Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Camden · London
Alcove units in Somers Town, Camden
Planning alcove units for a home in Somers Town? We start with a design visit and a quote in writing.
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- A place for a small desk
Ask about alcove units in Somers Town
How we make alcove units for Somers Town
A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, with nothing covering it. If there are signs of damp on the chimney breast or in the alcoves, they’re best sorted before fitting, as cupboards fitted over damp walls can suffer. If your home has space for a growing book collection and walls too uneven for standard furniture, that’s what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Purpose-built flats are home to most households around Somers Town, from mansion blocks to modern developments. In a mansion block flat, the living room may still have a chimney breast and alcoves, and walls that are far from flat, whereas a modern flat tends to have plasterboard walls and an open-plan layout. Either way, alcove units are made for the room as it is.
The written quote is your record of the job. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, what it is made from and how it is finished, and the workshop works from it.
- Where
- Somers Town (NW1W, NW1, W1T)
- Borough
- Camden
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Why people ask for alcove units in Somers Town
Many people ask about alcove units because the alcoves are the most obvious wasted space they have. Off-the-shelf furniture rarely fits them, leaving gaps at the sides and above. A fitted unit fills the recess.
We’re often asked to help with:
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
If your children go to St Mary and St Pancras Church of England Primary School or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Before you choose who makes it
- Whether they measure the room themselves
- Real projects you can actually look at
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Where they’ll park and unload
How fitting works for alcove units
With the carcasses fixed and level, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, then checked again. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. With little room to spare in a flat, pieces come in as they’re needed. We protect the floors and keep dust to a minimum. Fixings are chosen for each wall, solid or plasterboard.
- You send us a few details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, so you can look it over in your own time.
- The units are made in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before we arrive
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
How to get a quote
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and discuss the design with you, and the written quote comes after. Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Related advice
What alcove units can’t fix
As carpenters, we leave some work to other trades. These are worth knowing before you plan:
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
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.
Materials and parts
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
Pricing alcove units in Somers Town
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. These are the things that affect it:
- The width and height of the space
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Access to the room, like stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- The internal fittings
Rooms that aren’t square take more work: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. The quote allows for it, which we write after seeing the room.
What we need to know
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Approximate measurements of the space
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, fill in our short enquiry form. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Living-room storage in Somers Town
In the neighbourhood around Somers Town, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 32%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 23%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Somers Town include Church of St Pancras (Grade I), under half a mile south, and All Saints Greek Orthodox Church (Grade I), about 0.6 miles north-west. If your own home is listed, internal works that affect its character, like fixing into or removing original joinery, can require listed building consent. It’s worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. About 77% of households around Somers Town live in purpose-built flats, well above the figure for Camden as a whole, about 56%, based on Census 2021. So the route in, from stairs to lifts, is part of the design.
If you live in a flat close to London Euston station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. The wider area includes historic houses like Handel Hendrix House, about 1.4 miles south-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Somers Town is in the London Borough of Camden, about 1 mile south-east of St Pancras. Somers Town is part of the area we cover. We cover places right across Camden.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: NW1W, NW1 and W1T. We cover homes on streets like Euston Road, Duke's Road and Phoenix Road, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Main roads around Somers Town include the A400 and A501, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. We also cover Euston (1 mile south), Kings Cross (1 mile east), Agar Town (1 mile north), Bloomsbury (1 mile south-east) and Fitzrovia (1 mile south-west). Across the rest of Camden, our area takes in Hampstead (3 miles north-west), West Hampstead (3 miles north-west), Greenhill (2 miles north-west), Dartmouth Park (2 miles north), Gospel Oak (2 miles north-west) and Haverstock (2 miles north-west).
Around Somers Town
Our area takes in the homes around Prince Arthur pub, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies and Wellcome Collection, among other places. Somers Town has its own railway station: London Euston station. Well-known places in the area include Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital (a few minutes’ walk south-east) and People’s Museum Somers Town (less than half a mile east). Not far away are Primrose Hill and Barnsbury Wood.
Materials and finishes
Birch plywood
For alcove shelves that carry books, birch plywood helps keep them straight across a broad recess. We size the shelf for the span and the load.
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish suits alcove units in a period room. The colour is agreed with you, and it is easy to refresh in years to come.
Neighbourhoods near Somers Town
More for homes in Somers Town
Questions from Somers Town
I live in a flat in Somers Town. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in as well as the room. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Somers Town?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character can require listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway. They can share a style while doing different things.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
That’s a job for your electrician. It is best done before the units go in. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
What happens when you come to measure?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and go through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and afterwards we send a written quote.