Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Hampstead Garden Suburb Alcove Units
Alcove units in Hampstead Garden Suburb: 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
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Alcoves that are wasted space
Ask about alcove units in Hampstead Garden Suburb
Alcove units in Hampstead Garden Suburb: what you get
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, whichever suits the room. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting so the units feel part of the room. These details are settled when we visit, before anything is made. We make alcove units from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and people most often get in touch about furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and cupboards in keeping with an older house.
If you live in one of the interwar houses or semis around Hampstead Garden Suburb, the living room may be a good size but with fewer recesses than a Victorian house. That leaves room for alcove units in the alcoves, along a full wall or around the chimney breast, depending on how you use the room. Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood keep the pieces stable, and the paint finish is agreed with you.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. 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.
- Location
- Hampstead Garden Suburb (NW11, N2, N3)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Built-in living-room furniture in Hampstead Garden Suburb
In the area around Hampstead Garden Suburb, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 44%) and before 1919 (about 39%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Within a mile of the centre of Hampstead Garden Suburb, 3 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings. TfL’s red routes have strict stopping rules. If your home in Hampstead Garden Suburb is on or near a main road, tell us during the design visit. We’ll plan where the van can stop.
Near listed buildings like Church of St Jude, less than half a mile south-west of the centre of Hampstead Garden Suburb, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent. For a flat near Brent Cross West station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in. For a family home near The Henrietta Barnett School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Hampstead Garden Suburb is within the London Borough of Barnet, about 1 mile north of Finchley. Anywhere in Hampstead Garden Suburb, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a written quote, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. Our Barnet coverage includes Hampstead Garden Suburb and the places around it.
Design visits and fitting in NW11, N2 and N3 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Maya Road, Oakwood Road and Bigwood Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. The A1 run close to Hampstead Garden Suburb; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Other places close to Hampstead Garden Suburb include Temple Fortune (1 mile west), East Finchley (1 mile north-east), Golders Green (1 mile south-west), North End (1 mile south) and Vale of Health (1 mile south). Other parts of Barnet we cover include Barnet (4 miles north), Burnt Oak (4 miles north-west), Hendon (2 miles west), Whetstone (3 miles north), Edgware (4 miles north-west) and Friern Barnet (2 miles north-east).
Around Hampstead Garden Suburb
Around Hampstead Garden Suburb, we cover homes near Brookland Infant and Nursery School, The King Alfred School and The Old White Lion pub. Hampstead Garden Suburb’s nearest station is Brent Cross West station, about 2.1 miles south-west. A little further out are Jewish Museum - Finchley (0.9 miles north) and Highgate Private Hospital (1.3 miles east). Open spaces near Hampstead Garden Suburb include Turner's Wood.
Questions we are often asked
Is parking a problem for fitting in Hampstead Garden Suburb?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit.
Do you cover homes near Brent Cross West station?
Yes, homes across Barnet and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Hampstead Garden Suburb?
Simply tell us about the room on our contact form. It helps to send rough sizes and a few pictures, and we will arrange a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. The height is settled at the measuring visit.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by prior arrangement. Tell us when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Each room is quoted on its own: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
How we price alcove units
There’s no set price, because there is no set room. The things that affect it are:
- The number of doors and drawers
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside.
Before the design visit
Ahead of the design visit, we will typically ask about:
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
To make a start, send us a few details through our contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a written quote afterwards.
How fitting works for alcove units
Finishing comes last. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; hand painting, if that is what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. Either way, the finish is the one set out in your quote. Clearing the room and the way in beforehand helps the day run well. Fitting day starts with protecting the floors and setting out the pieces. Each piece is levelled, scribed where the wall wanders and fixed to suit the wall.
- 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.
- A written quote follows, with the finish set out.
- We build the units in our workshop, using 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.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician in advance
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Getting a quote
To get a quote for alcove units in Hampstead Garden Suburb, fill in our short enquiry form. Tell us which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Related advice
Could you do it yourself?
If you’re handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
Neighbourhoods near Hampstead Garden Suburb
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What alcove units can’t fix
It’s worth being clear about where our work stops:
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can get in touch through our contact form and we’ll tell you. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
Why bespoke in Hampstead Garden Suburb?
With bought furniture you’re limited to the maker’s finishes. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, either spray painted in the workshop or hand painted. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Doors, windows and radiators rarely leave a gap that matches a standard width, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Fitted furniture is designed around them.
In London, parking can affect the price. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of the city, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay near your home. Tell us about parking during the design visit, so we can plan for it.
Why choose us
- More than 300 projects completed
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Saturdays by arrangement
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.