Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Alcove units in North Woolwich, Newham
Alcove units in North Woolwich: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made at our workshop and fitted by us.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units designed for your room
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
With bought furniture you’re limited to the maker’s finishes. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, either spray painted in the workshop or hand painted. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Ready-made units fixed to stud walls are often held by fixings that don’t suit the board. Fitted furniture is planned with fixings into the studs or made for the board.
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. A larger piece means more material and more time, so size is the starting point. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in North Woolwich
- Over 300 projects completed
- Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Built around your room
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
Alcove units for homes in North Woolwich
One alcove can be given over to a desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It’s a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. We plan the desk height and depth with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are shelving for books and records and cupboards in keeping with an older house.
Many homes around North Woolwich were built since 2000, and newer homes rarely come with any built-in shelving or media storage. We plan alcove units around the existing sockets and aerial points, with routes for cables designed in. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on studs, which is fine for fitted furniture when the fixings are right.
The written quote is your record of the job. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, its materials and its finish, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Location
- North Woolwich (SE18, E16, E6)
- Area
- Newham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Neighbourhoods near North Woolwich
More for homes in North Woolwich
What it’s made from
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribe strips are the edges we trim on site to follow the wall. This closes the gap between a straight unit and a bowed alcove.
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves help brace the unit, while adjustable ones let you change heights later.
Tips worth knowing
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Mention parking and access when we visit
Make a note of the paint colour used. Hand-painted finishes are the easiest to touch up in place.
Avoid placing a heater hard up against the units, because constant heat is not kind to a painted finish.
What we do not do
Our work is the furniture itself: designing it, making it in our workshop and fitting it. In practice, that means:
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
If in doubt, you can fill in our short enquiry form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Scribed side panels
- Panelled or flat doors
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
How fitting day works
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details, so it looks as though it was always there. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Parking at newer developments can be restricted, with private bays or loading areas, so it’s useful to let us know during the design visit. On fitting day, the sections are carried in, assembled and fixed. Saturdays can be arranged.
- 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 written quote follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, send us a few details through our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind and what you want the furniture to do. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
Advice
Questions from North Woolwich
Is North Woolwich in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, North Woolwich is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Newham and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
I live in a flat in North Woolwich. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
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.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Normally not. Inside a house, fitted furniture does not normally need planning permission. If the building is listed, works affecting its character may need listed building consent, so ask the council’s conservation officer.
Can the two alcove units be different?
It is up to you. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need someone to let us in at the start of the day. It is good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Living-room storage in North Woolwich
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around North Woolwich were built since 2000 (about 40%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 26%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of North Woolwich include Church of St Mary Magdalene (Grade II*), about 0.6 miles south, and Granada Cinema (Grade II*), about 0.6 miles south. If you live in a listed building, fixing into or taking out original features like panelling can require listed building consent. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. About 72% of households in the neighbourhood around North Woolwich live in purpose-built flats, based on Census 2021. For a flat, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, the lift and the doors. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
For an older house near St John's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Eastbury Manor House, about 2.9 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. Close to Beckton District Park? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
North Woolwich is about 2 miles north-west of Plaistow, in the London Borough of Newham. We design and make alcove units for homes in North Woolwich and the rest of Newham. North Woolwich is one of 26 places on our list for Newham.
Every home in SE18, E16 and E6 is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. We cover homes on streets such as Drew Road, Tate Road and Pier Road, along with the roads around them, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Cyprus (1 mile north), Royal Docks (1 mile north-west), Beckton (1 mile north-east), Silvertown (1 mile west) and Custom House (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Newham, we also cover Plaistow (2 miles north-west), Stratford (4 miles north-west), Canning Town (2 miles north-west), Forest Gate (4 miles north), East Ham (2 miles north) and Upton Park (2 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in North Woolwich
Around North Woolwich, we cover homes near Drew Primary School and The Mitre pub. The closest station to North Woolwich is Woolwich Dockyard station, roughly 0.7 miles south. A little further out are North Woolwich Old Station Museum (under half a mile east) and Gallions Reach Shopping Park (1.1 miles north-east). For a walk, there’s Gilbert's Pit.