Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Monken Hadley Alcove Units
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in Monken Hadley starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Need alcove units in Monken Hadley?
About our alcove units in Monken Hadley
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, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, and set out the shelves and rails around it. If your home has worn or badly fitted alcove units and units that sit well with original features, that’s what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
With interwar houses or semis a big part of the picture around Monken Hadley, many living rooms have been opened up to the dining room behind. That leaves a long room with a chimney breast on one side, which suits alcove units along that wall. Cable routes for a TV or speakers, and space for set-top boxes, are planned during the design visit, with any new sockets left to your electrician.
Once you have read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made at our workshop. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- Monken Hadley (EN5, EN4)
- Area
- Barnet
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. 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. That is something we plan for in the design.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
From workshop to your room
Once the main sections are fixed in place, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly, then checked again. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days 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 any section going up there is sized for them. The main stairs in houses of that age are usually straighter. 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.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you’ve picked.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
Arranging a design visit
We quote once we’ve seen the room. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, then send a quote in writing. Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. To arrange a visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Advice
Materials and finishes
Shelves
Shelf thickness depends on the span and the load. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting lets the colour be judged in the room itself before the final coat. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.
Common questions about alcove units
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Monken Hadley?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character may need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
I live near Hadley Wood station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Barnet and the rest of London. You can drop us a line using the contact form to arrange a design visit, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice. We agree the height at the measuring visit.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. The desk is planned around the way you work.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. We don’t treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
That is a job for your electrician. It is best done before the units go in, and we can tell you where the units will sit so the sockets end up in the right place. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
Also near Monken Hadley
More for homes in Monken Hadley
Monken Hadley homes and alcove units
About 42% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Monken Hadley went up before 1919, and about 25% between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. 3 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of central Monken Hadley. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings. Around Monken Hadley, about 42% of homes date from before 1919, well above the figure for Barnet as a whole, about 20%, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
For families living near Monken Hadley CofE Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. Close to King George's Fields (Monken Hadley)? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Monken Hadley is in the London Borough of Barnet, about 4 miles south of Finchley. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Monken Hadley included. Monken Hadley is one of the places in Barnet where we make alcove units, and the borough has 41 places on our list.
Every address in EN5 and EN4 is within our area for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets like Dury Road, Lucan Road and Bruce Road, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. Monken Hadley is near the A1081, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Underhill (1 mile south), Hadley Wood (1 mile east), Barnet (1 mile south-east), New Barnet (2 miles south-east) and Cockfosters (2 miles east). Elsewhere in Barnet, we also cover Finchley (4 miles south), Burnt Oak (4 miles south-west), East Finchley (5 miles south), Hendon (5 miles south), Whetstone (3 miles south-east) and Edgware (4 miles south-west).
What’s near Monken Hadley
The streets we cover here include those near Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School, Former King William IV Public House and Susi Earnshaw Theatre School, among other places. The closest station to Monken Hadley is Hadley Wood station, about 1 mile north-east of the centre. Nearby you will also find Barnet General Hospital (1 mile south-west) and Spires Shopping Centre (0.5 miles south). Not far away are Hadley Green.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. An agent can arrange access for you, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Tell us about it when you contact us.
Why people ask for alcove units in Monken Hadley
A bedroom’s alcoves are often the best place for a wardrobe. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor.
If any of these sound familiar, it is worth getting in touch:
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Near listed buildings like Hadley House, less than half a mile south-east of the centre of Monken Hadley, 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.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Whether you’ll get a quote in writing, not just a figure
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?