Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Southwark · London
Dulwich Village Alcove Units
We make alcove units for homes in Dulwich Village, designed around the room you have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and built in our workshop.
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Need alcove units in Dulwich Village?
Alcove units in Dulwich Village: what you get
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope, often all at once. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. Typical reasons to get in touch are shelving for books and records and units that sit well with original features; the furniture is made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Around Dulwich Village, a large share of homes date from before 1919, which in London mostly means Victorian and Edwardian houses. Houses of that age normally have a chimney breast in the front and back reception rooms, with an alcove either side, which gives alcove units an obvious place to go. Walls are rarely flat, so each piece is scribed to the plaster and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we’ll tell you. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- Dulwich Village (SE22, SE21, SE24)
- Borough
- Southwark
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through without a struggle.
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, and that’s best sorted before fitting day. We cannot advise on your lease, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
Fitting day, step by step
Every fitting follows the same order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. 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 contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, so you can look it over in your own time.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Preparing the room
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
Ask for a quote
To get a quote, use our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a written quote follows.
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Questions we’re often asked
Do you cover homes near North Dulwich station?
Yes. We cover all of Southwark and the rest of London. To get started, you can send us a few details through our contact form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Does a conservation area in or near Dulwich Village affect fitted furniture?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can require listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do both alcove units have to match?
It’s up to you. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but many people put a desk or a TV in one alcove and cupboards in the other. Shared details, like the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It can be done with some care: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. We do not treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Can I send photos before the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, particularly with rough sizes. You can send them when you fill in our short enquiry form.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It’s up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We go through the options at the design visit.
What it costs
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. This is what makes the difference:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- How big the furniture is
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
Awkward rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. The quote allows for it.
Before the design visit
Here’s what helps us most when you contact us:
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- What the furniture needs to hold
- Approximate measurements of the space
We quote once we’ve seen the room. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, then send a quote in writing. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. To book a design visit, use our contact form.
Places near Dulwich Village
Other services in Dulwich Village
The problems alcove units solve
Sometimes it is the clutter of a busy living room. Toys, games, post and chargers all need a home, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. Open shelves above are left for the things you like to see.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Shelving for books and records
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- A place for a small desk
Near listed buildings like Bell House, less than half a mile south of the centre of Dulwich Village, 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.
Before you choose who makes it
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
When you need someone else
Before you plan the job, it is useful to know what we do not do:
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Electrical work, like new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can get in touch through our contact form and we’ll tell you before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Hand-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
Dulwich Village homes and alcove units
Homes built before 1919 make up about 72% of the housing in the streets around Dulwich Village, with about 14% built between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. 5 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of central Dulwich Village. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. If your home in Dulwich Village is on or near a main road, tell us at the measuring visit. It lets us plan the stop before fitting day.
Close to Dulwich Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. For a family home near Dulwich Hamlet Junior School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Dulwich Village is about 1 mile north of East Dulwich, within the London Borough of Southwark. Anywhere in Dulwich Village, it works the same way: a design visit, a written quote, furniture made at our workshop and fitting in your home. In Southwark, Dulwich Village is one of the places we cover, and the borough has 21 places on our list.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: SE22, SE21 and SE24. Streets in the area include Court Lane, Druce Road and Turney Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Dulwich Village is near the A2216, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you contact us. Close by, we also work in Dulwich (1 mile south-east), Herne Hill (1 mile north-west), East Dulwich (1 mile north), West Dulwich (1 mile south) and Denmark Hill (1 mile north). Across the rest of Southwark, our area takes in Bermondsey (3 miles north), Elephant and Castle (3 miles north), Bankside (4 miles north), Southwark (4 miles north), St George's Fields (3 miles north) and Newington Butts (3 miles north).
Around Dulwich Village
We fit furniture in homes around The Crown and Greyhound pub, Alleyn's School and The Charter School. There’s a railway station in Dulwich Village itself: North Dulwich station. A little further out are House of Dreams Museum (0.7 miles north) and Dulwich Community Hospital (0.6 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Knight's Hill and Centre for Wildlife Gardening.