Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Foxbury
Planning alcove units for a home in Foxbury? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a written quote, before anything is made.
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
Alcove units in Foxbury
Questions from Foxbury
Is parking a problem for fitting in Foxbury?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Is Foxbury in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London, and Foxbury is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it, along with access and parking. We send a quote in writing after the design visit.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It is up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We go through the options at the measuring visit.
Can I send pictures before the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough sizes. You can send them when you use our contact form.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and afterwards we send a quote in writing.
Alcove units for homes in Foxbury
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that sit as part of the room. Where a room in Foxbury has a pair of alcoves, we design a unit for each one. If your home has everyday clutter left on show and alcoves that are wasted space, alcove units made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
Post-war houses often have a through lounge or a living room with a wide window at one end. Around Foxbury, many homes come from between 1945 and the early 1970s, so alcove units are often planned to give the room a focal point. A run of low cupboards with shelving above can sit under or beside the window.
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 is finished, and it is what the workshop builds to.
- Where
- Foxbury (DA14, BR7, DA15)
- Area
- Bromley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
When is bespoke worth it?
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. Span, depth and the weight on it decide whether a shelf sags, so a long run needs a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
From workshop to your room
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and lift the floor protection. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Walls in post-war homes can be concrete or blockwork, so fixings are chosen for the wall on fitting day. We protect floors and doorways as the furniture comes in.
- To begin, tell us about the room on our contact form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- The units are built 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.
Preparing the room
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
Ask for a quote
To make a start, drop us a line using the contact form and let us know which room you have in mind and what you want the furniture to do. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a quote in writing follows.
Related advice
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
Some flat-pack shelves are thin and start to sag once they’re loaded. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you are renting or moving soon. Off-the-shelf furniture tends to leave gaps at the ends of a wall and space above it, while fitted furniture fills the space. The pieces are made to the room’s own widths.
There’s no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. Instead, we measure, talk through the design and then quote in writing. To arrange a design visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Why choose us
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Over 300 projects completed
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Foxbury homes and alcove units
About 30% of the homes in the streets around Foxbury went up between 1945 and 1972, and about 23% before 1919, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Foxbury include Frogpool Manor Farm (Grade II), less than half a mile east, and Rose Cottage (Grade II), under half a mile south. If your own home is listed, changes inside that alter its character, like fixing into or removing original joinery, can need listed building consent. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. The ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) now covers the whole of London, Bromley included. It applies to every van that comes to fit furniture in Foxbury. How the van gets to your door is planned during the design visit.
For an older house near Christ Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If you live near Chislehurst Common, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Foxbury is within the London Borough of Bromley, about 3 miles south of Orpington. We can visit homes in Foxbury on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. We list Foxbury among 49 places we cover in Bromley.
Every address in DA14, BR7 and DA15 is within our area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Kemnal Road, Sydney Road and Carlton Road or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Longlands (1 mile north), Chislehurst (1 mile west), New Eltham (1 mile north-west), Elmstead (2 miles west) and Coldharbour (2 miles north-west). Elsewhere in Bromley, we also cover Orpington (3 miles south), Bromley (3 miles west), Beckenham (5 miles west), St Mary Cray (2 miles south-east), Penge (6 miles west) and Anerley (7 miles west).
What’s near Foxbury
In Foxbury, that includes homes near Mead Road Infant School, The Bulls Head Public House and Walsingham School and the streets around them. The closest station to Foxbury is Sidcup station, about 1.2 miles north-east. Other landmarks nearby include Metropolitan Police Museum (1.1 miles north-east) and Queen Mary's Hospital (0.6 miles east). For a walk, there’s Summer Hill.
What affects the price in Foxbury
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. What affects it comes down to:
- Parking and unloading on your street
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
Tricky rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. That’s reflected in the quote.
What to send when you get in touch
These details help when you contact us:
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it. For a quote, send us a few details through our contact form.
Nearby places to Foxbury
More for homes in Foxbury
The problems alcove units solve
A bedroom’s alcoves are often the best place for a wardrobe. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor, which matters in a smaller room.
Here are some of the needs we’re asked about most:
- Space for a growing book collection
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
The wider area includes historic houses such as Eltham Palace, about 2.6 miles north-west. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Choosing a carpenter
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- How doors and drawers are fitted