Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Alcove Units in Hounslow
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Hounslow. We measure, design and quote first, then make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Ask about alcove units in Hounslow
How we make alcove units for Hounslow
Even a chimney that’s been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. Units are planned so any vent stays clear, rather than boxing it in. If there are signs of damp on the chimney breast or in the alcoves, they’re best sorted before fitting. We make alcove units from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a desk that tucks into an alcove and shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess.
In an area like Hounslow, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. The result is often a long room with a chimney breast, a good spot for alcove units. Cable routes for a TV or speakers, and space for set-top boxes, are planned during the design visit, with any new sockets left to your electrician.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Location
- Hounslow (TW13)
- Borough
- Hounslow
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Why bespoke in Hounslow?
Bespoke furniture isn’t instant: it needs a design visit, a quote and time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, rather than the nearest standard size. If a house has been extended or knocked through, the new walls and the old ones may not line up, and straight-sided ready-made units make that obvious. Fitted pieces are scribed to both.
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Why work with us in Hounslow
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Over 300 projects completed
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
Common questions about alcove units
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Hounslow?
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 at the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Is Hounslow in the area you cover for alcove units?
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, and then we send a quote.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a way planned for cables to reach the sockets.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room, but it helps to be around at the end.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. We’ll also ask about access and parking.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice. We agree the height during the design visit.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, after measuring the route at the design visit.
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Tell us about them at the measuring visit, and we’ll plan the fitting around them.
Built-in living-room furniture in Hounslow
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Hounslow were built between 1973 and 1999 (about 36%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 31%), 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. About 31% of homes in the neighbourhood around Hounslow date from between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Interwar front rooms usually have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, and alcove units are planned around both. Terraced houses are home to about 31% of households in the streets around Hounslow, the 2021 Census shows. Terraced houses in London often have alcoves beside a chimney breast, which suit alcove units built to their exact widths.
If you live near Sunbury Park, a room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. For a flat near Sunbury station, the route in is measured not just the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Hounslow is within the London Borough of Hounslow, about 4 miles north-east of Hounslow. We design and make alcove units for homes in Hounslow. We cover places right across the rest of London, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We work across the TW13 postcode area for alcove units. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Feltham (1 mile north-east) and Bedfont (1 mile north). Across the rest of the rest of London, our area takes in Hounslow (4 miles north-east), Brentford (7 miles north-east), Isleworth (5 miles north-east), Chiswick (8 miles north-east), Strand-on-the-Green (7 miles north-east) and Woodlands (5 miles north-east).
What’s near Hounslow
Our area takes in the homes around Sunbury Manor School and Sunbury Manor School. Hounslow’s nearest station is Sunbury station, roughly 0.9 miles south-east. A little further out are Kempton Steam Museum (1.1 miles east) and Ashford Hospital (1.9 miles north-west). For a walk, there’s Kempton Park Reservoirs.
Before and after fitting day
The finish lasts best with a little care. These practical tips help:
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Think about how the units meet the picture rail and cornice
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that’s barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Wipe it dry when you have finished.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight.
What prompts alcove units in Hounslow
Others want a proper home for books, records or a TV. We can plan an alcove unit around exactly what you have, with shelf heights and depths to suit.
Some of the things we are asked to solve are these:
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- A place for a small desk
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Alcoves that aren’t square
If you live in a period home close to Church of St Dunstan, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Have they thought about parking near you?
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
Also in Hounslow
How fitting day works
With the carcasses fixed and level, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. The time the 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. If you have a driveway, it can make unloading simpler, so let us know at the measuring visit. Otherwise, a visitor permit or a nearby bay helps. Floors and doorways are protected while the pieces come in.
- You contact us with a few details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square, then discuss the design with you.
- You get a written quote for the units, materials and finish.
- In our workshop the units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a little extra left on the edges that meet the wall.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster. Spray-painted units arrive finished; hand-painted ones are painted once fitted.
Before we arrive
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
Arranging a design visit
To make a start, tell us about the room on our contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.