Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Croydon · London
Alcove units in Old Town, Croydon
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Old Town. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Somewhere to keep books and records
Need alcove units in Old Town?
Alcove units in Old Town: what you get
Even a chimney that is been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help stop damp. Units are planned so any vent stays clear, rather than boxing it in. If there are signs of damp on the chimney breast or in the alcoves, they’re best sorted before fitting so the new furniture starts on a dry wall. Typical reasons to get in touch are somewhere to keep books and records and furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove, and the answer is built in our workshop from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
In a home built since 2000, the aerial point and sockets are usually already fixed in place. Many homes around Old Town are from those years, so we design alcove units around the existing points rather than moving them. Any new socket is a job for your electrician.
The written quote is your record of the job. It sets out the alcove unit designed for your room, what it’s made from and how it is finished, and the workshop works from it.
- Location
- Old Town (CR0, CR9, CR90)
- Area
- Croydon
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting day works
On the morning of the fitting, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. Next, we carry in the sections made in our workshop, a piece at a time. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. On the day, floors are covered first and the sections brought in. The pieces are levelled and fixed with fixings that suit the wall. Any hand painting can be finished on site.
- To begin, message us from the contact page; a brief note on the alcoves is plenty.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, talk through the design and check the route from the street to the room.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- In our workshop we build the units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, sized so each piece gets up the stairs and round the corners.
- On fitting day the sections come in, are joined in place and scribed to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
How to prepare
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
Arranging a design visit
To make a start, send us a few details 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.
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Neighbourhoods near Old Town
More for homes in Old Town
Do you need alcove units in Old Town?
A busy family living room is another reason. Toys, games, paperwork and gadgets need somewhere to go, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. The shelves above can then stay tidy.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Alcoves that aren’t square
Addington Palace, about 3 miles 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.
Before you choose who makes it
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
- Have they thought about parking near you?
Old Town homes and alcove units
About 42% of the homes in the neighbourhood around Old Town went up since 2000, and about 31% before 1919, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). 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 Old Town include Parish Church of St John the Baptist (Grade I), under half a mile south-west, and Old Palace Croydon: Chapel (Grade I), under half a mile south-west. If your own home is listed, internal works that affect its character, such as fixing into or removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. Ask the council’s conservation officer before anything is fixed. About 42% of homes around Old Town were built since 2000, well above the figure for Croydon as a whole, about 15%, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. That makes plasterboard stud walls and compact rooms more likely, which shapes the fixings and sizes.
Close to Duppas Hill? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. If your children go to The Minster Nursery and Infant School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Old Town is about 2 miles north of Thornton Heath, in the London Borough of Croydon. We cover Old Town as part of our work across Croydon. We list Old Town among 32 places we cover in Croydon.
We cover every part of the CR0, CR9 and CR90 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as Park Lane, Fell Road and Abbey Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. If you’re just outside Old Town, we also cover Waddon (1 mile south-west), Broad Green (1 mile north), Beddington (1 mile west), Bandonhill (1 mile south-west) and Russell Hill (2 miles south-west). Across the rest of Croydon, our area takes in Thornton Heath (2 miles north), Coulsdon (4 miles south), Purley (3 miles south), Upper Norwood (3 miles north), Selhurst (2 miles north-east) and South Norwood (2 miles north-east).
Near you in Old Town
Our area takes in the homes around St Andrew's CofE School, The Gun Tavern and Rutherford School and the streets around them. Old Town has its own railway station: West Croydon station. Well-known places in the area include Centrale Croydon (within half a mile north-east) and Croydon Airport Visitor Centre (1.3 miles south-west).
Caring for painted furniture
People planning alcove units often ask about these. They’re worth knowing before and after fitting:
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. At first, go gently with the new paintwork: lift things onto the shelves rather than sliding them, and don’t scrub the surfaces.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork, because constant heat isn’t kind to a painted finish.
When is bespoke worth it?
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, and standard units leave gaps.
The real difference is in the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. Off-the-shelf furniture cannot usually do that in an older room.
Questions from Old Town
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Old Town?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
How do you fit alcove units in a flat in Old Town?
At the design visit, we measure the way in as well as the room. Alcove units are built in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment isn’t something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Will alcove units fit if my walls are not straight?
Yes. Each alcove is measured during the design visit, make the units in our workshop and trim the edges on site to meet the wall, so there are no awkward gaps.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
We don’t do electrical work. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
Flats, conversions and lettings
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways as well as the room, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through.
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Tell us about them at the measuring visit, and we will plan the fitting around them.