Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Richmond upon Thames · London
Alcove units in East Sheen, Richmond upon Thames
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in East Sheen. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- A place for a small desk
- Storage that suits a period room
Alcove units in East Sheen
Questions from East Sheen
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in East Sheen?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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, and we’ll plan around it.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how tricky the walls are all play a part. You will get a quote in writing once we’ve measured up.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made to its own measurements. They can share a style while doing different things.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Air moving through a capped chimney helps stop damp. If there’s damp on the breast already, it is best sorted before fitting.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
Alcove units for homes in East Sheen
Even a chimney that’s been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, rather than boxing it in. 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. 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 everyday clutter left on show and alcoves that are wasted space.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. That matters around East Sheen, as a large share of the homes there were built before 1919. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting, so they sit as if they came with the house.
Once you’ve read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made in our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Location
- East Sheen (SW14, SW13, SW15)
- Borough
- Richmond upon Thames
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
How we price alcove units
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- Parking near your home
- The internal fittings
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- Awkward walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
Parking is part of the price picture in London. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of the city, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay near your home. Tell us about parking at the measuring visit.
What we need to know
To help us picture the room, please include:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Rough measurements: width, height and depth
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Where you live, with the postcode
A quote begins with some details from you: which room it is, rough measurements and a couple of pictures if you can take them. When you’re ready, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a quote in writing.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways as well as the room, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through.
If the property is let, we’ll need access agreed with the tenants. An agent can arrange access for you.
From workshop to your room
Finishing comes last. 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. Either way, the finish is the one set out in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Where the finish is hand-painted, it can be done after the pieces are in.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, including the paint finish.
- A quote in writing 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.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
How to prepare
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician ahead of time
Starting with a design visit
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To get started, drop us a line using the contact form with some details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Advice
Alcove units for homes in East Sheen
The biggest shares of homes in the area around East Sheen were built before 1919 (about 58%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 15%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Near the centre of East Sheen, Historic England’s list includes Parish Church of St Mary (Grade II*), less than half a mile north-east, and Hare and Hounds Public House (Grade II), less than half a mile east. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, such as fixing into original panelling. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. Controlled parking zones are common across London, and Richmond upon Thames sets its own rules. If parking near you is controlled, a visitor permit or a bay suspension may be needed, and the council arranges suspensions, often with notice. We ask about parking at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
If you live near Palewell Park, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. If your home is one of the older houses near All Saints' Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Chiswick House, about 1.3 miles north, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
East Sheen is about 3 miles west of Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. We cover East Sheen as part of our work across Richmond upon Thames. East Sheen is one of 19 places on our list for Richmond upon Thames.
Every address in SW14, SW13 and SW15 is covered for alcove units. You’ll find streets here like Elm Road, Well Lane and Fife Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Mortlake (1 mile north-east), North Sheen (1 mile north-west), Barnes (1 mile north-east), Grove Park (1 mile north) and Richmond upon Thames (1 mile west). Across the rest of Richmond upon Thames, our area takes in Twickenham (3 miles west), Richmond (2 miles west), Teddington (4 miles south-west), Hampton (5 miles south-west), Hanworth (5 miles south-west) and St Margarets (2 miles west).
Landmarks near East Sheen
We fit furniture in homes around Ibstock Place School, Richmond Park Academy and Hare and Hounds pub and the streets around them. There is a railway station in East Sheen itself: Mortlake station. Nearby you will also find Ubuntu Museum: African Museum of Humanity (1.1 miles south-east) and Barnes Hospital (0.5 miles east). For a walk, there is Duke's Hollow.
Materials and finishes
Birch plywood
We often use birch plywood for drawer boxes too. It is painted to match the rest of the unit, or the edge is left as a detail.
Plinths and scribe strips
In older houses, we usually scribe the sides and often the top too. It’s the difference between a unit that sits in the alcove and one that belongs there.
Also near East Sheen
Other services in East Sheen
Is bespoke worth it?
With bought furniture you are limited to the maker’s finishes. We paint ours in the colour you pick, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Ready-made pieces are proportioned for newer homes and can look lost in an older one, whereas fitted pieces can pick up the room’s height and mouldings.
We do not publish set prices, because each job is designed for a single room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing, naming the materials and finish. To arrange a design visit, message us from the contact page.
Why work with us in East Sheen
- Built around your room
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- 300+ projects completed
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.