Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Alcove units in Plaistow, Newham
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in Plaistow starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Alcove units designed for your room
How we price alcove units
Not every room costs the same, for these reasons:
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- The overall size of the piece
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- Tricky walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, and that’s part of the price. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose.
What we need to know
Getting some details early makes the visit more useful. Where you can, include:
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Where you live, with the postcode
Rough sizes are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit. To arrange it, fill in our short enquiry form and let us know about the room. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Alcove units for homes in Plaistow
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 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 people most often get in touch about bowed walls and sloping floors and bare alcoves beside the fireplace.
Homes in an area like Plaistow can come from many different periods, so the walls behind alcove units could be solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. That is why every wall is checked during the design visit before the fixings are chosen. If your room has a chimney breast, the alcoves are an obvious place for alcove units; if not, a full wall works well.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If something isn’t quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Place
- Plaistow (E13, E16, E6)
- Borough
- Newham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting works for alcove units
There is not much for you to do on fitting day. Someone needs to let us in, and it helps to have the room cleared beforehand, as we’ll have talked about during the design visit. From there, we protect the floors, bring the furniture in and get on with the fitting. 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. Whatever the age of your home, the furniture is fitted to the walls you have, scribed where walls bow and levelled where floors slope. Hand painting can happen on site, while spray-painted pieces come ready from the workshop.
- 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. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood.
- We fit the units in your home and scribe them to the walls.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
How to prepare
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
Getting a quote
To get a quote for alcove units in Plaistow, use our contact form. Let us know which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. We will arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.
Related advice
Also near Plaistow
What else we make in Plaistow
Why people ask for alcove units in Plaistow
Moving into a period house often prompts it. People who have just moved in want storage that suits the age of the house, and the alcoves are an obvious place to start. It is easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
A few of the things people ask us to solve include:
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Somewhere to keep books and records
For an older house near Memorial Community Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How they deal with uneven walls and floors
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
FAQs: alcove units in Plaistow
Can you fit furniture in a home close to West Ham station?
Yes, homes across Newham and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Plaistow?
Yes, Plaistow is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Newham and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a way planned for cables to reach the sockets.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away and we design around it.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Not normally. Inside a house, fitted furniture doesn’t normally need planning permission. If the building is listed, works affecting its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It’s entirely your choice. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made to its own measurements. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Why bespoke in Plaistow?
Off-the-shelf units can work in an alcove, and they typically cost less to buy. The catch is the fit: standard sizes seldom match the alcove, and walls that are not straight show up every gap. A bespoke alcove unit is made to your measurements and scribed to the plaster. Few rooms have truly flat walls and level floors, and standalone units show it with gaps and wobbles. Fitted furniture is scribed and levelled on site.
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
What you get with us
- Over 300 projects completed
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- Saturday work by arrangement
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and how to compare quotes.
When you need someone else
We’d rather be clear about where our work stops:
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can use our contact form and we will tell you before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
Built-in living-room furniture in Plaistow
About 40% of the homes in the area around Plaistow went up before 1919, and about 22% between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. The National Heritage List records 14 entries within half a mile of the centre of Plaistow. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. More than a third of the homes in the neighbourhood around Plaistow (about 40%) were built before 1919, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Most London houses of that age have chimney breasts with an alcove either side in the main rooms, the classic place for alcove units.
For a family home near Kaizen Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like St Andrew's Vicarage, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent.
Plaistow is within the London Borough of Newham. Homes in Plaistow are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. Plaistow is one of the places in Newham where we make alcove units, and the borough has 26 places on our list.
In E13, E16 and E6, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Streets in the area include Eve Road, Ivy Road and May Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Plaistow sits close to the A1011. If you are just outside Plaistow, we also cover Greengate (1 mile north-east), Canning Town (1 mile south), Upton Park (1 mile north-east), West Ham (1 mile north-west) and Upton (1 mile north). Other parts of Newham we cover include Stratford (2 miles north-west), Forest Gate (2 miles north), Maryland (2 miles north-west), Plashet (2 miles north-east), East Village (2 miles north-west) and Wallend (2 miles east). Plaistow is among the bigger places we cover in Newham.
What’s near Plaistow
Around Plaistow, we cover homes near The Service for Deaf and Partially Hearing Children, Newham Sixth Form College and The Earl Of Derby Public House. The nearest railway station is West Ham station, roughly 0.9 miles west. Well-known places in the area include West Ham United Football Club Museum (0.9 miles north-east) and Stratford Centre (1.6 miles north-west).