Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Harrow · London
Alcove Units in North Harrow
We make alcove units for homes in North Harrow, designed around the room you have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
Need alcove units in North Harrow?
About our alcove units in North Harrow
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It is a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. We plan the desk height and depth with you. If your home has standard units leaving gaps at the sides and cupboards in keeping with an older house, alcove units made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
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 North Harrow, 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.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. They say what will be made, what it is made from and how it will be finished.
- Place
- North Harrow (HA2, HA1, HA5)
- Borough
- Harrow
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Tips worth knowing
The finish lasts best with a little care. These practical tips help:
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
Once the cupboards are filled and in daily use, a door may settle slightly. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again.
Watch for damp marks on the chimney breast or the walls near the units. The cause is a job for the right trade, not something paint will hide, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
If the property is let, we’ll need access agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. An agent can arrange access for you.
If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so let us know about it during the design visit.
Common questions about alcove units
Does a conservation area in or near North Harrow affect fitted furniture?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in North Harrow?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It helps to tell us about parking at the design visit.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
That’s your choice. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while a low cupboard with shelves above keeps the room feeling lighter. We’ll go through what suits your room when we visit.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and talk through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and afterwards we send a quote in writing.
Can I send pictures ahead of the visit?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need someone to let us in. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
What it costs
To work out the quote, we look at:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- Spray painting or hand painting
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
Helping us understand the room
Getting a few details early makes the visit more useful. If you can, send:
- How you want to use the space
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Your postcode and the borough
- Any ideas or images you’ve saved
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit, when we have measured up and talked through the design. To arrange a visit, drop us a line using the contact form.
North Harrow homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around North Harrow were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 54%) and before 1919 (about 23%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. 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 North Harrow, Historic England’s list includes Church of St Alban (Grade II), under half a mile south-west, and The Rayners Public House (Grade II), about 0.5 miles south-west. If your own home is listed, changes inside that alter its character, like fixing into or removing original joinery, can need listed building consent. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. The ULEZ, run by TfL, takes in all of London, so Harrow is inside it. It applies to every van that comes to fit furniture in North Harrow. We plan parking and access with you at the measuring visit.
Close to Headstone Manor Recreation Ground? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. For families living near Longfield Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room. The wider area includes historic houses like Headstone Manor, about 0.8 miles north-east. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
North Harrow is in the London Borough of Harrow, about 1 mile south-east of Harrow. We can visit homes in North Harrow on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. We cover places right across Harrow, large and small.
Here we cover the HA2, HA1 and HA5 postcode area for alcove units. We cover homes on streets like The Avenue, Pinner Road and Durham Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. We also cover the places around North Harrow: Rayners Lane (1 mile south-west), Harrow (1 mile south-east), Roxbourne (1 mile south-west), Eastcote (1 mile west) and Greenhill (1 mile east). Other parts of Harrow we cover include Stanmore (3 miles north-east), Harrow Weald (2 miles north-east), Little Stanmore (4 miles north-east), Pinner Green (2 miles north-west), Canons Park (4 miles north-east) and Queensbury (3 miles east).
What’s near North Harrow
We fit furniture in homes around Heathfield School, Nower Hill High School and Rayners pub, among other places. The closest station to North Harrow is Harrow-on-the-Hill station, about 1.2 miles east. Well-known places in the area include Kodak Museum (1 mile north-east) and Northwick Park Hospital (1.9 miles east).
Other services in North Harrow
How fitting day works
Every fitting follows the same order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. It is useful to clear the room and the route before we arrive. Fitting day starts with protecting the floors and setting out the pieces. Each piece is levelled, scribed where the wall wanders and fixed to suit the wall.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
How to prepare
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
Getting a quote
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. A quote in writing follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To book one, fill in our short enquiry form.
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Boards, parts and paint
Moisture-resistant MDF
For alcove units, MDF gives crisp doors and smooth sides. The moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice next to a chimney breast.
Hand-painted finish
With a hand-painted finish, you see the colour in your own light. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.