Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Mottingham Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Mottingham. After a design visit and a written quote, it’s built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units in Mottingham
Living-room carpentry in Mottingham: local notes
About 48% of the homes in the streets around Mottingham went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 26% between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Near the centre of Mottingham, Historic England’s list includes The Grange Eltham College Junior School (Grade II), under half a mile north, and Geffery' s Homes (Almshouses) (Grade II), about 0.5 miles east. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, like fixing into original panelling. Ask the council’s conservation officer before anything is fixed. Each London borough runs its own parking controls, and Bromley is no exception. If your street in Mottingham is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension through the council may be needed. Let us know about parking at the design visit.
If you live near Chinbrook Meadows, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. The wider area includes historic houses such as Eltham Palace, about 1.1 miles north-east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If your children go to Marvels Lane Primary School or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Mottingham is about 4 miles south-east of Orpington, within the London Borough of Bromley. Design visits and fitting in Mottingham can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. Mottingham is one of 49 places on our list for Bromley.
Every home in SE9, SE12 and BR1 is within our area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Horley Road, Dorset Road and Albert Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Other places close to Mottingham include Chinbrook (1 mile south-west), Grove Park (1 mile west), Coldharbour (1 mile east), Middle Park (1 mile north) and Horn Park (1 mile north-west). Elsewhere in Bromley, we also cover Orpington (4 miles south-east), Bromley (2 miles south-west), Beckenham (3 miles south-west), St Mary Cray (4 miles south-east), Chislehurst (2 miles south-east) and Penge (4 miles west).
Around Mottingham
We fit furniture in homes around Colfe's School and Haberdashers' Aske's Knights Academy, among other places. The nearest railway station is Grove Park station, roughly 0.7 miles west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Eltham Community Hospital (1.3 miles north-east) and Prefab Museum (1.7 miles west). Green spaces nearby include The Tarn.
Alcove units for homes in Mottingham
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope, sometimes all in one recess. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, 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. If your home has alcoves that aren’t square and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast, alcove units made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
Around Mottingham, interwar houses or semi-detached and detached homes make up a good part of the housing. If yours is a 1920s or 1930s house, the front room may have a bay window at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall, which decides where alcove units sit. Walls in houses of that age are normally straighter than in Victorian ones, though they’re still checked and scribed where needed.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. The finish is stated too, whether that’s spray painting or hand painting.
- Location
- Mottingham (SE9, SE12, BR1)
- Borough
- Bromley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, leases and landlords
A lot of London’s terraced houses are now converted flats, which often brings a shared hall and tight turns on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, once we’ve measured the way in.
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there is a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you contact us.
What affects the cost of alcove units
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. This is what makes the difference:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Awkward walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Parking and unloading on your street
Awkward rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That’s reflected in the quote, which we write after seeing the room.
What we need to know
When you contact us, these help most:
- Anything in the way, such as radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Where you live, with the postcode
- How you want to use the space
- Any ideas or images you have saved
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, once the room is measured and the design talked through. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
How it’s made
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribing means trimming the edges on site so they follow the wall. This closes the gap between a straight unit and a bowed alcove.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying in the workshop means the units arrive already finished. Give the paint time to cure fully once fitted.
What happens on fitting day
You are welcome to ask questions while we work. Most of the decisions were made during the design visit and set out in your quote, so fitting day is about putting it in place carefully. How long fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. It helps to clear the room and the route before we arrive. On the day, we cover the floors first, then bring the sections in. Each piece is levelled, scribed where the wall wanders and fixed to suit the wall.
- To begin, message us from the contact page; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, discuss the design and check the route from the street to the room. Parking is worth mentioning too, since a van often needs a permit or a paid bay in London.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- On fitting day the sections come in, are joined in place and scribed to the walls.
Before fitting day
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
How to get a quote
To make a start, send us a few details through our contact form and tell us a little about the room. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and a written quote follows.
Advice
FAQs: alcove units in Mottingham
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Mottingham?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. It helps to tell us about parking during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Is Mottingham in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, we work across Bromley, Mottingham included, and across the rest of London. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with a few details.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Ventilation helps keep a capped chimney dry. If there’s damp on the breast already, it is best sorted before fitting.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That is your choice. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. Shared details, such as the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
Places near Mottingham
Other services in Mottingham
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
It’s worth being honest about cost: off-the-shelf furniture typically costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is tricky, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.