Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Richmond upon Thames · London
Alcove units in Hampton, Richmond upon Thames
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Hampton. Every piece is made at our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Somewhere to keep books and records
Need alcove units in Hampton?
Living-room carpentry in Hampton: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Hampton were built between 1973 and 1999 (about 33%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 21%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. 5 conservation areas have at least part of their area less than a mile from the middle of Hampton. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. TfL’s red routes have strict stopping rules. Where a home in Hampton is on or beside a main road, it helps to mention that during the design visit. We can then plan where the van will stop.
If you live near Carlisle Park, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. The wider area includes historic houses like Strawberry Hill House, about 2 miles north-east. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For families living near Hampton Infant School and Nursery, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Hampton is about 2 miles north-east of Twickenham, part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Wherever you are in Hampton, it works the same way: we visit and measure, send a written quote, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. Our Richmond upon Thames coverage includes Hampton, along with the rest of the borough.
We make alcove units across the TW12 and TW11 postcode area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Station Road, High Street and Old Farm Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Hampton is near the A3008; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Hampton: Hanworth (1 mile north-west), Hampton Hill (1 mile east), Fulwell (1 mile north-east) and Teddington (2 miles east). Other parts of Richmond upon Thames we cover include Twickenham (2 miles north-east), Richmond (4 miles north-east), Richmond upon Thames (4 miles north-east), Barnes (7 miles north-east), Kew (6 miles north-east) and Mortlake (6 miles north-east). Hampton is one of the larger places we cover in Richmond upon Thames.
Near you in Hampton
In Hampton, that includes homes near Lady Eleanor Holles School, Jolly Coopers pub and Hampton High, among other places. The nearest railway station is Hampton station, about 0.5 miles south of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Metropolitan Traffic Police Museum (0.7 miles south-east) and Teddington Memorial Hospital (1.5 miles east). Not far away are Oak Avenue Local Nature Reserve.
How we make alcove units for Hampton
Even a chimney that’s been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. Units are planned so any vent stays clear, rather than boxing it in. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in, as cupboards fitted over damp walls can suffer. If you are living with shelving for books and records and toys and paperwork with no proper home, that’s what alcove units are for, made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
In a semi from the 1920s or 1930s, the front room typically has a bay at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall. Around Hampton, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so it’s a layout worth planning for. Alcove units normally go on the chimney breast wall, leaving the bay clear, though every room is measured first.
The furniture is made in our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Where
- Hampton (TW12, TW11)
- Area
- Richmond upon Thames
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, conversions and lettings
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there is a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Let us know about it when you contact us.
A lot of London’s terraced houses are now converted flats, which often brings a shared hall and tight turns on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it, once we have measured the way in.
Practical tips
None of this takes much effort. Here’s what we suggest:
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Think about what you will store before we meet
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
A soft, slightly damp cloth is all painted units normally need. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, as strong heat can mark paint over time.
What it is made from
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting lets the colour be judged in the room itself as it goes on. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF doesn’t have a grain to show through the paint, so a painted finish looks even and calm. Moisture-resistant MDF is what we use for fitted work.
Common questions about alcove units
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Hampton station?
Yes, homes across Richmond upon Thames and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Is Hampton in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. We cover all of Richmond upon Thames and the rest of London, and Hampton 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.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
We design around any vent so it stays open. Ventilation helps keep a capped chimney dry, which protects the units as well as the wall. If there is damp on the breast already, it is best sorted before fitting.
How long will the fitting take?
It depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We’ll explain what to expect before we arrive.
Do alcove units need to reach 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 will go through what suits your room when we visit.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
What happens on fitting day
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it’s going into, and that happens on fitting day. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. In a 1930s house with a converted loft, the stairs to the loft room are often steeper than the main flight, so pieces for a loft room are sized for the narrowest point. Elsewhere in the house, the route is typically more generous. The pieces are joined and fixed once in place.
- You tell us which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail.
- We send a written quote setting out the layout, materials and finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
Before fitting day
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
How to get a quote
A quote begins with a few details from you: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of pictures if you can take them. When you are ready, fill in our short enquiry form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a quote in writing.
Advice
How we price alcove units
Several things affect the price:
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- The internal fittings
- How many doors and drawers there are
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
What we need to know
The more you can tell us at the start, the better the design visit goes. It’s useful to include:
- Approximate measurements of the space
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Examples of the look you’re after
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and discuss the design with you. Afterwards, we send a written quote for you to look over. To arrange the visit, drop us a line using the contact form.