Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Derry Downs
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Derry Downs. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Shelving for books and records
- A place for a small desk
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Ask about alcove units in Derry Downs
The problems alcove units solve
Others want a proper home for books, records or a TV. We can plan an alcove unit around exactly what you have, with each shelf set to suit it.
If you recognise any of these, it’s worth talking to us:
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Space for a growing book collection
- A place for a small desk
If you live in a period home close to St Andrew's, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Choosing a carpenter
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- Can you see real work of theirs?
Alcove units in Derry Downs
A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in, as cupboards fitted over damp walls can suffer. If you are living with storage that suits a period room and everyday clutter left on show, alcove units made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish can solve it.
Around Derry Downs, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. In a typical 1930s house, the front room has a bay at one end and a chimney breast with an alcove to either side, and that layout shapes where alcove units work best. Walls in houses of that age are normally straighter than in Victorian ones, though they’re still checked and scribed where needed.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both, depending on the design. The finish is stated too, whether that is spray painting or hand painting.
- Location
- Derry Downs (BR5, BR6)
- Borough
- Bromley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: alcove units in Derry Downs
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Derry Downs?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to St Mary Cray station?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Do photos help?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. It’s useful to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Electrical work isn’t something we do. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
It depends on the size, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish, along with access and parking. The price comes in a quote in writing after the design visit.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room.
What we don’t do
Not everything around alcove units is carpentry, like an electrician, a plumber or an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Here is what to bear in mind:
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
If in doubt, you can use our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
What happens on fitting day
The last stage of the day is the finish. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. Semis and detached houses often have a front path or a side gate, which can make carrying in easier. We measure the path, any steps and the front door as part of the route. Floors are covered from the door to the room, and the sections are assembled in place.
- You tell us which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- We send a quote in writing setting out the layout, materials and finish.
- Once you are happy, the units are built in our workshop, each one sized to its own alcove.
- Fitting day: the units go in, are scribed to the alcoves and levelled on a plinth or feet. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
How to prepare
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Tell us about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
Arranging a design visit
Rough sizes are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit. To arrange it, drop us a line using the contact form and tell us about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Read more
Places near Derry Downs
Other services in Derry Downs
What affects the cost of alcove units
There is no set price, because there’s no set room. The things that affect it are:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- How big the furniture is
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
Tricky rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. The quote allows for it.
Before the design visit
Getting a few details early makes the visit more useful. If you can, send:
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- What the furniture needs to hold
- The type of home and how the room is reached
The quote is built from the design visit. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. Afterwards, we send a quote in writing, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, message us from the contact page.
Derry Downs homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Derry Downs were built between 1945 and 1972 (about 39%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 30%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. There are 7 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Derry Downs. Being near listed buildings doesn’t make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. About 39% of homes in the area around Derry Downs were built between 1945 and 1972, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Rooms from that era are often squarer, with fewer alcoves and sometimes no chimney breast, so a full wall of alcove units is often the answer, fixed to suit the wall, which may be concrete or block.
For a family home near St Philomena's Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. Near listed buildings like Kevington Hall, less than half a mile north-east of the centre of Derry Downs, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features.
Derry Downs is in the London Borough of Bromley, about 1 mile west of Orpington. Anywhere in Derry Downs, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. We list Derry Downs among 49 places we cover in Bromley.
We make alcove units across BR5 and BR6. If your home is on a street such as Kent Road, Park Road and Cross Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Main roads around Derry Downs include the A224, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Orpington (1 mile west), St Mary Cray (1 mile north-west), Poverest (1 mile north-west), Kevington (1 mile east) and St Paul's Cray (1 mile north). Across the rest of Bromley, our area takes in Bromley (5 miles west), Beckenham (6 miles west), Chislehurst (3 miles north-west), Penge (8 miles west), Anerley (8 miles west) and Crystal Palace (8 miles west).
Around Derry Downs
Our area takes in the homes around Harris Academy Orpington, The Priory School and The Royal Albert pub and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is St Mary Cray station, roughly 0.8 miles north-west of the centre. A little further out are Orpington Hospital (1.8 miles south-west) and London Borough of Bromley Museum (0.7 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include The Warren.
How it’s made
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish can be done on site, after the units are fitted. Small marks are easy to touch up, and it suits a period room.
Birch plywood
We often use birch plywood for drawer boxes too, where strength matters. It’s painted to match the rest of the unit, or the edge is left as a detail.