Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hammersmith and Fulham · London
Hammersmith Alcove Units
Planning alcove units for a home in Hammersmith? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a quote in writing.
- Shelving for books and records
- Room to work in an alcove
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Alcove units designed for your room
Alcove units for homes in Hammersmith
Some alcoves suit a full-height unit, with doors from floor to ceiling. In a bedroom, it can become a small wardrobe or a linen cupboard. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. If your home has tired cupboards in the alcoves and alcoves that are wasted space, that is what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
In a Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. Around Hammersmith, where a large share of homes date from before 1919, that is a common starting point. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting.
The quote comes in writing, so you can read it at your own pace and talk it over at home. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Place
- Hammersmith (W6, W14, W12, W4)
- Area
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What prompts alcove units in Hammersmith
A move into an older home is a common reason. People who have just moved in want storage that suits the age of the house, and the alcoves are an obvious place to start. It’s easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
A few of the things people ask us to solve are these:
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Everyday clutter left on show
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
For a family home near Corona Theatre School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Before you choose who makes it
- How they handle walls that are not straight
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- How doors and drawers are fitted
- How parking will work on your street
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Built-in living-room furniture in Hammersmith
Homes built before 1919 make up about 68% of the housing in the streets around Hammersmith, with about 9% built between 1945 and 1972, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. There are 64 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Hammersmith. Older homes nearby may have original joinery, shutters or panelling worth keeping, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of inner London. That usually means a van in Hammersmith needs a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council. Parking is worth mentioning during the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Kelmscott House, about 0.5 miles south-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If you live near Brook Green, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Hammersmith is within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, about 2 miles south-east of Fulham. Homes in Hammersmith are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. Across Hammersmith and Fulham, we cover Hammersmith and the places around it.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: W6, W14, W12 and W4. Our area takes in homes on streets like The Square, Ravenscourt Square and Westcroft Square, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. We also cover the places around Hammersmith: Brackenbury Village (1 mile north-west), Brook Green (1 mile east), North End (1 mile east), West Kensington (1 mile east) and Old Chiswick (1 mile south-west). Elsewhere in Hammersmith and Fulham, we also cover Fulham (2 miles south-east), Parsons Green (2 miles south-east), Walham Green (2 miles south-east), West Brompton (2 miles south-east), Hurlingham (2 miles south-east) and Chelsea Harbour (2 miles south-east).
What’s near Hammersmith
We fit furniture in homes around The Duke of Hammersmith pub and Polish Library POSK in London and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Kensington Olympia station, about 0.8 miles east of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include West London Hospital (close by, under half a mile south-east) and Livat Hammersmith (a few minutes’ walk south). Green spaces nearby include Campden Hill and WWT London Wetland Centre.
Looking after your furniture
Fitted furniture is part of the room, so it is worth looking after. Here are a few tips worth knowing:
- Think about how the units meet the picture rail and cornice
- Let us know about parking and access at the measuring visit
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, which can dull or mark the paint. Wipe it dry when you have finished.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork, because constant heat isn’t kind to a painted finish.
How fitting day works
Once the main sections are fixed in place, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly, then checked again. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route in. Floors, stairs and doorways are covered before anything is carried through, and the sections are joined and scribed in the room.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and talk through the design.
- We send a written quote for the units, so you can look it over in your own time.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Getting a quote
You do not need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, send us a few details through our contact form. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Related advice
What affects the cost of alcove units
The price reflects the time and materials the job needs. That depends on:
- The overall size of the piece
- The number of doors and drawers
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside.
Helping us understand the room
Some details help us understand the job before we visit. It is useful to include:
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Your postcode and the borough
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- How you want to use the space
We quote once we’ve seen the room. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and talk through the design with you, then send a quote in writing. Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. To book a design visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Places near Hammersmith
More for homes in Hammersmith
Questions from Hammersmith
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Is Hammersmith in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Hammersmith is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Hammersmith and Fulham and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
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, so the time in your home is mostly fitting, scribing and finishing.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. You don’t need to watch us work.