Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Alcove units in Duckett's Green, Haringey
We make alcove units for homes in Duckett's Green, designed around the room you have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Space for a growing book collection
Alcove units for your home in Duckett's Green
What it costs
Not every room costs the same, and it comes down to:
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Spray painting or hand painting
- The overall size of the piece
Access to the room makes a difference too. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space.
Getting in touch
Getting some details early makes the visit more useful. If you can, send:
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Rough measurements: width, height and depth
- Your postcode and the borough
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
The design visit is where every quote starts. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. A written quote follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, get in touch through our contact form.
About our alcove units in Duckett's Green
Many people choose cupboards at low level and shelves above them. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, while the shelves hold books and the things you want on show. The top of the cupboard makes a useful surface at a comfortable height. Heights are agreed with you to suit the room and your things. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the things people most often want solved are somewhere to keep books and records and bowed walls and sloping floors.
A large share of the homes around Duckett's Green were built before 1919, which in London mostly means Victorian and Edwardian houses. Main rooms in houses like these normally have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side, and those alcoves are the natural home for alcove units. Because old walls bow and floors slope, the units are scribed to follow the wall and levelled at the base, then cut neatly around the skirting and any picture rail or cornice.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It describes the alcove unit we’ve designed for the room, what it’s made from and how it is finished, and the workshop works from it.
- Where
- Duckett's Green (N15, N22, N8)
- Area
- Haringey
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Duckett's Green
I live in a flat in Duckett's Green. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it’s worth checking those early.
Do you cover homes near Hornsey station?
Yes, homes across Haringey and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with some details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
What affects the price of alcove units?
It depends on the size, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish. We send a written quote after the design visit.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can share a style while doing different things.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
The time on site depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Most of the making happens in our workshop, so the work in your home is about fitting and finishing.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by prior arrangement. If a Saturday works better for you, say so when you get in touch.
Built-in living-room furniture in Duckett's Green
Homes built before 1919 make up about 62% of the housing in the area around Duckett's Green, with about 12% built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. There are 6 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Duckett's Green. Being near listed buildings does not make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. Many London boroughs run controlled parking zones, and Haringey sets its own rules. Where a street in Duckett's Green is controlled, a van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension from the council. Let us know what the parking is like during the design visit.
Close to Ducketts Common? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. If your home is one of the older houses near Christ Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Duckett's Green is within the London Borough of Haringey, about 1 mile north-east of Tottenham. Whether your home in Duckett's Green is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Across Haringey, we cover Duckett's Green, along with the rest of the borough.
Here we cover the N15, N22 and N8 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as Bury Road, Mark Road and Frome Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Main roads around Duckett's Green include the A1080, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Nearby, we also make alcove units in West Green (1 mile south-east), Harringay (1 mile south), St Ann's (1 mile south-east), Broadwater Farm (1 mile north-east) and Tottenham Green (1 mile east). Elsewhere in Haringey, we also cover Bounds Green (2 miles north-west), Highgate (2 miles south-west), Muswell Hill (2 miles west), Fortis Green (2 miles west), Northumberland Park (2 miles north-east) and Tottenham Hale (2 miles east).
Local landmarks in Duckett's Green
Around Duckett's Green, we cover homes near The Queens Head pub, Park View School and Moselle Upper School and the streets around them. The closest station to Duckett's Green is Hornsey station, roughly 0.7 miles west of the centre. A little further out are Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (1.6 miles east) and Greentrees Hospital (1.5 miles north). Open spaces near Duckett's Green include Railway Fields.
How fitting day works
Getting everything level comes first. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference. After that, it is fixed to the wall using fixings that suit the wall, whether that’s solid brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturday fitting can be arranged.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, including the paint finish.
- A written quote follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Preparing the room
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
Arranging a design visit
It’s useful to see the room before we come. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space, along with rough sizes. To send them over, use our contact form, and we will suggest a time for a design visit.
Advice
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
To be fair, a standalone bookcase or cabinet can go with you to your next home. Built-in units become part of the room and are left behind when you go. Which suits you depends on your plans. Ready-made units stop well short of a tall period ceiling, wasting space that could hold things you rarely use. Built-in pieces can run to the cornice or the picture rail.
We don’t publish set prices, because every piece is designed for one room. Instead, we measure, talk through the design and then quote in writing, naming the materials and finish. To arrange a design visit, drop us a line using the contact form.
Why us?
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Made for your room, not a standard size
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.
Is it time for alcove units?
Often the alcoves are simply the biggest unused space in the room. Off-the-shelf furniture rarely fits them, so there are gaps at the sides and the top. Built-in units use the whole recess up to the ceiling if you want.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Space for a growing book collection
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Units that sit well with original features
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
For a flat near Hornsey station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Whether you will get a quote in writing, not just a figure
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- How doors and drawers are fitted
Materials and finishes
Plinths and scribe strips
The plinth raises the unit and takes up uneven floors. It can be set to line up with the skirting.
Birch plywood
For alcove shelves that carry books, birch plywood helps keep them straight. Thickness is chosen to suit the span and the weight.