Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Ealing · London
Hanger Hill Alcove Units
For homes in Hanger Hill, we make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Room to work in an alcove
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units for your home in Hanger Hill
Alcove units in Hanger Hill
We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it works best. MDF gives smooth doors and panels that take paint well, while birch plywood is strong and holds screws well. The finish is spray painted in the workshop or hand painted on site, in a colour agreed with you. Typical reasons to get in touch are room to work in an alcove and bowed walls and sloping floors; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
With a large share of homes around Hanger Hill built before 1919, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
Where other trades are needed, for example an electrician to move a socket, we point that out. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- Hanger Hill (W3, W5, NW10)
- Area
- Ealing
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is usually a gap left over at the top or at one end. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
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.
Is it time for alcove units?
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. A fitted unit fills the recess from wall to wall.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Room to work in an alcove
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Close to Ealing Common? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- How they deal with uneven walls and floors
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load, with birch plywood where it’s needed. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you’re renting or moving soon. Ready-made tall pieces have to be fixed to the wall for safety, and in an older house that can mean fixing into brick or lath and plaster. With fitted pieces, the fixings are planned for the wall from the start.
We do not publish set prices, because every piece is designed for one room. Instead, we measure, go through the design and then quote in writing, with the materials and finish set out. To arrange a design visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Hanger Hill
- Over 300 projects completed
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- A spray or hand-painted finish
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
How we price alcove units
The price for your room depends on:
- The number of doors and drawers
- The width and height of the space
- How square the room is
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
Before the design visit
These details help when you contact us:
- Your postcode and the borough
- Examples of the look you’re after
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
Photos help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line tell us a lot about the space, especially with rough sizes. To share them, send us a few details through our contact form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.
Places near Hanger Hill
Also in Hanger Hill
Questions from Hanger Hill
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Hanger Hill?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It is useful to let us know about parking at the measuring visit.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Hanger Hill?
Yes. Hanger Hill is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Ealing and London. To get started, you can drop us a line using the contact form with some details.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room, though we like to go over the furniture with you at the end.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Not normally. Conservation areas mostly control changes to the outside, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. You can have a desk in one alcove and cupboards in the other if you want the two sides to differ. We’ll plan the desk around how you work.
Built-in living-room furniture in Hanger Hill
Homes built before 1919 make up about 49% of the housing in the streets around Hanger Hill, with about 26% built between 1919 and 1939, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. We take that into account at the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. 9 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Hanger Hill. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. London’s red routes are run by TfL, and stopping on them is tightly controlled. If your street in Hanger Hill joins a main road, it’s worth telling us at the measuring visit. Then we can work out where to load and unload.
For an older house near Church of the Ascension, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. Near listed buildings like West Acton Underground Station, under half a mile south-east of the centre of Hanger Hill, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features.
Hanger Hill is about 1 mile south-west of Ealing, in the London Borough of Ealing. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Hanger Hill is part of that. Our Ealing coverage includes Hanger Hill, along with the rest of the borough.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: W3, W5 and NW10. We cover homes on streets such as Noel Road, Vale Lane and Links Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Close by, we also work in Park Royal (1 mile north-east), West Twyford (1 mile north), Acton (1 mile south-east), South Acton (1 mile south) and Acton Green (2 miles south-east). Elsewhere in Ealing, we also cover Southall (4 miles west), Greenford (3 miles north-west), Northolt (4 miles north-west), Bedford Park (2 miles south-east), Northfields (2 miles south-west) and South Ealing (2 miles south-west).
Around Hanger Hill
Around Hanger Hill, we cover homes near The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls and The Sir Michael Balcon pub. The nearest railway station is Acton Main Line station, about 0.7 miles east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Central Middlesex Hospital (1 mile north-east) and London Transport Museum Depot (1 mile south). Open spaces near Hanger Hill include Hanger Hill Wood and Castlebar Hill.
From workshop to your room
Getting everything level comes first. Where the floor slopes, we bring the furniture up to level on adjustable feet or a plinth, and that keeps the doors and shelves true. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. Each section is sized for the tightest door or turn. Saturday fitting is possible by prior arrangement.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, including the paint finish.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you have picked.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
How to prepare
- Tell us about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote for alcove units in Hanger Hill, send us a few details through our contact form. Let us know which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. We will arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.