Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Ealing · London
Alcove Units in Southall
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Southall. We measure, design and quote first, then make it in our workshop and fit it.
- A place for a small desk
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Alcoves that are wasted space
Alcove units designed for your room
Your questions about alcove units in Southall
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Southall?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Southall?
Yes. Southall is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Ealing and London. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You do not need to watch us work, though we like to go over the furniture with you at the end.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
Electrical work is not something we do. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
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 route left for cables.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, by arrangement. Tell us when you get in touch if a Saturday suits you best.
Alcove units in Southall: what you get
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it works best. MDF suits doors and panels because it paints so evenly, while birch plywood is strong and holds screws well. The finish is spray painted in the workshop or hand painted on site, in a colour agreed with you. Most enquiries start with bare alcoves beside the fireplace and space for a growing book collection, and the answer is made in our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Plenty of semis and interwar houses have been extended at the back or had the back rooms knocked through, and around Southall, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a large share of the housing. In a long knocked-through room, alcove units can run the full length of one wall, or mark out the sitting end from the dining end. An extension’s plasterboard walls need different fixings from the original brick or block.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it is easier before the furniture is made.
- Where
- Southall (UB2, UB1, UB6, W7)
- Borough
- Ealing
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- 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, which is worth sorting early. 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.
Also near Southall
Other services in Southall
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
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. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want. Bays, box rooms and stair bulkheads are where off-the-shelf furniture struggles most, and those are common in interwar houses. Fitted furniture is made around them.
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. We’ll talk through what you need inside during the design visit, then set it out in the quote.
Why us?
- A design visit, then a written quote
- Saturday work by arrangement
- Designed for the room you have
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.
What happens on fitting day
Furniture made in a workshop still has to meet the room it is going into, and fitting day is where that happens. Walls in older homes are rarely flat or square, so we scribe the edges by hand to follow the wall, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. It’s useful to clear the room and the route before we arrive. On the day, we cover the floors first, then bring the sections in. The pieces are levelled, fitted to the walls and fixed back.
- You tell us which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- You receive a quote with the design, the materials and the paint finish.
- Once you’re happy, the units are built in our workshop.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
Arranging a design visit
A quote begins with a few details from you: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of photos if you can take them. When you’re ready, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a quote in writing.
Related advice
How it’s made
Birch plywood
For alcove shelves that carry books, birch plywood helps keep them straight over a wider alcove. Thickness is chosen to suit the span and the weight.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting is done in the workshop, for a smooth and even finish. It works on simple doors and on more traditional ones.
Southall homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Southall were built before 1919 (about 36%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 32%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. There are 7 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Southall. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. Around a third of the homes in the area around Southall (about 32%) date from between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Houses from the 1920s and 1930s often have a bay window and a chimney breast in the front room, which shape where alcove units go.
Near listed buildings like Liberty Cinema, under half a mile north of the centre of Southall, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent. If your home is one of the older houses near Saint John, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. For families living near Hambrough Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Southall is within the London Borough of Ealing, about 3 miles east of Ealing. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Southall included. Southall is one of the places in Ealing where we make alcove units, and the borough has 19 places on our list.
Design visits and fitting in UB2, UB1, UB6 and W7 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. If your home is on a street like Uxbridge Road High Street, Emerald Square and Randolph Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Dormers Wells (1 mile north-east), West Ealing (2 miles east), Yeading (2 miles north), Yiewsley (2 miles north) and Hanwell (2 miles east). Across the rest of Ealing, our area takes in Ealing (3 miles east), Acton (5 miles east), Northolt (3 miles north), Acton Green (5 miles east), Bedford Park (5 miles east) and Northfields (3 miles east). Being one of the larger places in Ealing, Southall is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
Local landmarks in Southall
The streets we cover here include those near Glassy Junction pub and Villiers High School and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Southall itself: Southall station. Nearby you’ll also find St Bernard's Hospital (1.2 miles east).
Looking after your furniture
New paint needs time to cure fully, so treat it gently at first. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight, and adjust any door that starts to catch.