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Croydon · London
Alcove units in Purley, Croydon
Alcove units in Purley: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and discuss the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- A place for a small desk
- Storage that suits a period room
- Shelving for books and records
Ask about alcove units in Purley
Alcove units in Purley
We fit alcove units across Croydon and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. After that we send a written quote, and once you are happy the units are built in our workshop and fitted in your home. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the usual reasons to get in touch are tired cupboards in the alcoves and somewhere to keep books and records.
A typical 1930s semi has a bay window at the front and a chimney breast with a recess either side. Around Purley, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so that layout is worth knowing well. We tend to plan alcove units along the chimney breast wall so the bay keeps its light.
Materials are named in the quote: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it suits the job. The finish is stated too, whether that’s spray painting or hand painting.
- Where
- Purley (CR8, CR2, CR5)
- Borough
- Croydon
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
When is bespoke worth it?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
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, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Let us know about them during the design visit, and we will plan the fitting around them.
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. Some leases need the building owner’s consent for alterations. We cannot advise on your lease, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
Also in Purley
When you need someone else
We make and fit furniture, and we do not do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Electrical work, like new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
If in doubt, you can drop us a line using the contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
Fitting day, step by step
The last stage of the day is the finish. With a spray finish from the workshop, there is normally only filling and touching up to do in the room; hand painting, if that is what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. Either way, the finish is the one 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, details of permits or nearby bays help. Doorways, stairs and floors are covered on the way in.
- To begin, drop us a line using the contact form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, go through the design and check the route from the street to the room.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, in sections sized to come through your door.
- On fitting day the sections come in, are joined in place and scribed to the walls.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
Getting a quote
You do not need exact measurements to get started. We measure everything properly at the design visit. To get started, fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
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Alcove units in Purley: local notes
About 31% of the homes in the area around Purley went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 28% since 2000, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Many London boroughs run controlled parking zones, and Croydon sets its own rules. If your street in Purley is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed. It helps to let us know about parking at the design visit. About 62% of households in the neighbourhood around Purley live in detached or semi-detached houses, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. In a semi or detached house, a driveway, where there is one, can make unloading easier.
For an older house near St Swithun's, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Close to Dollypers Hill? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. For families living near Christ Church CofE Primary School (Purley), a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Purley is part of the London Borough of Croydon, about 4 miles north of Thornton Heath. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Purley included. We cover places right across Croydon, large and small.
Design visits and fitting in CR8, CR2 and CR5 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover homes on streets such as High Street, Church Road and Brighton Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Main roads around Purley include the A2022, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Peaks Hill (1 mile north-west), Woodcote (1 mile west), Russell Hill (1 mile north), Roundshaw (1 mile north-west) and Woodcote Green (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Croydon, we also cover Thornton Heath (4 miles north), Croydon (2 miles north-east), Broad Green (4 miles north), Upper Norwood (6 miles north), Selhurst (5 miles north-east) and South Norwood (5 miles north-east). As one of the bigger places in Croydon, Purley is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
Near you in Purley
In Purley, that includes homes near The Jolly Farmers pub, Laleham Lea School and Thomas More Catholic School, among other places. There is a railway station in Purley itself: Purley station. Well-known places in the area include Purley War Memorial Hospital (under half a mile north-east) and Croydon Airport Visitor Centre (1.4 miles north). For a walk, there’s Foxley Wood.
FAQs: alcove units in Purley
I live near Purley station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Croydon and the rest of London. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with a few details about the room.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Purley?
Yes, we work across Croydon, Purley included, and across the rest of London. You can use our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by prior arrangement. Let us know when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
An outside wall can be colder and damper than an inside one, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture, which helps avoid condensation and mould. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. One alcove can take a desk with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard beneath. We plan the height and depth with you, with a way planned for cables to reach the sockets.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, and furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need it. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
Looking after your furniture
New paint needs time to cure fully, so go gently with it for a while. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Most hinges can be adjusted to line the doors up again, so a small gap or rub is easy to correct.
Use a mat under plants, vases and drinks. Wipe up spills straight away.