Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Friern Barnet Alcove Units
Alcove units in Friern Barnet: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and discuss the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Shelving for books and records
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
Alcove units in Friern Barnet
Materials and finishes
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is stiff, strong and grips screws firmly, so it’s ideal for shelves and the boxes behind the doors. You can paint its layered edge or leave it on show.
Shelves
Alcove shelves can be fixed or adjustable. Fixed shelves add stiffness to the unit, while adjustable ones give you room to change things.
How we make alcove units for Friern Barnet
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that sit as part of the room. If your home in Friern Barnet has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it after we have measured them at a design visit. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and people most often get in touch about old alcove cupboards that have seen better days and walls too uneven for standard furniture.
Every room has its fixed points: the window, the door, the radiator and the sockets. In any home in Friern Barnet, those set the layout for alcove units before anything else. After that, the mix of cupboards, shelves and open space follows how you live.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it’s easier before the furniture is made.
- Place
- Friern Barnet (N11, N12, N10, N20)
- Area
- Barnet
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions we are often asked
Can you fit furniture in a home close to New Southgate station?
Yes. We cover all of Barnet and the rest of London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details about the room.
Is Friern Barnet in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. Friern Barnet is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Barnet and London. You can get in touch through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that aren’t square?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so each unit is scribed to the wall on site. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That’s your choice. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. You can have a desk in one alcove and cupboards in the other, or matching desks in both. We will plan the desk around how you work.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
The time on site depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Most of the making happens in our workshop.
Before and after fitting day
People planning alcove units often ask about these. They help before and after fitting:
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, such as a record player
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that’s barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Put coasters or mats under anything that holds water, since standing water can mark painted shelves. Wipe up spills straight away.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Shop-bought shelving and cabinets can go in an alcove, and they’re normally cheaper. The trouble is normally the gaps: standard widths rarely match the recess, and uneven walls make every gap obvious. A bespoke unit is built to the alcove and scribed to follow the wall. Walls and floors are seldom perfectly flat in any home, so standalone furniture can lean or leave gaps. Fitted furniture is scribed and levelled on site.
Parking is part of the price picture in London. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay. It is useful to talk about parking during the design visit.
What you get with us
- More than 300 projects completed
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- We work across all London boroughs
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
What happens on fitting day
Every fitting follows the same order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Clearing the room and the way in beforehand makes the day easier, including anything on the walls near the work. Floors and doorways are protected before anything comes in. Then the sections come in and are joined in place.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and talk through the design, including the paint finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
How to prepare
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Starting with a design visit
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and discuss the design with you, then send a written quote. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. To arrange a visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
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Neighbourhoods near Friern Barnet
Also in Friern Barnet
Alcove units for homes in Friern Barnet
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Friern Barnet were built between 1973 and 1999 (about 28%) and before 1919 (about 27%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. There are 6 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Friern Barnet. Being near listed buildings does not make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. If your street in Friern Barnet joins a main road, it is worth telling us at the measuring visit. That way we can plan where to load and unload.
If your home is one of the older houses near St John's Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Living in a block of flats near New Southgate station? Then alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. Heath Hall, about 2.7 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Friern Barnet is about 2 miles south-west of Finchley, part of the London Borough of Barnet. Friern Barnet is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. We list Friern Barnet among 41 places we cover in Barnet.
Every home in N11, N12, N10 and N20 is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. Whether you live on a street such as Martock Gardens, Shapwick Close and Radstock Close or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Main roads around Friern Barnet include the A406 and B550, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. If you’re just outside Friern Barnet, we also cover New Southgate (1 mile east), Brunswick Park (1 mile north), North Finchley (1 mile west), Arnos Grove (1 mile east) and Whetstone (1 mile north-west). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Finchley (2 miles south-west), Barnet (3 miles north-west), Burnt Oak (5 miles west), East Finchley (2 miles south-west), Hendon (4 miles south-west) and Edgware (5 miles west).
What’s near Friern Barnet
The streets we cover here include those near Woodhouse College, Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum and Friern Barnet School, among other places. There is a railway station in Friern Barnet itself: New Southgate station. Nearby you will also find Coppetts Wood Hospital (0.7 miles south) and Grand Arcade (1 mile west). For a walk, there is Glebelands Local Nature Reserve.
What we do not do
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, and there are a few other limits too:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Decorating the rest of the room
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can send us a few details through our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. How a job runs, step by step.
What goes into it
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Hand-painted finish