Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove units in East Wickham, Bexley
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in East Wickham starts with a design visit, and everything is made at our workshop.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Need alcove units in East Wickham?
Is bespoke worth it?
Bespoke furniture is not instant: there is a design visit, a quote and making time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, not the nearest catalogue size. Doors, windows and radiators rarely leave a gap that matches a standard width, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Fitted furniture is designed around them.
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
What you get with us
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- We visit, measure and discuss the design before we quote
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
- Built around your room
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Alcove units in East Wickham
A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units. If there are signs of damp on the chimney breast or in the alcoves, they’re best sorted before fitting, as cupboards fitted over damp walls can suffer. If your home has space for a growing book collection and clutter with nowhere to go, alcove units made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
Many houses from between the wars, and many semis, have been extended or opened up inside, which matters around East Wickham, where homes like these are a big part of the housing. In a long knocked-through room, alcove units can run the full length of one wall, or mark out the sitting end from the dining end. New plasterboard in an extension and older brick or block in the original house take different fixings.
The written quote is your record of the job. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, what it is made from and how it’s finished.
- Location
- East Wickham (DA16, SE18, SE2)
- Area
- Bexley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near East Wickham
Also in East Wickham
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: off-the-shelf furniture typically costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there is often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
FAQs: alcove units in East Wickham
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in East Wickham?
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 at the measuring visit.
Does a conservation area in or near East Wickham affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
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. The written quote follows the design visit.
Should I send photos?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit, along with rough sizes. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
The fitting depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Honest limits
Electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering and structural work aren’t part of what we do. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can use our contact form and we’ll tell you. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
- Hand-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Adjustable shelves
Living-room storage in East Wickham
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 57% of the housing in the neighbourhood around East Wickham, with about 16% built between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. A conservation area lies within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of East Wickham, going by Historic England’s data. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If you want to be certain, ask the council’s planning team. TfL’s red routes have strict stopping rules. If you live on or close to a main road in East Wickham, let us know at the design visit. We will plan where the van can stop.
For a flat near Welling station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. Danson House, about 1.3 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
East Wickham is about 3 miles south of Sidcup, part of the London Borough of Bexley. From period terraces to newer flats in East Wickham, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Across Bexley, we cover East Wickham and the places around it.
Here we cover the DA16, SE18 and SE2 postcode area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Keats Road, Darwin Road and Edison Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover the places around East Wickham: Falconwood (1 mile south), Shooter's Hill (1 mile west), Blackfen (1 mile south), Plumstead (1 mile north-west) and Avery Hill (1 mile south-west). Across the rest of Bexley, our area takes in Sidcup (3 miles south), Erith (3 miles east), Bexley (2 miles south-east), Belvedere (3 miles north-east), Northumberland Heath (3 miles east) and Lessness Heath (3 miles north-east).
What’s near East Wickham
We fit furniture in homes around Welling School, Tesco pub and Shooters Hill Sixth Form College, among other places. East Wickham has its own railway station: Welling station. Well-known places in the area include Greenwich Borough Museum (1.2 miles north) and Memorial Hospital (1.3 miles west).
Do you need alcove units in East Wickham?
A busy family living room is another reason. Toys, games, paperwork and gadgets need somewhere to go, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. The shelves above can then stay tidy.
Common reasons to get in touch include:
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Shelving for books and records
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
For a family home near East Wickham Primary Academy, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Can you see real work of theirs?
From workshop to your room
Before anything is fixed, we set the furniture level. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference, and that keeps the doors and shelves true. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. On fitting day, the sections are carried in, assembled, scribed to the wall and levelled. Hand-painted furniture can be finished on site; spray-painted pieces arrive finished from the workshop. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You contact us with some details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level. Then we go through the design together.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
Before fitting day
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Ask for a quote
To get a quote for alcove units in East Wickham, fill in our short enquiry form. Tell us which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. We will arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.