Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Kingston upon Thames · London
Alcove Units in Motspur Park
Thinking about alcove units in Motspur Park? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a written quote, before anything is made.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Ask about alcove units in Motspur Park
Motspur Park homes and alcove units
About 34% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Motspur Park went up before 1919, and about 31% between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. 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. 7 conservation areas have at least part of their area less than a mile from the middle of Motspur Park. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Around a third of the homes in the streets around Motspur Park (about 31%) date from between 1919 and 1939, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Houses from the 1920s and 1930s often have a bay window and a chimney breast in the front room, which shape where alcove units go.
Close to Beverley Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. If you live in a period home close to Christ Church New Malden, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Motspur Park is about 2 miles west of Kingston upon Thames, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Design visits and fitting in Motspur Park can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. Our work takes in places right across Kingston upon Thames, large and small.
Every home in KT3, SW20 and KT2 is within our area for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. You will find streets here such as Traps Lane, Coombe Road and Coombe Lane, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Motspur Park sits close to the A238. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the measuring visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. Other places close to Motspur Park include New Malden (1 mile south-west), West Barnes (1 mile south-east), Coombe (1 mile north-west), Raynes Park (1 mile south-east) and Copse Hill (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Kingston upon Thames we cover include Kingston upon Thames (2 miles west), Surbiton (2 miles south-west), Hampton Wick (3 miles west), Chessington (4 miles south-west), Seething Wells (3 miles south-west) and Hook (4 miles south-west).
Near you in Motspur Park
We fit furniture in homes around The Royal Oak Public House, Ursuline Preparatory School and Coombe Girls' School and the streets around them. The closest station to Motspur Park is New Malden station, roughly 0.5 miles south-west of the centre. A little further out are Atkinson Morley Hospital (0.8 miles north-east) and Wimbledon Museum (1.7 miles north-east). Open spaces near Motspur Park include Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads.
How we make alcove units for Motspur Park
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, chosen part by part. MDF gives smooth doors and panels that take paint well, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. You can have a spray-painted finish from the workshop or a hand-painted one done on site, in a colour agreed with you. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the things people most often want solved are bowed walls and sloping floors and alcoves that are wasted space.
In an area like Motspur Park, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. The result is often a long room with a chimney breast, a good spot for alcove units. Cable routes for a TV or speakers, and space for set-top boxes, are planned at the design visit.
The furniture is made at our workshop after you’ve had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- Motspur Park (KT3, SW20, KT2)
- Area
- Kingston upon Thames
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Is bespoke worth it?
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. That said, if you’re renting or moving soon, a good off-the-shelf unit may make more sense. Even in a 1930s house, walls and floors are not perfectly true, and standalone units can lean or gap. Fitted furniture is scribed and levelled on site.
In London, parking can affect the price. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of the city, so a van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension. It is useful to talk about parking during the design visit, so it can be planned.
Why choose us
- Over 300 projects completed
- Designed for the room you have
- Saturday work by arrangement
- Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made or what to look for in a quote.
What alcove units can’t fix
It is worth being clear about where our work stops:
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can use our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
Also near Motspur Park
Other services in Motspur Park
Could you do it yourself?
Cost matters, and it is fair to say so: flat-pack is normally cheaper to buy. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Questions from Motspur Park
Is Motspur Park in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, we work across Kingston upon Thames, Motspur Park included, and across the rest of London. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to New Malden station?
Yes, homes across Kingston upon Thames and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can message us from the contact page with some details about the room.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
That’s your choice. Full-height units give 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.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. A desk in one alcove, with shelves above and storage below, works well in many rooms. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a route left for cables.
What happens during the design visit?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. We will also ask about access and parking, and afterwards we send a quote in writing.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You do not need to watch us work, but it is useful to be around at the end.
How fitting works for alcove units
On the morning of the fitting, we start by protecting your floors and the route from the front door to the room. Next, we carry in the sections made in our workshop, one at a time. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. In a 1920s or 1930s house, the hall and stairs are usually simple, though we still measure the route in along with the room itself. Alcove units arrive in sections and are assembled in place.
- 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. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, 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.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Preparing the room
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
Starting with a design visit
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. We measure everything properly at the measuring visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, drop us a line using the contact form with some details about the room. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Read more
What prompts alcove units in Motspur Park
Some homes already have alcove cupboards, but they’ve seen better days. Starting again lets you rethink the layout.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Space for a growing book collection
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- A place for a small desk
- Units that sit well with original features
For a family home near St Matthew's CofE Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Before you choose who makes it
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- Whether you’ll get a quote in writing, not just a figure