Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Alcove Units in Paddington
Alcove units for your home in Paddington: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made in our workshop and fitted by us.
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Alcove units designed for your room
When you need someone else
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
If in doubt, you can fill in our short enquiry form and describe the room. How it works.
What goes into it
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
Alcove units for homes in Paddington
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes, often all at once. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. We make alcove units from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast and somewhere to keep books and records.
Solid brick external walls are standard in Victorian and Edwardian houses, while the walls inside can be brick or lath and plaster. Since a large share of the homes around Paddington date from before 1919, the wall type is checked before any fixing for alcove units is chosen. Lath and plaster needs a lighter touch and the right fixings.
We write quotes in plain English. You will see what will be made, the boards used and the finish.
- Where
- Paddington (W2, W1H, W1U)
- Area
- Westminster
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What it’s made from
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. For a wide span or heavy books, we use a thicker shelf, a lip on the front or a support.
Moisture-resistant MDF
Moisture-resistant MDF is stable and takes paint well, so we use it for doors, panels and the faces you see. It’s a sensible choice where an alcove sits against an external wall.
Is it time for alcove units?
Many people ask about alcove units because the alcoves are the most obvious wasted space they have. Standard furniture seldom fits an alcove, leaving gaps at the sides and above. Built-in units use the whole recess.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Storage that suits a period room
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Close to Royal Parks of London? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- How parking will work on your street
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Real projects you can actually look at
Neighbourhoods near Paddington
Also in Paddington
Living-room storage in Paddington
In the streets around Paddington, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 47%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 17%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). We take that into account at the measuring visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. The National Heritage List has 283 entries within half a mile of the centre of Paddington. Older homes nearby may have original joinery, shutters or panelling worth keeping, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. The ULEZ, run by TfL, takes in all of London, so Westminster is inside it. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Paddington, as it does anywhere else in London. Access and parking are talked through at the measuring visit.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Catholic Apostolic Church and Church House, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. For families living near International Community School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Paddington is part of the City of Westminster, about 1 mile east of City of Westminster. Design visits and fitting in Paddington can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. In Westminster, Paddington is one of the places we cover.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: W2, W1H and W1U. Whether you live on a street such as Harrow Road, Craven Road and Harbet Road or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Paddington is near the A5 and A40; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Close by, we also work in Paddington Green (1 mile north-west), Hyde Park Estate (1 mile south-east), Connaught Village (1 mile south-east), Tyburn (1 mile south-east) and Little Venice (1 mile north-west). Across the rest of Westminster, our area takes in Soho (2 miles east), Chinatown (2 miles east), St James's (2 miles east), Covent Garden (2 miles east), Aldwych (2 miles east) and Charing Cross (2 miles east).
Local landmarks in Paddington
We fit furniture in homes around Royal Society of Medicine Library, Hampden Gurney CofE Primary School and Fountains Abbey pub. Paddington has its own railway station: London Paddington station. A little further out are Maida Vale Hospital for Nervous Diseases (0.7 miles north-west) and London Toy & Model Museum (0.5 miles south-west). Open spaces near Paddington include Greville Place nature reserve and The Long Water.
Is bespoke worth it?
Some flat-pack shelves are thin and start to sag once they’re loaded. We size our shelves for their span and what they’ll carry, with birch plywood where it’s needed. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you are renting or moving soon. Ready-made pieces are proportioned for newer homes and can look lost in an older one, whereas fitted pieces can pick up the room’s height and mouldings.
There is no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing. To arrange a design visit, drop us a line using the contact form.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Paddington
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Every quote follows a design visit
FAQs: alcove units in Paddington
How do you fit alcove units in a flat in Paddington?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. 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’s worth checking those early.
My home in Paddington is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
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. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Can I send pictures before the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough sizes. To send them, use our contact form.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you contact us, and we’ll see what we can do.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
That’s a job for your electrician. Ideally it is done before fitting, and we can tell you where the units will sit so the sockets end up in the right place. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
How fitting works for alcove units
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made during the design visit and set out in your quote, so the day itself is about careful fitting and leaving the room tidy. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Scribing is done on site, which means some cutting in the room or close by, so we ask for a clear space to work near the room. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that is your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- We send a written quote for the units, so you can look it over in your own time.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Preparing the room
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Empty the space we will be working in
Starting with a design visit
Getting a quote starts with some details: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of photos if you can take them. When you are ready, tell us about the room on our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote.