether your home in Crofton Park is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our work takes in places right across Lewisham, large and small.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: SE4, SE6 and SE23. If your home is on a street like Ivy Road, Nash Road and Lindal Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover Brockley (1 mile north-west), Ladywell (1 mile east), Honor Oak (1 mile west), Forest Hill (1 mile south-west) and Nunhead (1 mile north-west). Elsewhere in Lewisham, we also cover Deptford (2 miles north), Surrey Canal (2 miles north), Sydenham (2 miles south-west), Lee (2 miles east), Blackheath (2 miles north-east) and Downham (2 miles south-east).
What’s near Crofton Park
Around Crofton Park, we cover homes near Prendergast Ladywell School and Blythe Hill Tavern and the streets around them. Crofton Park has its own railway station: Crofton Park station. A little further out are University Hospital Lewisham (0.7 miles east) and Horniman Museum and Gardens (1.4 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include One Tree Hill.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
With bought furniture you’re limited to the maker’s finishes. We paint ours in the colour you pick, either spray painted in the workshop or hand painted. You can match the walls or choose a contrast. Alcoves and recesses in period houses are rarely a standard width or depth, so off-the-shelf pieces either don’t fit or leave a gap either side. Made for the space, the furniture uses the full width and height.
Every room is priced on its own, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Why us?
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.