Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Alcove Units in Harringay
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Harringay. After a design visit and a written quote, it’s made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Units that sit well with original features
Alcove units designed for your room
What we don’t do
It is worth being clear about where our work stops:
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
If in doubt, you can fill in our short enquiry form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
About our alcove units in Harringay
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it works best. MDF gives smooth doors and panels that take paint well, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. You can have a spray-painted finish from the workshop or a hand-painted one done on site, in the colour you choose. If you are living with space for a growing book collection and a desk that tucks into an alcove, that’s what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
Victorian and Edwardian houses were built with solid brick outside walls, while the walls inside can be brick or lath and plaster. With so many homes around Harringay built before 1919, we check which you have before deciding how alcove units are fixed. Lath and plaster needs a lighter touch and the right fixings, especially behind loaded shelves.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. The finish is stated too, whether that’s spray painting or hand painting.
- Location
- Harringay (N4, N15, N8)
- Area
- Haringey
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near Harringay
What else we make in Harringay
How we price alcove units
We quote each job after the design visit, because no two rooms are the same. These are the things that affect it:
- The number of doors and drawers
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. We’ll talk through what you need inside at the design visit, then set it out in the quote.
Before the design visit
What helps most when you first contact us:
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Your postcode and the borough
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, then send a quote in writing. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. To book a design visit, drop us a line using the contact form.
Why people ask for alcove units in Harringay
A busy family living room is another reason. Toys, games, paperwork and gadgets need somewhere to go, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. The shelves above can then stay tidy.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
If you live near Chestnuts Park, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
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, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
It’s worth being honest about cost: off-the-shelf furniture typically costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Questions from Harringay
My home in Harringay is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
How do you fit alcove units in a flat in Harringay?
We measure the route in along with the room itself: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Can I send photos before the visit?
Yes, they help. Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling, give us a good idea of the space, especially with rough sizes. You can send them when you message us from the contact page.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
We offer spray painting in the workshop and hand painting on site. Spray painting gives a smooth, factory-like finish. We’ll help you choose at the measuring visit.
How is the price worked out?
It depends on the size, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish. The price comes in a quote in writing after the design visit.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice. We agree the height during the design visit.
Fitting day, step by step
Every fitting follows the same order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. At the end, we tidy up and go over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. We keep dust down and tidy as we go. Hand painting, if that’s your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- We send a quote in writing for the units, so you can look it over in your own time.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before fitting day
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
Getting a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the design visit. To arrange it, drop us a line using the contact form. The written quote follows the visit.
Related advice
Harringay homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Harringay were built before 1919 (about 75%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 8%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Within a mile of the centre of Harringay, 5 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. 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. The share of homes built before 1919 around Harringay, about 75%, is well above the figure for Haringey as a whole, about 54%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That makes period details like uneven walls, alcoves and picture rails more likely to shape the design.
If you live in a period home close to St Paul's Harringay, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as The Salisbury Public House, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent.
Harringay is part of the London Borough of Haringey, about 2 miles north-east of Tottenham. Harringay is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Harringay is one of the places in Haringey where we make alcove units, and the borough has 23 places on our list.
Here we cover the N4, N15 and N8 postcode area for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets like Elyne Road, Denton Road and Warham Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. If you’re just outside Harringay, we also cover Duckett's Green (1 mile north), West Green (1 mile north-east), St Ann's (1 mile east), Manor House (1 mile south) and Seven Sisters (1 mile east). Across the rest of Haringey, our area takes in Tottenham (2 miles north-east), Bounds Green (2 miles north-west), Highgate (2 miles west), Muswell Hill (2 miles west), Fortis Green (2 miles west) and Northumberland Park (2 miles north-east).
Local landmarks in Harringay
Around Harringay, we cover homes near Church of St Andrew, Park View School and Moselle Upper School. Harringay has its own railway station: Harringay Green Lanes station. Nearby you’ll also find The Mall Wood Green (1 mile north-west) and Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (1.6 miles east). For a walk, there’s Railway Fields.