Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Marylebone Alcove Units
Alcove units in Marylebone: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made in our workshop and fitted by us.
- Storage that suits a period room
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Room to work in an alcove
Ask about alcove units in Marylebone
Alcove units for homes in Marylebone
About 50% of the homes in the streets around Marylebone went up before 1919, and about 15% between 1919 and 1939, 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 National Heritage List has 694 entries within half a mile of the centre of Marylebone. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. Purpose-built flats are home to about 75% of households in the area around Marylebone, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. 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 you live in a period home close to Russian chapel on Welbeck Street, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. The wider area includes historic houses like Handel Hendrix House, about 0.3 miles south. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Marylebone is in the City of Westminster, about 1 mile south-west of City of Westminster. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Marylebone is part of that. Our work takes in places right across Westminster.
In W1U, W1T and W1K, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Our area takes in homes on streets like Park Lane, Duck Lane and Bruton Lane, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. Marylebone is near the A400 and A401, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include City of Westminster (1 mile south-west), Mayfair (1 mile south), Fitzrovia (1 mile north-east), Burlington Estate (1 mile south-east) and Soho (1 mile south-east). Other parts of Westminster we cover include Victoria (2 miles south), Westbourne (2 miles west), Little Venice (2 miles west), Westbourne Green (2 miles west), Pimlico (2 miles south) and Maida Vale (2 miles west). Being one of the larger places in Westminster, Marylebone is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Near you in Marylebone
In Marylebone, that includes homes near Royal Society of Medicine Library, The St Marylebone CofE School and The St Marylebone CofE School and the streets around them. Marylebone has its own railway station: Bond Street station. A little further out are Respiratory Clinical Trials (within half a mile north) and Montfichet's Tower (2 miles east). Open spaces near Marylebone include St. James's Park Lake.
How we make alcove units for Marylebone
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In a bedroom, it can become a small wardrobe or a linen cupboard, while in a dining room it can keep china, glass and table linen. At the design visit we ask what you plan to keep there, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. If you are living with units that sit well with original features and standard units leaving gaps at the sides, alcove units made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around Marylebone, lots of living rooms are two reception rooms knocked into one, each with its own chimney breast. One pair of alcoves might take shelves and the other cupboards, a TV or a desk. Older internal walls can be lath and plaster rather than brick, which changes how shelving is fixed.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. The finish is stated too, whether that is spray painting or hand painting.
- Place
- Marylebone (W1U, W1T, W1K)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Marylebone
Is parking a problem for fitting in Marylebone?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. It’s useful to let us know about parking at the design visit.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Bond Street station?
Yes, homes across Westminster and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. We plan the height and depth with you.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
Either a spray-painted or a hand-painted finish. A sprayed finish is very smooth and even; a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later. We will help you choose at the measuring visit.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, by prior arrangement. If a Saturday works better for you, say so when you get in touch.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Ventilation helps keep a capped chimney dry, which protects the units as well as the wall. Any existing damp should be dealt with before the units go in.
Looking after your furniture
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that’s barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose.
Fitting day, step by step
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it sits neatly against the room. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- A written quote follows, with the finish set out.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill.
How to prepare
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
Ask for a quote
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and discuss the design with you. A written quote follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To book one, send us a few details through our contact form.
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Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If the property is let, we will need access agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. An agent can arrange access for you.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, after measuring the route at the design visit.
When is bespoke worth it?
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
Neighbourhoods near Marylebone
What else we make in Marylebone
What prompts alcove units in Marylebone
Some homes already have alcove cupboards, but they’ve seen better days. New units are a chance to rethink how the space works.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Room to work in an alcove
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Chandos House, 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.
Choosing a carpenter
- How they deal with uneven walls and floors
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Whether you’ll get a quote in writing, not just a figure