Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Southwark · London
Alcove Units in Peckham
We make alcove units for homes in Peckham, designed around the room you have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made at our workshop.
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Units that sit well with original features
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
Alcove units in Peckham
Alcove units in Peckham
We work across London, including Peckham. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. Then you receive a quote; the units are then made in our workshop and fitted in your home. People usually come to us about bare alcoves beside the fireplace and storage that suits a period room, and the answer is built in our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Every room has its fixed points: the window, the door, the radiator and the sockets. In any home in Peckham, those set the layout for alcove units before anything else. After that, the mix of cupboards, shelves and open space follows how you live, and the paint colour is agreed with you.
You get the quote in writing, so you can read it at your own pace. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Location
- Peckham (SE15, SE14, SE5)
- Area
- Southwark
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
When is bespoke worth it?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
If you are handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
To be fair, a standalone bookcase or cabinet can go with you to your next home. Built-in units become part of the room and remain when you move on. It depends on how long you expect to stay. Ready-made furniture rarely suits a recess, a slope or an odd corner, and most homes have at least one. Built-in pieces are made to fit them.
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Why us?
- Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Finished by spray or by hand
Places near Peckham
More for homes in Peckham
Living-room carpentry in Peckham: local notes
Homes built before 1919 make up about 39% of the housing in the streets around Peckham, with about 21% built since 2000, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Within a mile of the centre of Peckham, 9 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. Strict stopping rules apply on red routes, which TfL runs. If you live on or close to a main road in Peckham, let us know at the design visit. It lets us plan the stop before fitting day.
For a family home near John Donne Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. Close to Brimmington Park? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. Living in a block of flats near Queens Road Peckham station? Then the route in is measured as well as the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Peckham is part of the London Borough of Southwark, about 1 mile south-west of East Dulwich. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Peckham included. We list Peckham among 21 places we cover in Southwark.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: SE15, SE14 and SE5. If your home is on a street like Rye Lane, Relf Road and Mona Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. The A2215 runs close to Peckham, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. We also cover the places around Peckham: Nunhead (1 mile south-east), Telegraph Hill (1 mile south-east), South Bermondsey (1 mile north), Surrey Canal (1 mile north-east) and East Dulwich (1 mile south-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Herne Hill (2 miles south-west), Bermondsey (2 miles north), Elephant and Castle (2 miles north-west), Bankside (3 miles north-west), Southwark (3 miles north-west) and St George's Fields (3 miles north-west).
What’s near Peckham
The streets we cover here include those near The Kentish Drovers pub and The St Thomas the Apostle College and the streets around them. Peckham has its own railway station: Queens Road Peckham station. Nearby you’ll also find Southwark Adult Education Institute (less than half a mile east) and Surrey Quays Shopping Centre (1.8 miles north). Open spaces near Peckham include Bellenden Road Nature Garden.
What it is made from
Shelves
Shelf thickness depends on the span and the load. For a wide span or heavy books, we use a thicker shelf, a lip on the front or a support.
Spray-painted finish
A sprayed coat covers edges and corners evenly. The colour is agreed with you before we start.
How fitting day works
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, the sections are assembled, scribed to the walls and levelled. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether brick, block, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, so you can look it over in your own time.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician beforehand
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
How to get a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, use our contact form and tell us about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
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What affects the price in Peckham
The price reflects the time and materials the job needs. That depends on:
- Spray painting or hand painting
- The number of doors and drawers
- Parking near your home
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
There’s no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a quote in writing, with the materials and finish set out. To start, send us a few details through our contact form.
What to send when you contact us
To give us a picture of the room, it is useful to include:
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Examples of the look you’re after
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough sizes and some photos if you have them. To send them, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a quote in writing.
Your questions about alcove units in Peckham
Do you cover homes near Queens Road Peckham station?
Yes. We cover all of Southwark and the rest of London. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Peckham?
Yes, we work across Southwark, Peckham included, and across the rest of London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with some details.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room.
Can I send photos ahead of the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot. To send them, drop us a line using the contact form.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
The time on site depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. The units are built in our workshop first, so the work in your home is about fitting and finishing.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That’s your choice. 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.