Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Wandsworth · London
Alcove units in Furzedown, Wandsworth
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Furzedown. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Somewhere to keep books and records
Alcove units designed for your room
How we make alcove units for Furzedown
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 Furzedown has alcoves like these, we design a unit for each one. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and the usual reasons to get in touch are bare alcoves beside the fireplace and toys and paperwork with no proper home.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and they set the lines that alcove units have to meet. A large share of the housing around Furzedown went up before 1919, so mouldings are something we expect to talk about at the measuring visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
Once you’ve read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made at our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- Furzedown (SW16, SW17, CR4)
- Borough
- Wandsworth
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Boards, parts and paint
Spray-painted finish
Because the units are sprayed before they come to you, there’s less painting to do in your home. Treat the units gently while the paint cures fully.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting can be done in your home once the units are in. It is easy to touch up later, and it gives a softer, traditional look.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
We also make and fit furniture for landlords furnishing a let, as it makes good use of an tricky room. It’s made from the same moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood as any of our work, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. If there’s a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you get in touch.
Why people ask for alcove units in Furzedown
Many people ask about alcove units because the alcoves are the most obvious wasted space they have. Off-the-shelf furniture rarely fits them, so there are gaps at the sides and the top. Built-in units use the whole recess up to the ceiling if you want.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- Alcoves that are not square
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Everyday clutter left on show
If your home is one of the older houses near St Paul's Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Before you choose who makes it
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
What happens on fitting day
Once the main sections are fixed in place, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. In houses converted into flats, the route in may include a shared hall and stairs, so it is useful to let neighbours know about fitting day. Each section is sized for the tightest door or turn. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units, and we find a time for the design visit.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors. 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. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before we arrive
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
Starting with a design visit
For a quote for alcove units in Furzedown, drop us a line using the contact form. Tell us which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, plus any rough measurements. We will arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.
Advice
Nearby places to Furzedown
Common questions about alcove units
Do you cover homes near Tooting station?
Yes, homes across Wandsworth and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can send us a few details through our contact form with some details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
My home in Furzedown is a period house with walls that aren’t straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help stop damp and we design around it.
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 plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
How long will the fitting take?
The fitting depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
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 if you want the two sides to differ. We’ll plan the desk around how you work.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. 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.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
Alcove units in Furzedown: local notes
About 65% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Furzedown went up before 1919, and about 15% between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (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. 6 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Furzedown. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. Where a home in Furzedown is on or beside a main road, it’s useful to mention that at the design visit. We can then plan where the van will stop.
Near listed buildings like Furzedown House, less than half a mile west of the centre of Furzedown, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent. The wider area includes historic houses like Kingswood House, about 2.9 miles east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Furzedown is about 3 miles north of Clapham Junction, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. From period terraces to newer flats in Furzedown, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. We list Furzedown among 15 places we cover in Wandsworth.
We make alcove units across SW16, SW17 and CR4. Streets in the area include Deal Road, Links Road and Seely Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. The A216 run close to Furzedown, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Other places close to Furzedown include Streatham Park (1 mile north-east), Tooting (1 mile west), Tooting Bec (1 mile west), Streatham (1 mile east) and Colliers Wood (1 mile south-west). Other parts of Wandsworth we cover include Clapham Junction (3 miles north), Battersea (3 miles north), Putney (4 miles north-west), Wandsworth (3 miles north-west), Southfields (2 miles north-west) and Earlsfield (2 miles north-west).
What’s near Furzedown
We fit furniture in homes around Penwortham Primary School, The Holland Tringham pub and Furzedown Secondary School. Furzedown’s nearest station is Tooting station, about 0.6 miles south-west. A little further out are London Sewing Machine Museum (0.9 miles north-west) and St Benedict's Hospital (a few minutes’ walk west). For a walk, there is Oakleigh Way.