Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove units in Sidcup, Bexley
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Sidcup. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Alcoves that are not square
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
Ask about alcove units in Sidcup
Alcove units in Sidcup: what you get
One alcove can be given over to a desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. We plan the desk height and depth with you. Typical reasons to get in touch are room to work in an alcove and walls too uneven for standard furniture, and the answer is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Many homes around Sidcup date from the post-war decades. Post-war rooms tend to be squarer, with fewer alcoves and often no chimney breast. So alcove units often run along a whole wall, or create their own recesses around the screen or a window. Some walls of that age are concrete or blockwork, and the fixings are matched to them.
You get the quote in writing, so there is time to read it properly and share it with anyone else involved. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Where
- Sidcup (DA14, DA15, SE9, DA5)
- Borough
- Bexley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Your questions about alcove units in Sidcup
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Sidcup station?
Yes. We cover all of Bexley and the rest of London. You can message us from the contact page to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Does a conservation area in or near Sidcup affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
How long will the fitting take?
How long fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. The units are made in our workshop first, so the time in your home is mostly fitting, scribing and finishing.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, by prior arrangement. Tell us when you get in touch if a Saturday suits you best.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Each room is quoted on its own: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. You will get a written quote once we’ve measured up.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that are not square?
Yes. Few alcoves in older houses are truly square, so each unit is scribed to the wall on site. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
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. We cannot give advice on leases.
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so it’s worth raising at the design visit.
What affects the price in Sidcup
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. These are the things that affect it:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- How big the furniture is
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside.
What to send when you get in touch
There’s no need for exact sizes or plans. Just send what you can:
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Living-room carpentry in Sidcup: local notes
In the streets around Sidcup, the largest groups of homes date from between 1945 and 1972 (about 30%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 20%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. 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 Halfway Street Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Sidcup. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Purpose-built flats are more common around Sidcup than across Bexley: about 40% of households, against about 21%, according to Census 2021. That puts the stairs, lifts and doors on the route in at the centre of the plan.
Living in a block of flats near Sidcup station? Then the route in is measured as well as the room, and the sections are sized to fit it. Danson House, about 1.7 miles north, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Sidcup is within the London Borough of Bexley. Sidcup is part of the area we cover. In Bexley, Sidcup is one of the places we cover, and the borough has 27 places on our list.
Every address in DA14, DA15, SE9 and DA5 is within our area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Station Road, High Street and Jubilee Way, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Sidcup sits close to the A211 and A2001. Close by, we also work in Albany Park (1 mile south), Blendon (1 mile north-east), Foots Cray (1 mile south-east), Bexley (2 miles north-east) and North Cray (2 miles east). Elsewhere in Bexley, we also cover Welling (2 miles north), Erith (4 miles north-east), Belvedere (4 miles north-east), Northumberland Heath (4 miles north-east), Lessness Heath (4 miles north-east) and Bexleyheath (2 miles north-east). Sidcup is one of the larger places we cover in Bexley.
Landmarks near Sidcup
The streets we cover here include those near The Alma pub and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. There is a railway station in Sidcup itself: Sidcup station. Nearby you’ll also find Queen Mary's Hospital (1 mile south) and Metropolitan Police Museum (less than half a mile north-west).
How fitting works for alcove units
On the morning of the fitting, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. Next, we carry in the sections made in our workshop. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Estates sometimes have their own parking rules alongside the council’s, so let us know what applies at the design visit. On the day, the sections are carried in, assembled and fixed. Saturdays can be arranged.
- 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.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that’s done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- 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.
Preparing the room
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
Getting a quote
For a quote for alcove units in Sidcup, fill in our short enquiry form. Tell us which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, plus any rough measurements. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a quote in writing.
Related advice
Boards, parts and paint
Moisture-resistant MDF
In an alcove unit, MDF gives smooth doors and tidy edges, ready for a spray-painted or hand-painted finish. Its moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice beside a chimney breast.
Plinths and scribe strips
In older houses, we usually scribe the sides and often the top too. It’s what makes a fitted unit look fitted.
What prompts alcove units in Sidcup
For some, it’s about books, records or a TV. We can plan an alcove unit around exactly what you have, with shelf heights and depths to suit.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
Close to Waring Park? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- A quote in writing that sets out the job
- How the furniture will be finished, and where