Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Alcove Units in Osidge
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. Our work on alcove units in Osidge starts with a design visit, and everything is made in our workshop.
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Alcove units designed for your room
Common questions about alcove units
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Osidge?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about 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. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Osidge?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a parking bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
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 pictures help?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit, along with rough sizes. Show anything the furniture has to work around, like radiators or sockets.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. The desk is planned around the way you work.
How long will the fitting take?
The fitting depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
How we make alcove units for Osidge
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. Desk height and depth are agreed with you. Typical reasons to get in touch are somewhere to keep books and records and a place for a small desk; the furniture is made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
If you live in one of the interwar houses or semis around Osidge, the living room may be a good size but with fewer recesses than a Victorian house. That leaves room for alcove units in the alcoves, along a full wall or around the chimney breast, depending on how you use the room. The carcasses are made from moisture-resistant MDF or birch plywood, painted in a colour agreed with you.
The furniture is built in our workshop after you’ve had the quote and decided to go ahead. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so every detail can be checked first.
- Location
- Osidge (N14, EN4, N11)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Boards, parts and paint
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. Wider alcoves and heavy books need a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is also good for drawer boxes. The edge can be painted or shown as a detail.
How fitting works for alcove units
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and lift the floor protection. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together and answer any questions. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Some interwar and suburban streets have driveways, which can make unloading easier, so let us know during the design visit. Otherwise, a visitor permit or a nearby bay helps. Floors and doorways are protected while the pieces come in.
- You send us a few details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and go through the design.
- We send a quote in writing for the units, for you to read through at your own pace.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls.
Preparing the room
- Tell us about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician beforehand
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Arranging a design visit
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To start, use our contact form.
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Nearby places to Osidge
More for homes in Osidge
What affects the price in Osidge
There’s no set price, because there’s no set room. The things that affect it are:
- Spray painting or hand painting
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- The number of doors and drawers
- The overall size of the piece
How it is painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. The written quote reflects your choice, along with the size and fittings.
What to send when you get in touch
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- How you want to use the space
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
For a quote for alcove units in Osidge, fill in our short enquiry form. Let us know the room and the rough idea, with sizes if you have them. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
Off-the-shelf units can work in an alcove, and they usually cost less to buy. The trouble is typically the gaps: standard widths rarely match the recess, and uneven walls make every gap obvious. A bespoke alcove unit is made to your measurements and scribed to the plaster. Walls in interwar houses are straighter than in older ones, but rarely perfect, and standalone units can lean or gap. Fitted furniture is scribed and levelled on site.
We don’t publish set prices, because each job is designed for a single room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing, naming the materials and finish. To arrange a design visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Why choose us
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Built around your room
Read bespoke vs off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.
What we do not do
Not everything around alcove units is carpentry, like an electrician, a plumber or an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Here’s what to know:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
If in doubt, you can get in touch through our contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
Living-room storage in Osidge
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 52% of the housing in the area around Osidge, with about 14% built 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. A conservation area lies within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Osidge, going by Historic England’s data. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. About 52% of homes in the neighbourhood around Osidge date from between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Interwar front rooms usually have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, which shape where alcove units go.
If your children go to Monkfrith Primary School or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent. If you live in a flat close to Oakleigh Park 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.
Osidge is about 3 miles south-west of Finchley, part of the London Borough of Barnet. Anywhere in Osidge, it works the same way: a design visit, a quote in writing, furniture made in our workshop and fitting in your home. We cover places right across Barnet, large and small.
Here we cover the N14, EN4 and N11 postcode area for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Dene Road, Farm Lane and Byre Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Osidge is near the A111; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Osidge: Southgate (1 mile south-east), East Barnet (1 mile west), Brunswick Park (1 mile south-west), Oakwood (1 mile north-east) and Whetstone (1 mile south-west). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Finchley (3 miles south-west), Barnet (2 miles north-west), Burnt Oak (5 miles west), East Finchley (3 miles south-west), Hendon (5 miles south-west) and Edgware (6 miles west).
Landmarks near Osidge
In Osidge, that includes homes near Ashmole Academy, The Osidge Arms and Salcombe School and the streets around them. The closest station to Osidge is Oakleigh Park station, about 1 mile west. Well-known places in the area include Broomfield House Museum (1.6 miles south-east). Not far away are Barfield Allotments Nature Park.