Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Alcove units in East Ham, Newham
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in East Ham starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
Alcove units designed for your room
Alcove units in East Ham: what you get
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, so the sides meet the wall closely rather than showing a dark line. Adjustable feet or a plinth set it level. Most enquiries start with somewhere to keep books and records and alcoves that are wasted space; the furniture is made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Victorian and Edwardian houses were built with solid brick outside walls, and internal walls may be brick or lath and plaster. Since a large share of the homes around East Ham date from before 1919, the wall type is checked before any fixing for alcove units is chosen. Lath and plaster in particular needs fixings chosen for it, especially behind loaded shelves.
Once you’ve read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made at our workshop. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Where
- East Ham (E6, IG11, E13, E12)
- Borough
- Newham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Materials and finishes
Birch plywood
Birch plywood helps shelves stay straight under books. Thickness is chosen to suit the span and the weight.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting is done in the workshop, giving a smooth, even, factory-like surface. It suits a crisp, modern look as well as a classic one.
Questions from East Ham
I live near Barking station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Newham and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can drop us a line using the contact form with some details about the room.
Does a conservation area in or near East Ham affect fitted furniture?
Typically 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, works inside that affect its character may need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do pictures help?
Yes, they help. Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling, give us a good idea of the space. To send them, send us a few details through our contact form.
How is the price worked out?
Each room is quoted on its own: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Each alcove is measured at the design visit, then the units are built in our workshop and scribed to the walls when we fit them.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. It is best done before the units go in so the sockets line up with the design. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
Alcove units in East Ham: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around East Ham were built before 1919 (about 55%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 16%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The National Heritage List records 11 entries within half a mile of the centre of East Ham. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. About 45% of households in the streets around East Ham live in terraced houses, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. Many London terraces have a chimney breast and alcoves in the main rooms, and alcove units are made to those widths.
For families living near St Michael's Catholic Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. If you live in a flat close to Barking station, the route in is measured along with the room itself, and the sections are sized to fit it. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Church of St Mary Magdalene, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent.
East Ham is within the London Borough of Newham, about 1 mile west of Plaistow. From period terraces to newer flats in East Ham, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Our Newham coverage includes East Ham, along with the rest of the borough.
Design visits and fitting in E6, IG11, E13 and E12 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. You’ll find streets here like High Street South, Market Street and High Street North, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. The A13 and A117 run close to East Ham, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you contact us. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Wallend (1 mile north-east), Upton Park (1 mile west), Plashet (1 mile north), Beckton (1 mile south-east) and Greengate (1 mile west). Across the rest of Newham, our area takes in Stratford (3 miles west), Canning Town (2 miles south-west), Forest Gate (2 miles north-west), Maryland (3 miles west), East Village (3 miles north-west) and Three Mills (3 miles west). As one of the bigger places in Newham, East Ham is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
What’s near East Ham
The streets we cover here include those near The Miller's Well pub, The Service for Deaf and Partially Hearing Children and Langdon School, among other places. The nearest railway station is Barking station, roughly 1.3 miles north-east of the centre. A little further out are Newham University Hospital (1 mile south-west) and The Who Shop Museum (under half a mile north).
What it costs
A few things affect what fitted furniture costs:
- Spray painting or hand painting
- How many doors and drawers there are
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
Every room is priced on its own, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
What we need to know
A few details help us understand the job before we visit. When you contact us, it helps to send:
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Where you live, with the postcode
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, send us a few details through our contact form.
What we do not do
We don’t treat damp or carry out building work, and there are a few other limits too:
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can message us from the contact page and we’ll give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
From workshop to your room
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. The design, materials and finish were settled before anything was made, so fitting day is about putting it in place carefully and leaving everything tidy. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. The sections are sized for the narrowest point on the route. Saturdays can be arranged.
- To begin, fill in our short enquiry form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, talk through the design and check the route from the street to the room. It helps to tell us then about parking, as much of London is in a controlled parking zone.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
Before fitting day
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
How to get a quote
To get a quote for alcove units in East Ham, fill in our short enquiry form. Let us know the room and the rough idea, with sizes if you have them. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Read more
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Off-the-shelf units come in the colours the maker chose. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, either spray painted in the workshop or hand painted. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Tall ceilings in older homes leave a band of empty wall above standard furniture, and that space collects dust instead of storage. Fitted furniture can go all the way up.
How it’s painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. The written quote reflects your choice, along with the size and fittings.
What you get with us
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- We visit, measure and go through the design before we quote
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and how to compare quotes.