Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Southwark · London
East Dulwich Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in East Dulwich. After a design visit and a written quote, it is built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Units that sit well with original features
Alcove units designed for your room
Alcove units in East Dulwich
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It is a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. Desk height and depth are agreed with you, with a gap or hole planned so cables can reach the sockets. If your home has bare alcoves beside the fireplace and toys and paperwork with no proper home, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand can solve it.
With a large share of homes around East Dulwich built before 1919, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. You will see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, all taken from the design visit.
- Location
- East Dulwich (SE5, SE22, SE15)
- Area
- Southwark
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
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.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
What it is made from
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting is done in the workshop, for a smooth and even finish. It suits a crisp, modern look as well as a classic one.
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribing means trimming the edges on site so they follow the wall. This closes the gap between a straight unit and a bowed alcove.
How we price alcove units
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. What affects it comes down to:
- The width and height of the space
- Awkward walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How many doors and drawers there are
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. A larger piece means more material and more time, so size comes first. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
What we need to know
A little information at the start saves time later. If you can, send:
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough measurements and some pictures if you have them. When you are ready, fill in our short enquiry form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
FAQs: alcove units in East Dulwich
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in East Dulwich?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character may need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do you make alcove units for homes in East Dulwich?
Yes. East Dulwich is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Southwark and London. To get started, you can use our contact form with some details.
Do pictures help?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough measurements. Show anything the furniture has to work around, like radiators or sockets.
How do I get started?
The first step is to fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room. We then arrange a design visit, measure up and send a written quote.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. We will plan the desk around how you work.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
Also near East Dulwich
Also in East Dulwich
Living-room storage in East Dulwich
Homes built before 1919 make up about 64% of the housing in the area around East Dulwich, with about 12% built between 1945 and 1972, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of East Dulwich include Champion Lodge (Grade II), less than half a mile north-west, and Champion Cottage (Grade II), under half a mile north. Works inside a listed home that affect its character, for example removing original joinery or fixing into it, can need listed building consent from the council. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. Around East Dulwich, about 64% of homes date from before 1919, well above the figure for Southwark as a whole, about 26%, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
Kingswood House, about 2.2 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Close to Brunswick Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. Living in a block of flats near East Dulwich station? Then each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room.
East Dulwich is part of the London Borough of Southwark. From period terraces to newer flats in East Dulwich, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Across Southwark, we cover East Dulwich.
We make alcove units across the SE5, SE22 and SE15 postcode area. If your home is on a street such as Rye Lane, Wren Road and Adys Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. East Dulwich is near the A2214 and A2215; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Denmark Hill (1 mile north-west), Herne Hill (1 mile south-west), Dulwich Village (1 mile south), Camberwell (1 mile north) and Peckham (1 mile north-east). Across the rest of Southwark, our area takes in Bermondsey (2 miles north), Elephant and Castle (2 miles north), Bankside (3 miles north), Southwark (3 miles north), St George's Fields (3 miles north) and Newington Butts (2 miles north). As one of the bigger places in Southwark, East Dulwich is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
Around East Dulwich
The streets we cover here include those near The Charter School East Dulwich, The Fox on the Hill pub and The Charter School and the streets around them. East Dulwich has its own railway station: East Dulwich station. Other landmarks nearby include Dulwich Community Hospital (a few minutes’ walk south-east) and House of Dreams Museum (under half a mile south-east). Open spaces near East Dulwich include Centre for Wildlife Gardening and Knight's Hill.
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
Off-the-shelf units come in the colours the maker chose. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. You can match the walls or choose a contrast. Off-the-shelf furniture is made for flat walls and level floors, which older houses rarely have, so it leaves gaps at the wall, tilts on sloping floors or sits awkwardly against skirting and picture rails. Fitted furniture is scribed to the wall instead.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, which the quote allows for. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit.
Why us?
- Designed for the room you have
- Work across the whole of London
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Saturday visits and fitting by prior arrangement
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
How fitting day works
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and take up the floor coverings. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together and explain how to look after the paint. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so alcove units are made in sections sized to get through. Floors and stair carpets are protected on the way in and out.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- You receive a written quote setting out the units, materials and finish.
- The units are made at our workshop.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before we arrive
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
How to get a quote
To get a quote, fill in our short enquiry form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and go through the design, and a written quote follows.