Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Richmond upon Thames · London
Petersham Alcove Units
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Petersham. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Ask about alcove units in Petersham
Alcove units in Petersham: what you get
Period alcoves are rarely square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope, sometimes all in one recess. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, so the sides meet the wall closely rather than showing a dark line. Adjustable feet or a plinth set it level. Typical reasons to get in touch are furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and cupboards in keeping with an older house, and the answer is built in our workshop from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Solid brick external walls are standard in Victorian and Edwardian houses, and internal walls may be brick or lath and plaster. Since a large share of the homes around Petersham date from before 1919, we check which you have before deciding how alcove units are fixed. Lath and plaster in particular needs fixings chosen for it.
A written quote follows the design visit. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you are getting.
- Place
- Petersham (TW10, TW1)
- Area
- Richmond upon Thames
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Boards, parts and paint
Spray-painted finish
A spray-painted finish is applied in our workshop, giving a smooth, even, factory-like surface. It works on simple doors and on more traditional ones.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting lets the colour be judged in the room itself as it goes on. It also means any filling around scribed edges is painted in one go.
Nearby places to Petersham
Also in Petersham
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
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’s something we plan for in the design.
Questions we’re often asked
Does a conservation area in or near Petersham affect fitted furniture?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character may need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Petersham?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It helps to tell us about parking during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Where is the furniture made?
Everything is made at our workshop for your room, then fitted in your home. We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
How do I get a quote for alcove units in Petersham?
Just use our contact form. It is useful to send rough measurements and a few photos, and we will arrange a design visit, followed by a quote in writing.
How tall should alcove units be?
It depends on the room and the look you want. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. The height is settled at the measuring visit.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. A desk in one alcove, with shelves above and storage below, works well in many rooms. Height and depth are agreed with you.
Alcove units in Petersham: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Petersham were built before 1919 (about 48%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 20%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Within a mile of the centre of Petersham, 16 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. On TfL’s red routes, the rules on stopping and loading are strict. If your home in Petersham is on or near a main road, tell us at the design visit. Then we can work out where to load and unload.
If you live in a flat close to St Margarets (London) 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. Near listed buildings like The Wick and Wick Cottage, under half a mile north-east of the centre of Petersham, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. For families living near The Russell Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room.
Petersham is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 2 miles west of Twickenham. Petersham is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Our work takes in places right across Richmond upon Thames, large and small.
We make alcove units across the TW10 and TW1 postcode area. We cover homes on streets like Sandy Lane, River Lane and Arosa Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Richmond (1 mile north), Ham (1 mile south), Eel Pie Island (1 mile west), St Margarets (1 mile north-west) and Strawberry Hill (1 mile south-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Teddington (2 miles south-west), Hampton (3 miles south-west), Barnes (3 miles north-east), Kew (3 miles north-east), Hanworth (3 miles west) and Mortlake (2 miles north-east).
Local landmarks in Petersham
Around Petersham, we cover homes near Grey Court School, St Catherine's School and The Fox and Duck pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is St Margarets (London) station, about 0.9 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Eel Pie Island Museum (1 mile west) and South Middlesex Hospital (1.7 miles north-west). Green spaces nearby include Richmond Hill and Ham Lands.
What alcove units can’t fix
Before you plan the job, it’s useful to know what we don’t do:
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can tell us about the room on our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so each section is sized to get through without a struggle.
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. Fixings are chosen to suit whatever the wall is made of.
How fitting day works
Before anything is fixed, we set the furniture level. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference, which keeps the lines straight. After that, it’s fixed to the wall using fixings that suit the wall, whether that’s solid brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. If your hall still has its original tiles or boards, they’re covered before any carrying starts. Drilling into lath and plaster is done with care, so the plaster around stays sound. Decorating around the furniture afterwards is for your decorator.
- You contact us with a few details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square, then discuss the design with you.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
How to prepare
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
Getting a quote
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly at the measuring visit. To arrange it, tell us about the room on our contact form. You receive a written quote after the visit.