Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Maypole Alcove Units
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make alcove units for homes in Maypole, each designed at a visit to your home.
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Storage that suits a period room
Need alcove units in Maypole?
Alcove units for homes in Maypole
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope, sometimes all in one recess. Each unit is made in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the sides meet the wall closely rather than showing a dark line. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are walls too uneven for standard furniture and a place for a small desk.
In a semi from the 1920s or 1930s, the front room typically has a bay at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall. Around Maypole, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so that layout is worth knowing well. We tend to plan alcove units along the chimney breast wall so the bay keeps its light, though every room is measured first.
The written quote is your record of the job. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, its materials and its finish, and the workshop works from it.
- Place
- Maypole (BR6)
- Area
- Bromley
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Pricing alcove units in Maypole
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
What to send when you contact us
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- The type of home and how the room is reached
A quote begins with a few details from you: the room, rough measurements and some pictures if you have them. When you are ready, use our contact form. We’ll then arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.
Questions we are often asked
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Knockholt station?
Yes, homes across Bromley and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can send us a few details through our contact form with some details about the room.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Maypole?
Normally not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
How tall should alcove units be?
It is up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We will go through what suits your room when we visit.
What happens at the measuring visit?
It is a chance to measure properly and talk through what you’d like. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, then send a quote in writing.
Do pictures help?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit. It is useful to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Alcove units in Maypole: local notes
About 59% of the homes in the streets around Maypole went up between 1945 and 1972, and about 18% between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. The National Heritage List records 13 entries within half a mile of the centre of Maypole. Being near listed buildings does not make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. Detached and semi-detached houses are home to about 69% of households in the streets around Maypole, based on Census 2021. In a semi or detached house, a driveway, where there is one, can make unloading easier.
Lullingstone Castle, about 2.4 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Near listed buildings like Maypole Cottages, less than half a mile south-west of the centre of Maypole, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. If you live near Hewitt's Chalk Bank, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Maypole is about 3 miles north-west of Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley. We cover Maypole as part of our work across Bromley, and the process is the same everywhere we work. We cover places right across Bromley, large and small.
Every address in BR6 is within our area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street such as Jubilee Road, Hollybush Lane and Maypole Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Bopeep (1 mile south), Chelsfield (1 mile north-west), Goddington (1 mile north-west) and Pratt's Bottom (1 mile south-west). Across the rest of Bromley, our area takes in Orpington (3 miles north-west), Bromley (6 miles north-west), Beckenham (8 miles north-west), St Mary Cray (3 miles north-west), Chislehurst (5 miles north-west) and Biggin Hill (6 miles south-west).
Around Maypole
In Maypole, that includes homes near The Bo-Peep pub and Harris Academy Orpington, among other places. The nearest railway station is Knockholt station, about 0.7 miles south-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Orpington Hospital (2 miles west).
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so it is worth raising at the measuring visit.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it, after measuring the route during the design visit.
From workshop to your room
On the morning of the fitting, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. Next, we carry in the sections made in our workshop, one at a time. 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. Interwar houses normally have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it’s going, with floors protected throughout.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level. Then we go through the design together.
- You get a quote in writing for the units, materials and finish.
- The units are made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster. Spray-painted units arrive finished; hand-painted ones are painted once fitted.
How to prepare
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
Getting a quote
It helps to see the room before we come. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space, along with rough sizes. To share them, drop us a line using the contact form, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Related advice
How it’s made
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF in a moisture-resistant grade is stable and paints beautifully, so we use it for doors, panels and the faces you see. It is a sensible choice where an alcove sits against an external wall.
Nearby places to Maypole
Other services in Maypole
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load, using birch plywood where strength matters. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you’re renting or moving soon. Standard widths rarely add up to the length of a real wall, which fitted furniture avoids. It can use the full height too.
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit, so size is the starting point. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Why choose us
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.