Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Camden · London
Alcove units in Kings Cross, Camden
Alcove units for your home in Kings Cross: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Alcove units designed for your room
How we make alcove units for Kings Cross
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It’s a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. We plan the desk height and depth with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and people most often get in touch about bowed walls and sloping floors and units that sit well with original features.
Purpose-built flats are home to most households around Kings Cross, and in a flat the living room often has to do several jobs. Alcove units can bring shelving, closed storage and a screen into one run. Fixings are matched to the wall, whether it is solid or plasterboard.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both, depending on the design. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Where
- Kings Cross (NW1W, NW1, N1)
- Borough
- Camden
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
When you need someone else
Electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering and structural work aren’t part of what we do. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
If in doubt, you can get in touch through our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
What goes into it
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
Common questions about alcove units
My home in Kings Cross is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in not just the room. Alcove units are made in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Do you cover homes near London Kings Cross station?
Yes, homes across Camden and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with a few details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. You can have a desk in one alcove and cupboards in the other. We will plan the desk around how you work.
Can I send pictures before the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough measurements. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form.
Do I need permission in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
We offer spray painting in the workshop and hand painting on site. A sprayed finish is very smooth and even; a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later. We talk through both at the design visit.
Fitting day, step by step
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made at the design visit and set out in your quote, so the day itself is about careful fitting. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. In a block of flats, the stairs, landings, lift and doors matter as much as the room: the furniture is made in sections that fit through all of them. Some older blocks have small lifts or none.
- To begin, message us from the contact page; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns.
- We then send a quote in writing for the units.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- On fitting day the sections come in, are joined in place and scribed to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
Starting with a design visit
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, when we have measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, use our contact form.
Advice
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. If there is a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you get in touch.
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf.
Neighbourhoods near Kings Cross
What else we make in Kings Cross
Why people ask for alcove units in Kings Cross
Others want a proper home for books, records or a TV. We can plan an alcove unit around exactly what you have, with each shelf set to suit it.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Units that sit well with original features
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St Pancras, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent.
Before you choose who makes it
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Are the boards named, such as MDF or plywood?
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
Kings Cross homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Kings Cross were built before 1919 (about 39%) and since 2000 (about 20%), 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. There are 252 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Kings Cross. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of inner London. That normally means a van in Kings Cross needs a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council. We ask about parking at the design visit, so the van can be planned for.
For a flat near London Kings Cross station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. Dr Johnson's House, about 1.2 miles south-east, 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.
Kings Cross is about 1 mile south-east of St Pancras, part of the London Borough of Camden. Anywhere in Kings Cross, it works the same way: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. Our work takes in places right across Camden.
Every home in NW1W, NW1 and N1 is within our area for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. We cover homes on streets like Euston Road, Duke's Road and Phoenix Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. The A501 and A4200 run close to Kings Cross; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Other places close to Kings Cross include Somers Town (1 mile west), St Pancras (1 mile south-east), Euston (1 mile south-west), Bloomsbury (1 mile south) and Agar Town (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Camden we cover include Hampstead (3 miles north-west), West Hampstead (3 miles north-west), Greenhill (3 miles north-west), Chalk Farm (2 miles north-west), Dartmouth Park (2 miles north) and Gospel Oak (2 miles north-west).
Around Kings Cross
In Kings Cross, that includes homes near Pilsudski Institute of London, Regent High School and The Poor School and the streets around them. Kings Cross has its own railway station: London Kings Cross station. Well-known places in the area include Brunswick Centre (close by, under half a mile south) and Montfichet's Tower (1.5 miles south-east). Open spaces near Kings Cross include Ludgate Hill and Barnsbury Wood.
Materials and finishes
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting can be done in your home once the units are in. It is easy to touch up later, and it gives a softer, traditional look.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting is done in the workshop, for a smooth and even finish. It works on simple doors and on more traditional ones.