Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barking and Dagenham · London
Dagenham Green Alcove Units
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. Our work on alcove units in Dagenham Green starts with a design visit, and everything is made at our workshop.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Alcove units designed for your room
Built-in living-room furniture in Dagenham Green
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Dagenham Green were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 69%) and since 2000 (about 15%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. About 48% of households in the area around Dagenham Green live in terraced houses, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. Terraced houses in London often have alcoves beside a chimney breast, and alcove units are made to those widths. More than half of the homes in the area around Dagenham Green (about 69%) date from between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Interwar front rooms normally have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, which shape where alcove units go.
For a flat near Dagenham Dock station, it’s useful to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. Close to Parsloes Park? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. For families living near Marsh Green Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Dagenham Green is about 2 miles west of Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. We design and make alcove units for homes in Dagenham Green, as part of our work in every London borough. Dagenham Green is one of 11 places on our list for Barking and Dagenham.
In RM9, RM10 and RM13, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Streets in the area include New Road, Link Road and Ripple Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Dagenham Dock (1 mile south-west), Beam Park (1 mile east), Hornchurch Marshes (1 mile south-east), Dagenham (1 mile north-east) and Castle Green (1 mile west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Barking (2 miles west), Thames View Estate (2 miles west), Barking Riverside (2 miles west), Becontree Heath (2 miles north), Chadwell Heath (3 miles north) and Creekmouth (2 miles west).
What’s near Dagenham Green
Our area takes in the homes around Cross Keys pub and Dagenham Park Community School, among other places. Dagenham Green has its own railway station: Dagenham Dock station. For a walk, there is Scrattons Eco Park.
Alcove units for homes in Dagenham Green
Skirting boards, picture rails and coving are common in older rooms. We can cut units around these details, stop beneath them or run up to meet them, depending on the look you want. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting so the units feel part of the room. We agree these details at the design visit, before anything is made. If you’re living with storage that suits a period room and room to work in an alcove, that’s what alcove units are for, made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
If you live in one of the interwar houses or semis around Dagenham Green, the living room may be a good size but with fewer recesses than a Victorian house. Alcove units can fill the alcoves, run the length of a wall or frame the chimney breast, depending on how you use the room. Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood keep the pieces stable, and the paint finish is agreed with you.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. The finish is stated too, whether that is spray painting or hand painting.
- Place
- Dagenham Green (RM9, RM10, RM13)
- Area
- Barking and Dagenham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions we are often asked
I live near Dagenham Dock station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Barking and Dagenham and the rest of London. To get started, you can use our contact form with a few details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Is Dagenham Green in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Dagenham Green is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Barking and Dagenham and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and talk through the design, followed by a quote.
How do I get a quote?
The first step is to drop us a line using the contact form with some details about the room. After that, we arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You don’t need to watch us work, but it’s useful to be around at the end.
What happens when you come to measure?
We measure the space and discuss the design, materials and finish. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, then send a quote in writing.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. We agree the height at the measuring visit.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
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, which is worth sorting early. We can’t give advice on leases, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways along with the room itself, so each section is sized to get through without a struggle.
What we don’t do
We make and fit furniture, and we do not do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can tell us about the room on our contact form and we’ll tell you before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
What goes into it
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
Materials and finishes
Moisture-resistant MDF
For alcove units, MDF gives crisp doors and smooth sides. The moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice next to a chimney breast.
Plinths and scribe strips
The plinth raises the unit and takes up uneven floors. It can be set to line up with the skirting for a tidy finish.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
If you’re handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls.
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Places near Dagenham Green
What else we make in Dagenham Green
How fitting day works
With the carcasses fixed and level, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a 1920s or 1930s house, the hall and stairs are typically simple, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. Alcove units arrive in sections and are assembled in place, with floors protected throughout.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, including the paint finish.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that’s done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Preparing the room
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Tell us about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, use our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.