Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove Units in Orpington
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Orpington. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home.
- Units that sit well with original features
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Room to work in an alcove
Need alcove units in Orpington?
Could you do it yourself?
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can run to the ceiling and fill the width.
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. That is something we plan for in the design.
Alcove units for homes in Orpington
We fit alcove units across Bromley and the rest of London. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and go through the design. After that we send a quote in writing, and once you’re happy the units are built in our workshop and fitted in your home. If your home has a desk that tucks into an alcove and shelving for books and records, alcove units made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
A good part of the housing around Orpington is interwar, semi-detached or detached. If yours is a 1920s or 1930s house, the front room may have a bay window at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall, which decides where alcove units sit. Walls in houses of that age are normally straighter than in Victorian ones, though they’re still checked and scribed where needed.
Our quotes are written in plain words. They say what will be made, what it is made from and how it will be finished, all taken from the design visit.
- Where
- Orpington (BR5, BR6, BR7, DA14)
- Area
- Bromley
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Why bespoke in Orpington?
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. We set the depth to suit the room. Off-the-shelf furniture comes in a few set depths, which may be too deep for one spot and too shallow for another. Fitted furniture is made to the depth the space can take.
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. A larger piece means more material and more time, so size is the starting point. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Why us?
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Designed for the room you have
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
Looking after your furniture
Looking after painted furniture is simple. A few things help it stay looking good:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
Painted finishes feel dry quickly but take longer to cure fully. At first, go gently with the new paintwork, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging.
Your questions about alcove units in Orpington
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Orpington?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. It’s useful to let us know about parking at the measuring visit.
Does a conservation area in or near Orpington affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
What are your alcove units made from?
Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF gives a smooth, stable surface for paint; birch plywood is strong and good for shelves and drawer boxes, and the quote says which is used where.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That is your choice. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around 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.
What affects the price of alcove units?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how tricky the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
That’s your choice. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We go through the options at the measuring visit.
Places near Orpington
Also in Orpington
How fitting day works
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it is going into, and fitting day is where that happens. Walls in older homes are rarely flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Fitting day means carrying in the sections, joining them and fitting them to the walls. Spray-painted pieces come finished from the workshop, while hand painting can happen on site. Saturdays can be arranged.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you’ve picked.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- 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.
Preparing the room
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
Ask for a quote
It helps to see the room before we come. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, get in touch through our contact form, and we will arrange a design visit.
Related advice
Living-room storage in Orpington
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Orpington were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 39%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 31%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. The centre of Orpington is within about a quarter of a mile of the Priory, Orpington Conservation Area. Planning controls in conservation areas are mainly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitting furniture inside a house does not normally need permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Many London boroughs run controlled parking zones, and Bromley sets its own rules. If parking near you is controlled, a visitor permit or a bay suspension may be needed, and the council arranges suspensions, often with notice. Parking near your home is worth mentioning during the design visit.
If your home is one of the older houses near St Andrew's, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For families living near Perry Hall Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. Living in a block of flats near St Mary Cray station? Then each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room.
Orpington is within the London Borough of Bromley. Orpington is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. We list Orpington among 49 places we cover in Bromley.
Every address in BR5, BR6, BR7 and DA14 is covered for alcove units. Streets in the area include High Street, Furzehill Square and Station Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Orpington sits close to the A224 and B258, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. We also cover the places around Orpington: Poverest (1 mile north), Derry Downs (1 mile east), St Mary Cray (1 mile north), St Paul's Cray (1 mile north) and Goddington (1 mile south). Other parts of Bromley we cover include Bromley (4 miles west), Beckenham (6 miles west), Chislehurst (3 miles north-west), Penge (7 miles west), Anerley (8 miles west) and Crystal Palace (8 miles west). Being one of the larger places in Bromley, Orpington is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Local landmarks in Orpington
We fit furniture in homes around The Royal Albert pub, Harris Academy Orpington and The Priory School. The closest station to Orpington is St Mary Cray station, roughly 0.7 miles north. Nearby you will also find London Borough of Bromley Museum (less than half a mile south) and Orpington Hospital (1.5 miles south). Not far away are The Warren.
Pricing alcove units in Orpington
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- How square the room is
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- How many doors and drawers there are
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
Helping us understand the room
When you contact us, these help most:
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Approximate measurements of the space
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- What the furniture needs to hold
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you do not, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we’ve measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, send us a few details through our contact form.