Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hackney · London
Alcove Units in Hoxton
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Hoxton. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s made at our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Alcoves that are wasted space
Alcove units in Hoxton
Common questions about alcove units
Is Hoxton in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, we work across Hackney, Hoxton included, and across the rest of London. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit.
I live near Hoxton station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Hackney and the rest of London. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, by prior arrangement. Let us know when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
Someone needs to let us in. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
Can I send pictures ahead of the visit?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. You’ll get a written quote once we have measured up.
How we make alcove units for Hoxton
A classic layout is a low cupboard with open shelves above. 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. We set the heights to suit the room and what you will store. If you are living with old alcove cupboards that have seen better days and cupboards in keeping with an older house, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand can solve it.
Most internal walls in homes from recent decades are plasterboard on studs, and the board won’t carry a heavy load on its own. Around Hoxton, where many homes were built since 2000, that shapes how alcove units are fixed: heavier pieces stand on the floor and are fixed back into the studs, and shelves use fixings made for the board where there is no stud.
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 is spray painting or hand painting.
- Place
- Hoxton (N1, N1P, EC1V)
- Borough
- Hackney
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting day works
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it is going into, and fitting day is where that happens. Walls in older homes are rarely 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 we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on studs, so fixings go into the studs or use fixings made for the board. Floors are protected throughout, as many newer homes have finished floors that mark easily, and dust is kept to a minimum.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and go through the design, including the paint finish.
- A written quote follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
How to prepare
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
Arranging a design visit
The quote is built from the design visit. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A written quote follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To book one, drop us a line using the contact form.
Read more
What affects the cost of alcove units
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. The things that affect it are:
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- The width and height of the space
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
Helping us understand the room
These details help when you get in touch:
- Examples of the look you are after
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
You do not need exact measurements to get started. We measure everything properly at the measuring visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To get started, message us from the contact page with a few details about the room. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Materials and finishes
Plinths and scribe strips
A plinth lifts the cupboard off the floor and hides any slope. It can be set to line up with the skirting.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying in the workshop means the units arrive already finished, in the colour agreed with you. Treat the units gently while the paint cures fully.
Hoxton homes and alcove units
About 36% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Hoxton went up since 2000, and about 26% between 1945 and 1972, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The National Heritage List has 81 entries within half a mile of the centre of Hoxton. Older homes nearby may have original joinery, shutters or panelling worth keeping, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. Around a third of the homes in the neighbourhood around Hoxton (about 36%) were built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. 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.
Mansion House, about 1.4 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Living in a block of flats near Hoxton station? Then alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. For families living near Shoreditch Park Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Hoxton is about 1 mile south-east of Shoreditch, within the London Borough of Hackney. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Hoxton is part of that. Our work takes in places right across Hackney.
Here we cover the N1, N1P and EC1V postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as City Road, Noel Road and East Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Hoxton is near the A1200 and A1208; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Hoxton: Haggerston (1 mile east), Shoreditch (1 mile south-east), Canonbury (1 mile north), De Beauvoir Town (1 mile north) and St Luke's (1 mile south-west). Other parts of Hackney we cover include Homerton (2 miles north-east), West Hackney (2 miles north), Hackney (2 miles north-east), Lower Clapton (2 miles north-east), Stoke Newington (2 miles north) and Clapton (2 miles north-east). Being one of the larger places in Hackney, Hoxton is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Around Hoxton
Around Hoxton, we cover homes near Stag's Head pub, Hackney University Technical College and Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives, among other places. There’s a railway station in Hoxton itself: Hoxton station. Other landmarks nearby include St Leonard's Hospital (a few minutes’ walk east) and Montfichet's Tower (1.6 miles south-west). For a walk, there is Barnsbury Wood.
Places near Hoxton
More for homes in Hoxton
Before and after fitting day
Fresh paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat it gently at first. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units.
Where other trades come in
We design, make and fit the furniture. In practice, that means:
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can fill in our short enquiry form and we will give you a straight answer. How a job runs, step by step.
What goes into it
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish