Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Havering · London
Alcove Units in Rush Green
For homes in Rush Green, we make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Room to work in an alcove
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
Alcove units for your home in Rush Green
Alcove units in Rush Green: what you get
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. We plan the desk height and depth with you, with a gap or hole planned so cables can reach the sockets. Most enquiries start with units that sit well with original features and standard units leaving gaps at the sides; the furniture is made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
With interwar houses or semis a big part of the picture around Rush Green, many living rooms have been opened up to the dining room behind. The result is often a long room with a chimney breast, a good spot for alcove units. Cable routes for a TV or speakers, and space for set-top boxes, are planned at the design visit, with any new sockets left to your electrician.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both, depending on the design. It also says how the furniture will be finished: spray painted or hand painted.
- Where
- Rush Green (RM7, RM1, RM12)
- Area
- Havering
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after fitting day
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Think about what you’ll store before we meet
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Let us know about parking and access at the measuring visit
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Skip scouring pads and harsh cleaners, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Put coasters or mats under anything that holds water. Wipe up spills straight away.
What happens on fitting day
On the morning of the fitting, we start by protecting your floors and the route from the front door to the room. The sections made at our workshop come in next. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. If you have a driveway, it can make unloading simpler, so let us know at the measuring visit. Otherwise, a visitor permit or a nearby bay helps. Floors and doorways are protected while the pieces come in.
- You get in touch and let us know about the room and the alcoves.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you.
- 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.
Preparing the room
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
Getting a quote
For a quote for alcove units in Rush Green, tell us about the room on our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea. We will arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Advice
When you need someone else
We’re carpenters, so some jobs belong to other trades. It is useful to know these before you plan the job:
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can fill in our short enquiry form and we will give you a straight answer. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Alcoves vary in depth, and the chimney breast decides how far a unit can come out. Standard cabinets can stand proud of the breast or sit too far back. We set the depth to suit the room. Off-the-shelf furniture comes in a few set depths, which may be too deep for one spot and too shallow for another. With fitted furniture, the depth is chosen for the room.
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. We’ll talk through what you need inside at the design visit.
Why us?
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Designed for the room you have
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and what a quote should include.
Living-room storage in Rush Green
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 45% of the housing in the area around Rush Green, with about 24% built since 2000, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Rush Green include Church of St Andrew (Grade II), about 0.6 miles north. If you live in a listed building, fixing into or taking out original features such as panelling may need listed building consent. It is worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. More than a third of the homes in the streets around Rush Green (about 45%) date from between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Interwar front rooms usually have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, and alcove units are planned around both.
If you live in a period home close to St Augustine of Canterbury Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. The wider area includes historic houses such as Hare Hall, about 2.1 miles north-east. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For a family home near Rush Green Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Rush Green is within the London Borough of Havering, about 1 mile north-east of Romford. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Rush Green included. Our Havering coverage includes Rush Green.
Design visits and fitting in RM7, RM1 and RM12 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Crow Lane, Union Road and Maldon Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Romford (1 mile north-east), Becontree Heath (1 mile west), Chadwell Heath (1 mile north-west), Elm Park (2 miles south-east) and Becontree (2 miles south-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as Hornchurch (2 miles east), Gallows Corner (3 miles north-east), Collier Row (2 miles north), Rainham (3 miles south), Upminster (3 miles east) and Ardleigh Green (2 miles north-east).
Around Rush Green
We fit furniture in homes around St. Edward's Church of England School, St Edward's Church of England Academy and The Moon & Stars pub. For rail, the closest station is Romford station, roughly 0.7 miles north-east. Nearby you will also find Queen's Hospital (less than half a mile north-east) and The Brewery (0.7 miles north-east). For a walk, there is The Chase Nature Reserve.
Questions we are often asked
Do you cover homes near Romford station?
Yes. We cover all of Havering and the rest of London. To get started, you can message us from the contact page with some details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Rush Green?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps to avoid condensation. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and talk through the design with you. We’ll also ask about access and parking, and a written quote follows.
Can the two alcove units be different?
It’s entirely your choice. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can share a style while doing different things.
Neighbourhoods near Rush Green
More for homes in Rush Green
What it is made from
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish suits alcove units in a period room. You choose the colour, and touch-ups are simple if the units get marked later.
Spray-painted finish
A spray-painted finish is applied in our workshop, for a smooth and even finish. It works on simple doors and on more traditional ones.