Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Hounslow Alcove Units
Alcove units in Hounslow: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Alcoves that are not square
Ask about alcove units in Hounslow
How fitting works for alcove units
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 your quote sets out the fitting days. On fitting day, each piece is fitted to the room’s own walls, with scribing where they wander and packing where floors dip. Spray-painted pieces arrive finished; hand-painted ones can be finished on site.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail.
- You receive a quote with the design, the materials and the paint finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- Once you are happy, the units are built in our workshop.
- Fitting day: the units go in, are scribed to the alcoves and levelled on a plinth or feet. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Starting with a design visit
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Advice
About our alcove units in Hounslow
Many people choose cupboards at low level and shelves above them. Closed cupboards hide everyday clutter, and the shelves are for books and favourite objects. The top of the cupboard makes a useful surface at a comfortable height. Heights are agreed with you to suit the room and your things. We make alcove units from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and people most often get in touch about toys and paperwork with no proper home and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast.
London homes run from Victorian terraces and interwar semis to mansion blocks and recent flats, and a home in Hounslow could be any of these. Because walls and floors change with the age of a house, the design of alcove units starts during the design visit. A period house may need scribing to bowed walls, while a newer flat may need fixings for plasterboard.
The quote comes in writing, so you can read it at your own pace. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Location
- Hounslow (TW3, TW7, TW2)
- Area
- Hounslow
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
What else we make in Hounslow
Your questions about alcove units in Hounslow
Can you make alcove units for a home in Hounslow?
Yes, Hounslow is within the area we cover, which takes in all of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and talk through the design, followed by a quote.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Hounslow?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to let us in at the start of the day. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
The fitting depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We will explain what to expect before we arrive.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Just mention it when you get in touch.
How it’s made
Plinths and scribe strips
Most alcoves need scribing on both sides and sometimes at the top. It is the difference between a unit that sits in the alcove and one that belongs there.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying in the workshop means the units arrive already finished. Give the paint time to cure fully once fitted.
Practical tips
New paint needs time to cure fully, so go gently with it for a while. After that, a few simple habits help:
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight, and adjust any door that starts to catch.
Alcove units for homes in Hounslow
In the area around Hounslow, the largest groups of homes date from the years since 2000 (about 30%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 27%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. 3 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Hounslow. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. About 30% of homes in the area around Hounslow were built since 2000, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. In homes built since 2000, living rooms are often open-plan with stud walls, so alcove units are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor.
Close to Inwood Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. For an older house near Church of St Mary the Virgin, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. Osterley House, about 1.6 miles north, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. 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.
Hounslow is one of London’s 33 local authority areas. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Hounslow included. Our work takes in places right across the rest of London.
Every home in TW3, TW7 and TW2 is within our area for alcove units. Streets in the area include New Road, Ivy Road and Bell Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. If you are just outside Hounslow, we also cover Woodlands (1 mile north-east), Ivybridge (1 mile south-east), Lampton (1 mile north-west), Isleworth (1 mile east) and Spring Grove (1 mile north). Other parts of the rest of London we cover include Feltham (3 miles south-west), Brentford (3 miles north-east), Chiswick (4 miles east), Strand-on-the-Green (3 miles east), Gunnersbury (4 miles north-east) and Hounslow West (2 miles west).
Landmarks near Hounslow
We fit furniture in homes around Royal Military School of Music, Kingsley Academy and Moon Under Water pub and the streets around them. The closest station to Hounslow is Hounslow station, about 0.6 miles south-west. Other landmarks nearby include South Middlesex Hospital (0.9 miles south-east) and Treaty Centre (0.6 miles west). Not far away are Garden Lake.
Flats, conversions and lettings
If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, unloading takes some planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so it is worth raising during the design visit.
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: off-the-shelf furniture typically 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.