Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Norwood Green Alcove Units
Alcove units in Norwood Green: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Every piece is made in our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Need alcove units in Norwood Green?
Alcove units in Norwood Green: what you get
We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF gives smooth doors and panels that take paint well, and birch plywood is strong for shelves and carcasses. You can have a spray-painted finish from the workshop or a hand-painted one done on site, in a colour agreed with you. People typically come to us about shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess and cupboards in keeping with an older house, and the answer is made at our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Lots of semis and interwar houses have been extended at the back or had the back rooms knocked through, and around Norwood Green, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a large share of the housing. A long through room gives alcove units a whole wall to work with, or mark out the sitting end from the dining end. New plasterboard in an extension and older brick or block in the original house take different fixings.
You get the quote in writing, so there’s time to read it properly. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Where
- Norwood Green (UB2, TW5, TW7)
- Borough
- Hounslow
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room carpentry in Norwood Green: local notes
In the area around Norwood Green, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 34%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 23%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. The National Heritage List records 11 entries within half a mile of the centre of Norwood Green. Being near listed buildings does not make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. About 34% of homes in the streets around Norwood Green date from between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Houses from the 1920s and 1930s often have a bay window and a chimney breast in the front room, which shape where alcove units go.
If you live in a period home close to Church of St Mary, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Osterley House, about 0.6 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If you live in a flat close to Southall station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in.
Norwood Green is in the London Borough of Hounslow, about 2 miles south of Hounslow. We design and make alcove units for homes in Norwood Green and the rest of Hounslow. Across Hounslow, we cover Norwood Green.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: UB2, TW5 and TW7. Streets in the area include Norwood Road, Stour Avenue and Durham Avenue, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Norwood Green is near the M4 and A3005, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. If you are just outside Norwood Green, we also cover North Hyde (1 mile west), Heston (1 mile south-west), Osterley (1 mile south-east), Spring Grove (1 mile south-east) and Lampton (1 mile south). Other parts of Hounslow we cover include Hounslow (2 miles south), Feltham (4 miles south-west), Brentford (3 miles east), Isleworth (2 miles south-east), Chiswick (5 miles east) and Strand-on-the-Green (4 miles east).
Around Norwood Green
Around Norwood Green, we cover homes near Heston Community School and The Plough Public House. The nearest railway station is Southall station, roughly 1 mile north-west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Treaty Centre (1.8 miles south) and St Bernard's Hospital (1 mile north-east). Green spaces nearby include Long Wood and Garden Lake.
Before and after fitting day
A little care keeps the finish looking good. Here are our suggestions:
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Let us know about parking and access at the measuring visit
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
Don’t let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away, which protects the units too.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork, as strong heat can mark paint over time.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. Span, depth and the weight on it decide whether a shelf sags, so a long run needs a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support. That’s something we plan for in the design.
Questions from Norwood Green
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Southall station?
Yes. We cover all of Hounslow and the rest of London. You can drop us a line using the contact form to arrange a design visit, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Norwood Green?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character may need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. The units are made in our workshop first.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. We plan the height and depth with you.
Do photos help?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough measurements. You can send them when you get in touch through our contact form.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, by prior arrangement. Let us know when you get in touch if a Saturday suits you best.
How it’s made
Moisture-resistant MDF
With no grain to show through, MDF keeps the painted surface smooth and even. Moisture-resistant MDF is what we use for fitted work.
Plinths and scribe strips
Scribe strips are the edges we trim on site to follow the wall. It is how a straight unit meets a wall that is not straight.
Nearby places to Norwood Green
What else we make in Norwood Green
From workshop to your room
When we arrive on fitting day, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. The sections made in our workshop come in next, a piece at a time. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. A front path or side gate can make the carry from the van simpler. We measure the path, any steps and the front door as part of the route. Floors, stairs and doorways are protected on the way in.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- We send a quote in writing for the units.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
Ask for a quote
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, once the room is measured and the design talked through. To arrange a visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Related advice
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
The depth of an alcove is set by the chimney breast. A shop-bought cabinet may stick out past the chimney breast or leave a deep gap behind it. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want. Even in a 1930s house, walls and floors are not perfectly true, and standalone units can lean or gap. Built-in pieces are adjusted to the room on site.
In London, parking can affect the price. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of the city, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay near your home. It helps to talk about parking during the design visit.
Why us?
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- More than 300 projects completed
Take a look at bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.