Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Camden · London
Alcove units in Fortune Green, Camden
Alcove units for your home in Fortune Green: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Alcove units in Fortune Green
How we make alcove units for Fortune Green
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, chosen part by part. MDF suits doors and panels because it paints so evenly, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. The finish is spray painted in the workshop or hand painted on site, in the colour you choose. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and the usual reasons to get in touch are furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and a desk that tucks into an alcove.
Rooms in houses from before 1919 tend to have generous ceiling heights, and around Fortune Green, a large share of homes are that age. Full-height alcove units can run up to the picture rail or the cornice, so the furniture looks as if it belongs to the house. Where a fireplace has been blocked up, the chimney still needs ventilating, and any damp is sorted before units go in.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Place
- Fortune Green (NW3, NW6, NW2)
- Area
- Camden
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Do you need alcove units in Fortune Green?
Moving into a period house often prompts it. People who have just moved in want storage that suits the age of the house, and the alcoves are the natural place for it. It’s also a good moment, before the room fills up.
Most of the enquiries we get are about things like these:
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Units that sit well with original features
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
If you live in a period home close to Church of St Luke, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- How they deal with uneven walls and floors
Nearby places to Fortune Green
More for homes in Fortune Green
How fitting works for alcove units
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. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. In a period home, the furniture is fitted to walls that aren’t straight, so there’s some trimming and adjusting on site. We protect the floors and keep dust to a minimum. It helps to let us know about parking at the design visit, as terraced streets are often busy.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish set out.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill.
Before we arrive
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
Starting with a design visit
The design visit is where every quote starts. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. Afterwards, we send a written quote. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Advice
Is bespoke worth it?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. We size our shelves for their span and what they’ll carry, using birch plywood where strength matters. That said, if you’re renting or moving soon, a good off-the-shelf unit may make more sense. Ready-made units stop well short of a tall period ceiling, and that space collects dust instead of storage. Built-in pieces can run to the cornice or the picture rail.
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, which the quote allows for. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space.
Why us?
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
- We work across all London boroughs
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and what to look for in a quote.
Living-room carpentry in Fortune Green: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Fortune Green were built before 1919 (about 58%) and since 2000 (about 13%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. The centre of Fortune Green is within about a quarter of a mile of the Redington Frognall Conservation Area. Planning controls in conservation areas are mainly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitting furniture inside a house does not normally need permission. The council can confirm if you’re not sure. Since the zone was extended to the outer boroughs in August 2023, the whole of London has been inside the ULEZ. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Fortune Green, as it does anywhere else in London. Access and parking are talked through at the design visit.
For a family home near St Luke's Church of England School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room. The wider area includes historic houses such as Fenton House, about 0.7 miles east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Fortune Green is part of the London Borough of Camden, about 4 miles south-east of St Pancras. From period terraces to newer flats in Fortune Green, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Fortune Green is one of 28 places on our list for Camden.
Design visits and fitting in NW3, NW6 and NW2 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Streets in the area include Mill Lane, Ajax Road and Sarre Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Nearby, we also make alcove units in West Hampstead (1 mile east), Childs Hill (1 mile north), Hampstead (1 mile east), Greenhill (1 mile east) and Vale of Health (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Camden we cover include St Pancras (4 miles south-east), West End (4 miles south-east), St Giles (4 miles south-east), Seven Dials (4 miles south-east), Holborn (4 miles south-east) and Bloomsbury (4 miles south-east).
Local landmarks in Fortune Green
In Fortune Green, that includes homes near St Vedasts School For Boys, Hampstead School and Holly Bush pub. The nearest railway station is West Hampstead Thameslink station, roughly 0.5 miles south of the centre. A little further out are New End Hospital (0.7 miles east) and O2 Centre (0.8 miles south-east). Open spaces near Fortune Green include Westbere Copse and Parliament Hill.
Boards, parts and paint
Shelves
We set shelf spacing around what you own, from paperbacks to tall art books. A shallower top shelf can keep things within reach.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is also good for drawer boxes, where strength matters. It is painted to match the rest of the unit, or the edge is left as a detail.
Questions from Fortune Green
Do you make alcove units for homes in Fortune Green?
Yes, we work across Camden, Fortune Green included, and across the rest of London. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit.
I live in a flat in Fortune Green. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. Alcove units are built in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it’s worth checking those early.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
We do not do electrical work. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by arrangement. If a Saturday works better for you, say so when you contact us.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards, or matching desks in both. The desk is planned around the way you work.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. We measure each alcove carefully during the design visit, then the units are made at our workshop and scribed to the walls when we fit them, so there are no awkward gaps.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Mention it when you contact us.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it, once we have measured the way in.