Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Merton · London
Alcove units in Crooked Billet, Merton
In Crooked Billet, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made in our workshop.
- Units that sit well with original features
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Alcove units for your home in Crooked Billet
Alcove units in Crooked Billet: what you get
We work across London, including Crooked Billet. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and talk through the design. After that we send a quote in writing; the units are then made at our workshop and fitted in your home. People usually come to us about standard units leaving gaps at the sides and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast, and the answer is built in our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Ceiling heights across London vary a lot, from tall period rooms to compact modern ones. In Crooked Billet, as anywhere, we measure the height as carefully as the width, since it sets how tall alcove units can be. Sections are sized for the stairs and doors on the way in.
The quote comes in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and share it with anyone else involved. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Crooked Billet (SW19, SW20)
- Area
- Merton
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions we are often asked
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Crooked Billet?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Raynes Park station?
Yes. We cover all of Merton and the rest of London. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with a few details about the room.
Will alcove units fit if my walls are not straight?
Yes. Each alcove is measured during the design visit, make the units in our workshop and trim the edges on site to meet the wall.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
Electrical work is not something we do. New or moved sockets are a job for your electrician, ideally before fitting. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Crooked Billet?
Simply drop us a line using the contact form. Rough measurements and a few photos help, and then we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design.
Do photos help?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough sizes. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form.
Fitting day, step by step
At the end, we tidy up. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you and answer any questions. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. It helps to clear the room and the route in before fitting day, including pictures on nearby walls. We cover floors and doorways first. Then the sections come in and are joined in place.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, and we find a time for the design visit.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing.
- We build the units in our workshop, using 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. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before we arrive
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
Getting a quote
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, get in touch through our contact form, and we will suggest a time for a design visit.
Advice
Neighbourhoods near Crooked Billet
What else we make in Crooked Billet
Materials and finishes
Moisture-resistant MDF
With no grain to show through, MDF keeps the painted surface smooth and even. We choose the moisture-resistant grade for fitted furniture.
Shelves
Shelf thickness depends on the span and the load. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Honest limits
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, so these points are worth knowing:
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
If in doubt, you can drop us a line using the contact form and describe the room. Our process from visit to fitting.
What it is made from
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
Living-room carpentry in Crooked Billet: local notes
In the neighbourhood around Crooked Billet, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 34%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 21%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. There are 67 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Crooked Billet. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. About 40% of households in the neighbourhood around Crooked Billet live in detached or semi-detached houses, based on Census 2021. A house like that typically has more rooms to plan around than a flat, and sometimes a driveway that makes unloading easier.
For a family home near Wimbledon College, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. Near listed buildings like Southside House, under half a mile south-east of the centre of Crooked Billet, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent. Living in a block of flats near Raynes Park station? Then check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in.
Crooked Billet is about 1 mile east of Wimbledon, in the London Borough of Merton. From period terraces to newer flats in Crooked Billet, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. In Merton, Crooked Billet is one of the places we cover, and the borough has 20 places on our list.
We work across SW19 and SW20 for alcove units. Streets in the area include Camp Road, Mckay Road and Pepys Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover Copse Hill (1 mile south-west), Wimbledon (1 mile east), Bushey Mead (1 mile south), Wimbledon Chase (1 mile south-east) and Kingston Vale (1 mile north-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Colliers Wood (3 miles east), Morden (2 miles south-east), Eastfields (3 miles east), Merton Abbey (2 miles east), Mitcham (4 miles south-east) and Hackbridge (4 miles south-east).
Near you in Crooked Billet
The streets we cover here include those near Hollymount School, The Fox and Grapes pub and Ursuline Preparatory School and the streets around them. The closest station to Crooked Billet is Raynes Park station, about 0.9 miles south of the centre. A little further out are Atkinson Morley Hospital (0.5 miles south-west) and Wimbledon Museum (0.5 miles east). For a walk, there is Henman Hill and Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Tell us about them during the design visit, so fitting day is planned around them.
Landlords furnishing a let use fitted furniture too. The materials are the same as for any home: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. In a room with square walls and standard sizes, it can work well, and it’s quick to buy.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s usually a gap left over at the top or at one end. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.