Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lambeth · London
North Brixton 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 North Brixton, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Alcove units for your home in North Brixton
Caring for painted furniture
Looking after painted furniture is simple. A few things help it stay looking good:
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, like a record player
- Tell us about parking and access during the design visit
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for, so tell us at the design visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
Alcove units in North Brixton
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 edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. Typical reasons to get in touch are clutter with nowhere to go and shelving for books and records; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
In a mansion block flat, ceilings are often tall and the walls are rarely straight, while a flat in a newer block is more likely to have plasterboard partitions. Around North Brixton, most households live in purpose-built flats of one kind or another, so we check what each wall is made of before planning alcove units. Tall pieces are fixed back securely, whichever wall it is.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we’ll tell you. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- North Brixton (SW9, SW8, SE5)
- Borough
- Lambeth
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Where other trades come in
Electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering and structural work aren’t part of what we do. Please bear these in mind too:
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
If in doubt, you can use our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
Also near North Brixton
Other services in North Brixton
When is bespoke worth it?
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
It is worth being honest about cost: off-the-shelf furniture typically costs less up front. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Questions we are often asked
Is North Brixton in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. We cover all of Lambeth and the rest of London, and North Brixton is part of that. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
My home in North Brixton is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in not just the room. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It is useful to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That depends on how you use the room. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in North Brixton?
The first step is to use our contact form with a few details about the room. We then arrange a design visit, measure up and send a written quote.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need someone to let us in. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It needs a little planning: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. Damp treatment isn’t something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
North Brixton homes and alcove units
About 28% of the homes in the streets around North Brixton went up before 1919, and about 26% since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. The Brixton Road Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of North Brixton. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. Streets close to central London are often narrow and busy, with loading bays in short supply, so carrying the sections from the van to the door takes planning, especially for larger pieces.
If you live in a flat close to Loughborough Junction station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. If you live in a period home close to St Michael's Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For a family home near Van Gogh Academy, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
North Brixton is within the London Borough of Lambeth, about 1 mile south-west of Stockwell. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, North Brixton included. Across Lambeth, we cover North Brixton.
Every address in SW9, SW8 and SE5 is within our area for alcove units. If your home is on a street like Lett Road, Lorn Road and Oak Square, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Main roads around North Brixton include the A203. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. We also cover Angell Town (1 mile south), Little Portugal (1 mile west), Stockwell (1 mile south-west), South Lambeth (1 mile north-west) and Kennington (1 mile north-west). Across the rest of Lambeth, our area takes in Streatham (3 miles south), West Norwood (3 miles south), South Bank (2 miles north), Waterloo (2 miles north), Gipsy Hill (4 miles south) and Streatham Hill (2 miles south). Being one of the larger places in Lambeth, North Brixton is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
Around North Brixton
The streets we cover here include those near Durand Academy, Platanos College and Lambeth Palace Library and the streets around them. North Brixton’s nearest station is Loughborough Junction station, about 0.7 miles south-east of the centre. Nearby you will also find Type Museum (close by, under half a mile west) and St Giles' Hospital (1.3 miles east).
What affects the price in North Brixton
Several things affect the price:
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- How big the furniture is
- The number of doors and drawers
- Parking and unloading on your street
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Helping us understand the room
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- How you want to use the space
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. To book a design visit, get in touch through our contact form.
From workshop to your room
Every fitting follows the same order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Drilling can be heard through the walls and floors of a block, and many buildings limit noisy work to certain hours. We plan the day to suit those rules. Saturday work is by prior arrangement where the building permits it.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and talk through the design, including the paint 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.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
How to get a quote
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you don’t, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To start, tell us about the room on our contact form.