Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Camden · London
Kentish Town Alcove Units
In Kentish Town, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units designed for your room
Alcove units in Kentish Town
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Kentish Town has a pair of alcoves, each alcove gets a unit designed for it. If your home has shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess and worn or badly fitted alcove units, that is what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
A flat’s living room often has to hold the sofa, the TV, the books and the dining table. Most households around Kentish Town live in purpose-built flats, so alcove units that make use of the wall height are worth considering. Shallow units on one wall can hold more than a standalone bookcase while using less space.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If something is not quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Location
- Kentish Town (NW5, NW1, NW3)
- Area
- Camden
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Built-in living-room furniture in Kentish Town
About 43% of the homes in the area around Kentish Town went up before 1919, and about 21% between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. 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. The Harmood Street Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Kentish Town. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you are unsure. Purpose-built flats are home to about 57% of households in the area around Kentish Town, based on Census 2021. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Building management rules on lifts, deliveries and working hours are worth checking early.
If your home is one of the older houses near Church of the Holy Trinity with St Barnabas, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features.
Kentish Town is within the London Borough of Camden, about 2 miles south-east of St Pancras. We design and make alcove units for homes in Kentish Town and across Camden. In Camden, Kentish Town is one of the places we cover, and the borough has 28 places on our list.
Here we cover the NW5, NW1 and NW3 postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Eton Road, Oval Road and Regal Lane or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover Chalk Farm (1 mile west), Camden Town (1 mile south-east), Gospel Oak (1 mile north), Primrose Hill (1 mile south-west) and Agar Town (1 mile south-east). We also make alcove units in nearby places like St Pancras (2 miles south-east), Hampstead (2 miles west), West End (2 miles south), St Giles (2 miles south), Seven Dials (2 miles south) and West Hampstead (2 miles west).
Local landmarks in Kentish Town
The streets we cover here include those near Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, North Bridge House School and Haverstock School. Kentish Town has its own railway station: Kentish Town West station. Other landmarks nearby include O2 Centre (1.6 miles west) and Isokon Gallery (0.9 miles north-west). Green spaces nearby include Adelaide Nature Reserve.
Neighbourhoods near Kentish Town
More for homes in Kentish Town
Looking after your furniture
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
Painted finishes feel dry quickly but take longer to cure fully. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for, so mention heavy collections when we plan the unit.
What prompts alcove units in Kentish Town
In bedrooms, the alcoves may be the only place for hanging space. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
For a flat near Kentish Town West station, the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in.
Before you choose who makes it
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- Whether the route into your home has been checked
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
- Will the quote be in writing?
Common questions about alcove units
Is Kentish Town in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. We cover all of Camden and the rest of London, and Kentish Town is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and discuss the design, and then we send a quote.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Kentish Town?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by 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 measuring visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. Ideally it’s done before fitting. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
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 get in touch through our contact form.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. The price comes in a quote in writing after the design visit.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so each unit is scribed to the wall on site. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
What it’s made from
Shelves
Shelf thickness depends on the span and the load. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Moisture-resistant MDF
For alcove units, MDF gives crisp doors and smooth sides, ready for a spray-painted or hand-painted finish. The moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice next to a chimney breast.
When is bespoke worth it?
It’s worth being honest about cost: flat-pack is typically cheaper to buy. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
How fitting works for alcove units
Getting everything level comes first. Where the floor slopes, we bring the furniture up to level on adjustable feet or a plinth, and that keeps the doors and shelves true. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Where there is no lift, each section is sized to be carried up the stairs safely. The stair turns and landings set the limit. The pieces are assembled in the flat.
- You let us know which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves.
- We visit to measure, look at how the walls run and note the skirting, picture rail and any vent.
- 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.
Before fitting day
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
How to get a quote
The design visit is where every quote starts. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. A written quote follows the visit for you to look over. To arrange the visit, fill in our short enquiry form.