Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Southwark · London
Nunhead Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Nunhead. After a design visit and a quote in writing, it’s made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
Need alcove units in Nunhead?
How we make alcove units for Nunhead
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, whichever suits the room. The plinth height can match the skirting so the units feel part of the room. We agree these details at the measuring visit, before anything is made. If you are living with worn or badly fitted alcove units and alcoves that aren’t square, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand can solve it.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the front room typically keeps its chimney breast even where the fireplace has gone. Around Nunhead, where a large share of homes date from before 1919, that’s a common starting point. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting, so they sit as if they came with the house.
We write quotes in plain English. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish.
- Place
- Nunhead (SE15, SE4, SE14)
- Area
- Southwark
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, blocks and rented homes
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, 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 at the measuring visit.
If the property is let, we will need access agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. An agent can arrange access for you, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.
Living-room storage in Nunhead
About 47% of the homes in the area around Nunhead went up before 1919, and about 15% between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. There are 19 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Nunhead. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. TfL’s Ultra Low Emission Zone covers every part of London, Southwark included. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Nunhead, as it does anywhere else in London. How the van gets to your door is planned at the measuring visit.
Near listed buildings like Chapel of Nunhead Cemetery, less than half a mile north of the centre of Nunhead, 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. Close to Peckham Rye? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear. If you live in a flat close to Nunhead 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.
Nunhead is about 1 mile west of East Dulwich, in the London Borough of Southwark. Design visits and fitting in Nunhead can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. Across Southwark, we cover Nunhead and the places around it.
Here we cover the SE15, SE4 and SE14 postcode area for alcove units. We cover homes on streets like Rye Road, Nash Road and Kitto Road, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. We also cover Telegraph Hill (1 mile north-east), Honor Oak (1 mile south), Peckham (1 mile north-west), New Cross (1 mile north-east) and Brockley (1 mile south-east). Elsewhere in Southwark, we also cover Herne Hill (2 miles west), Bermondsey (3 miles north-west), Elephant and Castle (3 miles north-west), Bankside (4 miles north-west), Southwark (3 miles north-west) and St George's Fields (3 miles north-west).
Near you in Nunhead
In Nunhead, that includes homes near Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich and The Ivy House. There is a railway station in Nunhead itself: Nunhead station. A little further out are Southwark Adult Education Institute (0.7 miles north) and Peckham Platform (1.1 miles north-west). For a walk, there’s One Tree Hill.
When you need someone else
Not everything around alcove units is carpentry, from an electrician to a plumber or a Gas Safe registered engineer. Here is what to bear in mind:
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can get in touch through our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Panelled or flat doors
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Shop-bought shelving and cabinets can go in an alcove, and they’re typically cheaper. The trouble is typically the gaps: standard sizes seldom match the alcove, and walls that are not straight show up every gap. A bespoke alcove unit is made to your measurements and scribed to the plaster. Alcoves and recesses in period houses are rarely a standard width or depth, so off-the-shelf pieces either do not fit or leave a gap either side. Furniture made for the space fills it.
There’s no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a written quote, with the materials and finish set out. To arrange a design visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Why us?
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Scribed to uneven walls
- We visit, measure and go through the design before we quote
- Finished by spray or by hand
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and how to compare quotes.
Practical tips
Fresh paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so go gently with it for a while. After that, a few simple habits help:
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, like a record player
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
Load the shelves evenly rather than piling weight in the middle. A full shelf of books is heavier than it looks.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade.
How fitting day works
Once the main sections are fixed in place, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Parking on terraced streets can be tight, particularly in a controlled parking zone, so it helps to tell us at the design visit what’s outside. The van is unloaded quickly, with the sections carried straight in. Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, with a note of the room they’re in.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish set out.
- We build the units in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before we arrive
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
Ask for a quote
To get a quote, get in touch through our contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
Related advice
Questions from Nunhead
Can you make alcove units for a home in Nunhead?
Yes. We cover all of Southwark and the rest of London, and Nunhead is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
My house in Nunhead is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that’s 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.
What happens when you come to measure?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. We will also ask about access and parking.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It’s up to you. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but many people put a desk or a TV in one alcove and cupboards in the other. Shared details, such as the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It is up to you. Full-height units give 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.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. The desk is planned around the way you work.