Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hackney · London
Manor House Alcove Units
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Manor House. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Alcove units designed for your room
About our alcove units in Manor House
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, whichever suits the room. The plinth height can match the skirting for a tidy line around the room. These details are settled when we visit. People usually come to us about tired cupboards in the alcoves and space for a growing book collection; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around Manor House, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. One pair of alcoves might take shelves and the other cupboards, a TV or a desk. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
The written quote is your record of the job. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, its materials and its finish.
- Location
- Manor House (N4, N16, N15)
- Area
- Hackney
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, which often brings a shared hall and tight turns on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it.
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Let us know about them at the measuring visit.
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. How long the fitting itself takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Hallways in period houses are often narrow, and the stairs turn sharply, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route in. Floors, stairs and doorways are covered before anything is carried through, and the sections are joined and scribed in the room.
- You get in touch and let us know about the room and the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- You receive a quote in writing setting out the units, materials and finish, so you can look it over in your own time.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
How to get a quote
To make a start, tell us about the room on our contact form and tell us a little about the room. We then arrange a design visit to measure and go through the design, and a quote in writing follows.
Advice
What it costs
We quote each job after the design visit, because no two rooms are the same. This is what makes the difference:
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- Parking and unloading on your street
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Getting in touch
Ahead of the design visit, we’ll usually ask about:
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Your postcode and the borough
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, use our contact form.
FAQs: alcove units in Manor House
I live near Harringay Green Lanes station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Hackney 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.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Manor House?
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 during the design visit.
How do I get a quote?
It’s easiest to drop us a line using the contact form and let us know about the room. After that, we arrange a design visit and follow it with a quote in writing.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards if you want the two sides to differ. The desk is planned around the way you work.
How tall should alcove units be?
That’s your choice. Full-height units give the most storage, while a low cupboard with shelves above keeps the room feeling lighter. We talk through the options at the measuring visit.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how tricky the walls are all play a part. You will get a quote in writing once we’ve measured up.
Places near Manor House
More for homes in Manor House
When is bespoke worth it?
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
Caring for painted furniture
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, as they can mark the finish. Dry the surface afterwards.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for, so tell us during the design visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
Living-room storage in Manor House
In the streets around Manor House, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 54%) and the years since 2000 (about 18%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Within a mile of the centre of Manor House, 7 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings. About 46% of households in the streets around Manor House live in purpose-built flats, based on Census 2021. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Engine House of Metropolitan Water Board, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent. If your children go to Woodberry Down Community Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. For a flat near Harringay Green Lanes station, it’s useful to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day.
Manor House is about 3 miles south of Shoreditch, part of the London Borough of Hackney. Design visits and fitting in Manor House can be on a Saturday, by arrangement. We list Manor House among 20 places we cover in Hackney.
In N4, N16 and N15, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. You will find streets here such as Vale Road, Eade Road and Swan Lane, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Main roads around Manor House include the A503, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. If you’re just outside Manor House, we also cover Harringay (1 mile north), St Ann's (1 mile north-east), Stoke Newington (1 mile south-east), Stamford Hill (1 mile east) and West Green (1 mile north). Elsewhere in Hackney, we also cover Shoreditch (3 miles south), Hoxton (3 miles south), Homerton (3 miles south-east), Hackney (3 miles south-east), De Beauvoir Town (2 miles south) and Hackney Central (3 miles south-east).
Landmarks near Manor House
In Manor House, that includes homes near Beaconsfield pub, Church of St Andrew and Woodberry Down School. There is a railway station in Manor House itself: Harringay Green Lanes station. Other landmarks nearby include City of London Maternity Hospital (1 mile west) and The Mall Wood Green (1.6 miles north). For a walk, there’s Woodberry Wetlands.