Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lewisham · London
Deptford Alcove Units
For homes in Deptford, we make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Alcove units for your home in Deptford
Living-room carpentry in Deptford: local notes
In the area around Deptford, the largest groups of homes date from the years since 2000 (about 34%) and before 1919 (about 22%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (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. The National Heritage List has 56 entries within half a mile of the centre of Deptford. Older homes nearby may have original joinery, shutters or panelling worth keeping, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. Controlled parking zones cover much of inner London, and each borough runs its own. So a van fitting furniture in Deptford usually needs a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay arranged through the council. Parking is worth mentioning at the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
If you live in a flat close to Deptford station, the route in is measured not just the room, and the sections are sized to fit it. Queen's House, about 1 mile east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. For families living near Tidemill Academy, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Deptford is about 1 mile south-west of New Cross, part of the London Borough of Lewisham. We design and make alcove units for homes in Deptford. We cover places right across Lewisham, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We make alcove units across SE8, SE10 and SE14. If your home is on a street such as Mill Lane, Dixon Road and Clare Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Main roads around Deptford include the A2209. If you’re just outside Deptford, we also cover New Cross (1 mile south-west), St Johns (1 mile south), Millwall (1 mile north), Isle of Dogs (1 mile north-east) and North Greenwich (1 mile north-east). Across the rest of Lewisham, our area takes in Catford (3 miles south), Sydenham (4 miles south), Hither Green (2 miles south-east), Crofton Park (2 miles south), Perry Vale (3 miles south) and Brockley (2 miles south). Deptford is one of the larger places we cover in Lewisham.
Landmarks near Deptford
The streets we cover here include those near Laban Centre, Deptford Arms and Addey and Stanhope School, among other places. There is a railway station in Deptford itself: Deptford station. Other landmarks nearby include Greenwich Castle (1.1 miles east) and Lewisham Shopping Centre (1.3 miles south-east).
Alcove units in Deptford
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding, while in a dining room it can keep china, glass and table linen. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, and set out the shelves and rails around it. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and the things people most often want solved are cupboards in keeping with an older house and bowed walls and sloping floors.
Mansion block flats tend to have tall ceilings and walls that wander, while a flat in a newer block is more likely to have plasterboard partitions. Most households around Deptford live in purpose-built flats, old or new, so the wall type is the first thing we check for alcove units. Whatever the wall, tall pieces are fixed back securely.
The quote comes in writing, so you can read it at your own pace. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Place
- Deptford (SE8, SE10, SE14)
- Borough
- Lewisham
- 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
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
What happens on fitting day
Finishing comes last. With a spray finish from the workshop, there is normally only filling and touching up to do in the room; hand painting, if that’s what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. In a block of flats, the stairs, landings, lift and doors matter as much as the room: the furniture is made in sections that fit through all of them. Some older blocks have small lifts or none, which the design allows for.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, with a note of the room they’re in.
- 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, ready for you to check.
- 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.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
How to prepare
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
Arranging a design visit
The design visit is where every quote starts. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A quote in writing follows the visit for you to look over. To book one, get in touch through our contact form.
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Also near Deptford
Also in Deptford
Tips worth knowing
Painted fitted furniture is easy to look after with a little care. These habits help most:
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Think about how the units meet the picture rail and cornice
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Off-the-shelf units come in the colours the maker chose. We paint ours in the colour you pick, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. You can match the walls or choose a contrast. Standard furniture sizes rarely suit the shape of a flat, so it can waste space or block a door or radiator. Fitted furniture is planned around those.
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside.
What you get with us
- Saturdays by arrangement
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- 300+ projects completed
- Made for your room, not a standard size
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Common questions about alcove units
Is parking a problem for fitting in Deptford?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
I live in a flat in Deptford. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
We measure the route in not just the room: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. Alcove units are made in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
What happens when you come to measure?
It’s a chance to measure properly and talk through what you’d like. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, then send a quote in writing.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that aren’t square?
Yes. Each alcove is measured during the design visit, then the units are built in our workshop and scribed to the walls when we fit them.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
Either a spray-painted or a hand-painted finish. Spray painting gives a smooth, factory-like finish; a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later. We will help you choose at the design visit.
Do I need permission in a conservation area?
Usually not. Inside a house, fitted furniture does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings can require listed building consent for works that affect their character, so check with the council first.
Flat-pack or bespoke?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t usually do that in an older room.
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
Boards, parts and paint
Spray-painted finish
A sprayed coat covers edges and corners evenly and leaves no brush marks. The colour is agreed with you before we start.
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribe strips are the edges we trim on site to follow the wall. This closes the gap between a straight unit and a bowed alcove.