Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Leaves Green
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Leaves Green. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Units that sit well with original features
- Space for a growing book collection
- Everyday clutter left on show
Alcove units for your home in Leaves Green
Alcove units in Leaves Green: what you get
One alcove can be given over to a desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. We plan the desk height and depth with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. If you’re living with storage that suits a period room and alcoves that are wasted space, alcove units made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
Around Leaves Green, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. In a typical 1930s house, the front room has a bay at one end and a chimney breast with an alcove to either side, which decides where alcove units sit. Walls are often truer than in older houses, but they’re still measured carefully and scribed where they wander.
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.
- Where
- Leaves Green (BR2)
- Borough
- Bromley
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
From workshop to your room
With the carcasses fixed and level, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly. 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. In a 1930s house with a converted loft, the stairs to the loft room are often steeper than the main flight, so pieces for a loft room are sized for the narrowest point. Elsewhere in the house, the route is usually more generous. Each section is assembled and fixed in the room.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A quote in writing 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.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves; 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.
Preparing the room
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Getting a quote
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit, when we have measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Related advice
Materials and finishes
Spray-painted finish
Spraying gets an even coat into corners and onto edges and leaves no brush marks. The colour is agreed with you before we start.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF does not have a grain to show through the paint, so a painted finish looks even and calm. We choose the moisture-resistant grade for fitted furniture.
Your questions about alcove units in Leaves Green
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Leaves Green?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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. It is useful to let us know about parking at the measuring visit.
I live near Hayes (Kent) station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Bromley and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it, along with access and parking. We send a written quote after the design visit.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
An outside wall can be colder and damper than an inside one, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture. If there’s damp, it should be sorted before anything is fitted.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
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 measuring visit.
More for homes in Leaves Green
Practical tips
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
- Let us know about parking and access at the design visit
Fill the shelves gradually and spread heavy things evenly. A full shelf of books is heavier than it looks, and an even load keeps the shelves straight.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging.
What it costs
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How square the room is
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
Parking is part of the price picture in London. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay. Tell us about parking at the design visit, so we can plan for it.
What we need to know
To help us picture the room, please include:
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Examples of the look you are after
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough measurements and some photos if you have them. When you’re ready, tell us about the room on our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote.
Alcove units for homes in Leaves Green
In the area around Leaves Green, the largest groups of homes date from between 1945 and 1972 (about 80%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 12%), 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. Near the centre of Leaves Green, Historic England’s list includes Old Cottage (Grade II), less than half a mile south-east, and Jasmine Cottage (Grade II), under half a mile south-east. Works inside a listed home that affect its character, for instance removing original joinery or fixing into it, can require listed building consent from the council. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. On TfL’s red routes, the rules on stopping and loading are strict. If your home is on or just off a main road, it helps to mention it. Then we can work out where to load and unload.
If you live in a flat close to Hayes (Kent) station, the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in. Close to South Park? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Leaves Green is part of the London Borough of Bromley, about 5 miles north-east of Orpington. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Leaves Green included. Leaves Green is one of the places in Bromley where we make alcove units.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: BR2. You’ll find streets here such as Ashmore Lane and Main Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. We also cover the places around Leaves Green: Farthing Street (1 mile north-east), Downe (1 mile east), Nash (1 mile north-west), Luxted (1 mile south-east) and Keston (2 miles north). Across the rest of Bromley, our area takes in Orpington (5 miles north-east), Bromley (4 miles north), Beckenham (5 miles north-west), St Mary Cray (5 miles north-east), Chislehurst (6 miles north) and Penge (7 miles north-west).
Around Leaves Green
The streets we cover here include those near The Kings Arms, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Hayes (Kent) station, about 2.8 miles north of the centre. Open spaces near Leaves Green include West Kent Golf Course nature reserve.
Do you need alcove units in Leaves Green?
Sometimes it is the clutter of a busy living room. Toys, games, post and chargers all need a home, and closed cupboards hide them away. Open shelves above are left for the things you like to see.
Some of the things we are asked to solve are these:
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Somewhere to keep books and records
For an older house near Keston Parish Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Before you choose who makes it
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Are the boards named, such as MDF or plywood?
- Will the quote be in writing?
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight