Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hammersmith and Fulham · London
Alcove units in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Fulham
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in Shepherd's Bush starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Units that sit well with original features
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units designed for your room
Living-room carpentry in Shepherd's Bush: local notes
In the area around Shepherd's Bush, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 67%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 14%), 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. The National Heritage List has 52 entries within half a mile of the centre of Shepherd's Bush. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of inner London. For fitting in Shepherd's Bush, a van typically needs a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know about parking near your home at the measuring visit.
If your children go to Addison Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. If you live in a flat close to Shepherds Bush station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room.
Shepherd's Bush is about 2 miles south of Fulham, part of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. We design and make alcove units for homes in Shepherd's Bush and across Hammersmith and Fulham. Our Hammersmith and Fulham coverage includes Shepherd's Bush, along with the rest of the borough.
Every home in W12, W11 and W14 is within our area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as Bard Road, Stowe Road and Wells Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. The A402 runs close to Shepherd's Bush; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. If you are just outside Shepherd's Bush, we also cover White City (1 mile north), Holland Park (1 mile east), Notting Hill (1 mile north-east), Kensington (1 mile east) and Notting Dale (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Hammersmith and Fulham we cover include Fulham (2 miles south), Parsons Green (2 miles south-east), Walham Green (2 miles south-east), West Brompton (2 miles south-east), Hurlingham (2 miles south) and Chelsea Harbour (3 miles south-east).
What’s near Shepherd's Bush
In Shepherd's Bush, that includes homes near The Central Bar, Polish Library POSK in London and Corona Theatre School and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Shepherd's Bush itself: Shepherds Bush station. A little further out are West 12 Shepherds Bush (under half a mile east) and Culture House (under half a mile west). Green spaces nearby include Campden Hill.
Alcove units in Shepherd's Bush: what you get
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Shepherd's Bush has a pair of alcoves, each alcove gets a unit designed for it after we have measured them at a design visit. If your home has a place for a small desk and walls too uneven for standard furniture, that is what alcove units are for, made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Picture rails, deep skirting boards and plaster cornices are part of the character of older houses, and alcove units need to meet those lines neatly. Homes built before 1919 make up a large share of the housing around Shepherd's Bush, so mouldings are something we expect to talk about at the design visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. They say what will be made, what it’s made from and how it will be finished, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Where
- Shepherd's Bush (W12, W11, W14)
- Area
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, and that’s best sorted before fitting day. We cannot give advice on leases.
Conversions and newer flats often have stud walls rather than solid brick. We choose fixings to suit the wall, after checking the walls at the measuring visit.
Do you need alcove units in Shepherd's Bush?
A bedroom’s alcoves are often the best place for a wardrobe. Built into the alcove, a cupboard holds clothes without taking over the room, which helps in a small bedroom.
If any of these sound familiar, it’s worth getting in touch:
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Storage that suits a period room
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
The wider area includes historic houses such as Leighton House, about 0.9 miles south-east. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
What to check before you book
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- How parking will work on your street
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
The depth of an alcove is set by the chimney breast. A shop-bought cabinet may stick out past the chimney breast or leave a deep gap behind it. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want, flush with the chimney breast or set back from it. Tall standalone furniture needs fixing back to the wall so it cannot tip, and in an older house that can mean fixing into brick or lath and plaster. With fitted pieces, the fixings are planned for the wall from the start.
There’s no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. Instead, we measure, discuss the design and then quote in writing, with the materials and finish set out. To start, get in touch through our contact form.
Why us?
- A design visit, then a quote in writing
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made or what a quote should include.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. Span, depth and the weight on it decide whether a shelf sags, so a long run needs a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support. That’s something we plan for in the design.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, and standard units leave gaps.
Questions we are often asked
My house in Shepherd's Bush is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
I live in a flat in Shepherd's Bush. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. Alcove units are made at our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. It is useful to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
The fitting depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
Does fitted furniture need planning permission?
Not normally. Inside a house, fitted furniture does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings can need listed building consent for works that affect their character, so check with the council first.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That depends on how you use the room. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Nearby places to Shepherd's Bush
Other services in Shepherd's Bush
How fitting day works
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. The sections are sized for the narrowest point on the route. Saturday fitting is possible by arrangement.
- 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.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Before we arrive
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Tell us about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
Arranging a design visit
The design visit is where every quote starts. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and discuss the design with you. A written quote follows the visit for you to look over. To arrange the visit, drop us a line using the contact form.