Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Hornsey Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Hornsey. Every piece is built in our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- A place for a small desk
Alcove units designed for your room
About our alcove units in Hornsey
We work across London, including Hornsey. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. After that we send a written quote; the units are then made in our workshop and fitted in your home. Typical reasons to get in touch are room to work in an alcove and space for a growing book collection, and the answer is made at our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Around Hornsey, a large share of homes date from before 1919, which in London mostly means Victorian and Edwardian houses. Main rooms in houses like these typically have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side, and those alcoves are the natural home for alcove units. Walls are rarely flat, so each piece is scribed to the plaster and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet, then cut neatly around the skirting and any picture rail or cornice.
You get the quote in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Location
- Hornsey (N8, N22)
- Borough
- Haringey
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Pricing alcove units in Hornsey
What you pay depends on:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, and that’s part of the price. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit.
Helping us understand the room
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Approximate measurements of the space
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
A quote begins with some details from you: which room it is, rough measurements and a couple of pictures if you can take them. To send them, use our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote.
Questions we are often asked
My home in Hornsey is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in as well as the room. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It helps to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
My home in Hornsey is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, by arrangement. Tell us when you get in touch if a Saturday suits you best.
How long will the fitting take?
The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. The units are built in our workshop first, so the time in your home is mostly fitting, scribing and finishing.
Should I send pictures?
Yes, they help. Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling, give us a good idea of the space. You can send them when you fill in our short enquiry form.
How do I get a quote?
Simply tell us about the room on our contact form. It’s useful to send rough measurements and a few pictures, and then we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, followed by a written quote.
Before and after fitting day
Fresh paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so go gently with it for a while. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, like a record player
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
Don’t let stored things block the chimney breast vent, even when the cupboards fill up. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, because constant heat is not kind to a painted finish.
From workshop to your room
At the end, we tidy up. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together and answer any questions. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. In a period home, the furniture is fitted to walls that are not straight, so each piece is trimmed and adjusted on site. Floors are protected, and dust is kept down as far as possible. Parking can be tight on terraced streets, so tell us about permits and bays at the design visit.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- You receive a quote in writing setting out the units, materials and finish.
- The units are built in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls.
How to prepare
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
Ask for a quote
To get a quote, use our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
Advice
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: off-the-shelf furniture normally costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is tricky, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. Span, depth and the weight on it decide whether a shelf sags, so a long run needs a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support. That’s something we plan for in the design.
How it’s made
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is strong and holds screws well, so it’s ideal for shelves and the boxes behind the doors. Its layered edge can be painted or left to show.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying gets an even coat into corners and onto edges and leaves no brush marks. You choose the colour at the design stage.
Places near Hornsey
Other services in Hornsey
Hornsey homes and alcove units
Homes built before 1919 make up about 63% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Hornsey, with about 18% built since 2000, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. The National Heritage List records 15 entries within half a mile of the centre of Hornsey. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. Controlled parking zones are common across London, and Haringey sets its own rules. If your road in Hornsey falls in a zone, the van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know about parking during the design visit.
Near listed buildings like Tower of Old Parish Church of St Mary, under half a mile east of the centre of Hornsey, 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 family home near St Mary's CofE Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. Bruce Castle, about 2 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Hornsey is part of the London Borough of Haringey, about 2 miles east of Tottenham. Wherever you are in Hornsey, the process is the same: a design visit, a quote in writing, furniture made in our workshop and fitting in your home. In Haringey, Hornsey is one of the places we cover.
In N8 and N22, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Streets in the area include High Street, Brandon Place and Cross Lane, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. If you are just outside Hornsey, we also cover Turnpike Lane (1 mile east), Crouch End (1 mile south-west), Stroud Green (1 mile south-east), Wood Green (1 mile north-east) and Noel Park (1 mile north-east). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as Tottenham (2 miles east), Tottenham Green (2 miles east), South Tottenham (2 miles east), Seven Sisters (2 miles east), Highgate (2 miles south-west) and Broadwater Farm (2 miles east).
Local landmarks in Hornsey
The streets we cover here include those near Greig City Academy, Greek Secondary School of London and Great Northern Railway pub and the streets around them. Hornsey has its own railway station: Hornsey station. Well-known places in the area include The Mall Wood Green (0.6 miles north-east) and Hornsey Central Hospital (0.7 miles west). For a walk, there is Parkland Walk.