Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Kensington and Chelsea · London
North Kensington Alcove Units
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in North Kensington starts with a design visit, and everything is made at our workshop.
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Need alcove units in North Kensington?
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there is usually 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.
Flat-pack and off-the-shelf furniture has its place. In a room with square walls and standard sizes, it can work well.
Alcove units in North Kensington: what you get
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, depending on the look you want. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting so the units feel part of the room. These details are settled when we visit, before anything is made. If you’re living with space for a growing book collection and standard units leaving gaps at the sides, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish can solve it.
With a large share of homes around North Kensington built before 1919, lots of living rooms are two reception rooms knocked into one, each with its own chimney breast. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Older internal walls can be lath and plaster rather than brick, which changes how shelving is fixed, and long shelves are sized so they do not sag under books.
You get the quote in writing, so there is time to read it properly and share it with anyone else involved. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Where
- North Kensington (W10, NW10, W11)
- Area
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
When you need someone else
We design, make and fit the furniture. In practice, that means:
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can tell us about the room on our contact form and we will tell you. Our process from visit to fitting.
What it is made from
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
Your questions about alcove units in North Kensington
My house in North Kensington is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in North Kensington?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. 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. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Do I need planning permission for fitted furniture?
Usually not. Fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission, even in a conservation area. Listed buildings can require listed building consent for works that affect their character.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need someone to let us in at the start of the day. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. You can have a desk in one alcove and cupboards in the other if you want the two sides to differ. We will plan the desk around how you work.
Will alcove units block the chimney vent?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Ventilation helps keep a capped chimney dry. Any existing damp should be dealt with before the units go in.
Also near North Kensington
What else we make in North Kensington
How fitting works for alcove units
Fitting day follows a set order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. At the end, we tidy up and go over the work with you. How long 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. Scribing is done on site, which means some cutting in the room or close by, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that is your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out.
- The units are made in our workshop.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
How to prepare
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
Ask for a quote
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Related advice
How we price alcove units
The price reflects the time and materials the job needs. The main factors are:
- Parking near your home
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- Doors and drawers, and how many
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
Helping us understand the room
To give us a picture of the room, it is useful to include:
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- How you want to use the space
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Where you live, with the postcode
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To get started, get in touch through our contact form with some details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
North Kensington homes and alcove units
About 53% of the homes in the neighbourhood around North Kensington went up before 1919, and about 15% between 1973 and 1999, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Within a mile of the centre of North Kensington, 9 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of inner London. So a van fitting furniture in North Kensington typically needs a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension arranged through the council. It helps to let us know about parking during the design visit.
Near listed buildings like The Anglican Chapel, under half a mile north-west of the centre of North Kensington, 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. If you live in a flat close to Kensal Green station, the route in is measured along with the room itself, and the sections are sized to fit it. If you live near Little Wormwood Scrubs, alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
North Kensington is about 2 miles south-east of Kensington, within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, North Kensington included. Across Kensington and Chelsea, we cover North Kensington.
Here we cover the W10, NW10 and W11 postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street such as Peach Road, Barlby Road and Eynham Road or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover Kensal Town (1 mile east), Kensal Green (1 mile north-west), Kensal Rise (1 mile north), Notting Dale (1 mile south-east) and White City (1 mile south). Across the rest of Kensington and Chelsea, our area takes in Kensington (2 miles south-east), Brompton (3 miles south-east), Chelsea (3 miles south-east), South Kensington (3 miles south-east), Holland Park (2 miles south-east) and Earl's Court (3 miles south-east).
Near you in North Kensington
We fit furniture in homes around The Eagle pub, Maida Vale School and All Saints Catholic College, among other places. The closest station to North Kensington is Kensal Green station, about 0.5 miles north of the centre. A little further out are Culture House (1.3 miles south) and Princess Louise Hospital (a few minutes’ walk south-west).
What it’s made from
Hand-painted finish
With a hand-painted finish, you see the colour in your own light. Scribed edges and joins are painted along with the rest.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying gets an even coat into corners and onto edges. The colour is agreed with you before we start.