Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Kensington and Chelsea · London
Alcove Units in Little Chelsea
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Little Chelsea. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Need alcove units in Little Chelsea?
Little Chelsea homes and alcove units
About 67% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Little Chelsea went up before 1919, and about 12% between 1919 and 1939, 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. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Little Chelsea include Chelsea Old Church (all Saints) (Grade I), less than half a mile east, and Church of St Luke (Grade I), about 0.5 miles north-east. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, such as fixing into original panelling. It’s worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. Controlled parking zones cover much of inner London, and each borough runs its own. In Little Chelsea, a van will normally need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay, and the council arranges suspensions, often with notice. Parking is worth mentioning at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
If you live in a period home close to Church of St Andrew, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If your children go to Park Walk Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. Carlyle's House, about 0.4 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Little Chelsea is within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, about 1 mile north-west of Kensington. We cover Little Chelsea as part of our work across Kensington and Chelsea. Across Kensington and Chelsea, we cover Little Chelsea and the places around it.
Design visits and fitting in SW10, SW3 and SW7 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Ann Lane, King's Road and Lamont Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Nearby, we also make alcove units in World's End (1 mile south), South Kensington (1 mile north), Chelsea (1 mile north-east), Chelsea Harbour (1 mile south) and Walham Green (1 mile south-west). Elsewhere in Kensington and Chelsea, we also cover Notting Hill (2 miles north-west), Notting Dale (2 miles north-west), Holland Park (2 miles north-west), Bayswater (2 miles north), Kensal Town (3 miles north-west) and North Kensington (3 miles north-west).
Near you in Little Chelsea
We fit furniture in homes around English National Ballet School, The World's End pub and Natural History Museum Library and Archives and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Imperial Wharf station, roughly 0.7 miles south of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Harrods (1.2 miles north-east) and Chelsea Stadium Tour And Museum (0.6 miles south-west). Not far away are Battersea Park Lake.
Alcove units for homes in Little Chelsea
Skirting boards, picture rails and coving are common in older rooms. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, depending on the look you want. The plinth height can match the skirting. We agree these details during the design visit. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and people most often get in touch about worn or badly fitted alcove units and everyday clutter left on show.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the front room typically keeps its chimney breast even where the fireplace has gone. Around Little Chelsea, where a large share of homes date from before 1919, that is a common starting point. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting.
A written quote follows the design visit. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you are getting.
- Location
- Little Chelsea (SW10, SW3, SW7)
- Area
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Places near Little Chelsea
What else we make in Little Chelsea
Pricing alcove units in Little Chelsea
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. What affects it comes down to:
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- The overall size of the piece
Every room is priced on its own, 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.
Helping us understand the room
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- A few photos of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- How you want to use the space
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
Rough measurements are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, use our contact form. The written quote follows the visit.
FAQs: alcove units in Little Chelsea
Can you fit alcove units to the uneven walls of an older house in Little Chelsea?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
I live near Imperial Wharf station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Kensington and Chelsea and the rest of London. To get started, you can drop us a line using the contact form with a few details about the room.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
How is the price worked out?
Each room is quoted on its own: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Can I send pictures before the visit?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. It is useful to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It can be done with some care: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. We do not treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
A lot of London’s terraced houses are now converted flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it.
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.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Alcoves vary in depth, and the chimney breast decides how far a unit can come out. Standard cabinets can stand proud of the breast or sit too far back. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want. Chimney breasts in older houses stand out by different amounts, so the recesses either side are rarely the same, and standard units bought as a pair rarely suit both. Fitted furniture is made to each one separately.
How it is painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. The written quote reflects your choice, along with the size and fittings.
Why us?
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- We work across all London boroughs
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Scribed to uneven walls
See how bespoke compares with ready-made and what a quote should include.
From workshop to your room
In older rooms, the furniture usually has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it sits neatly against the room. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. Each section is sized for the tightest door or turn. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You let us know which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail.
- We send a written quote setting out the layout, materials and finish.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, each one sized to its own alcove.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Arranging a design visit
For a quote for alcove units in Little Chelsea, drop us a line using the contact form. Let us know which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, plus any rough sizes. Next comes a design visit, followed by a written quote.
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Honest limits
Some parts of a job need another trade, such as an electrician, a plumber or a Gas Safe engineer. Here is what to bear in mind:
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
If in doubt, you can message us from the contact page and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves