Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Alcove Units in Highgate
Thinking about alcove units in Highgate? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a written quote.
- Shelving for books and records
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units in Highgate
How fitting day works
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it is going into, and that happens on fitting day. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so we scribe the edges by hand to follow the wall, closing the gaps a standard unit would leave. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so we ask for a clear space to work near the room. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that is your finish, can follow the fitting.
- To begin, use our contact form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
Preparing the room
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Ask for a quote
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, then send a written quote. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. To book a design visit, use our contact form.
Related advice
Alcove units in Highgate
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, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. At the design visit we ask what you plan to keep there, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. People typically come to us about bowed walls and sloping floors and space for a growing book collection; the furniture is made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Ceilings in homes built before 1919 are often taller than in later houses, and a large share of the homes around Highgate date from then. That gives full-height alcove units room to reach the picture rail or the cornice, with the top line set to match the room’s own mouldings. Blocked fireplaces are common too, and a capped chimney should still be ventilated before anything is built against it.
Once you have read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made in our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- Highgate (N6, N19, NW5)
- Area
- Haringey
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Shop-bought shelving and cabinets can go in an alcove, and they’re normally cheaper. The trouble is usually the gaps: standard widths rarely match the recess, and uneven walls make every gap obvious. A bespoke alcove unit is made to your measurements and scribed to the plaster. Ready-made pieces are proportioned for newer homes and can look lost in an older one, while fitted furniture can follow the room’s own lines, with panels and details to suit the house.
Rooms that aren’t square take more work: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. The quote allows for it, which we write after seeing the room.
What you get with us
- Work across the whole of London
- We visit, measure and go through the design before we quote
- Over 300 projects completed
- Saturday work by arrangement
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
Common questions about alcove units
My home in Highgate is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in not just the room. Alcove units are made in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it’s worth checking those early.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Highgate?
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. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit.
How tall should alcove units be?
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, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. We agree the height at the measuring visit.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Few alcoves in older houses are truly square, so each unit is scribed to the wall on site. A plinth or adjustable feet set it level on a sloping floor.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. We send a quote in writing after the design visit.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
Either a spray-painted or a hand-painted finish. A sprayed finish is very smooth and even. We will help you choose at the design visit.
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, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. In a room with square walls and standard sizes, it can work well, and it’s easy to buy.
Living-room carpentry in Highgate: local notes
About 48% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Highgate went up before 1919, and about 21% between 1973 and 1999, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. The National Heritage List has 269 entries within half a mile of the centre of Highgate. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. All of London, Haringey included, is inside the ULEZ. Vans bringing furniture to Highgate fall under it, just as they do across the rest of London. We go through parking and access during the design visit.
Near listed buildings like Cromwell House, less than half a mile south-east of the centre of Highgate, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can need listed building consent. For a family home near St Michael's Church of England Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. For an older house near Highgate United Reformed Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Highgate is within the London Borough of Haringey, about 4 miles north-east of Tottenham. Homes in Highgate are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. Highgate 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 N6, N19 and NW5 postcode area for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets like Wood Lane, Grange Road and Talbot Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. We also cover the places around Highgate: Upper Holloway (1 mile south-east), Dartmouth Park (1 mile south), Lissenden Gardens (1 mile south), Crouch End (1 mile north-east) and Tufnell Park (1 mile south-east). Other parts of Haringey we cover include Tottenham (4 miles north-east), Noel Park (3 miles north-east), Wood Green (2 miles north-east), Tottenham Green (3 miles east), South Tottenham (3 miles east) and Seven Sisters (3 miles east).
What’s near Highgate
Around Highgate, we cover homes near The Angel Inn, Asanté Academy of Chinese Medicine and St Aloysius RC College and the streets around them. The closest station to Highgate is Upper Holloway station, about 0.9 miles south-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Highgate Private Hospital (0.6 miles north-west) and Kenwood House (1 mile west). Open spaces near Highgate include Highgate Hill and Parkland Walk.
How we price alcove units
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Parking and unloading on your street
- How big the furniture is
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
There is no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. Instead, we measure, go through the design and then quote in writing, naming the materials and finish. To start, send us a few details through our contact form.
Getting in touch
When you contact us, these help most:
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Examples of the look you’re after
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
Getting a quote starts with a few details: the room, rough sizes and some pictures if you have them. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a written quote.
Nearby places to Highgate
Other services in Highgate
Looking after your furniture
Most of what helps is simple. What we’d suggest:
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently: lift things onto the shelves rather than sliding them, and don’t scrub the surfaces.
Put coasters or mats under anything that holds water, since standing water can mark painted shelves. Dry any spills quickly.