Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Southborough Alcove Units
Few London rooms are perfectly square, and we scribe the furniture to follow the walls. We make alcove units for homes in Southborough, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
- Alcoves that aren’t square
Alcove units for your home in Southborough
Alcove units in Southborough
Period alcoves are rarely square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes, often all at once. Each unit is made in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the sides meet the wall closely rather than showing a dark line. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish, and the usual reasons to get in touch are walls too uneven for standard furniture and units that sit well with original features.
In an area like Southborough, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many homes have had the front and back rooms knocked together. 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 measuring visit.
The furniture is made in our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- Southborough (BR2, BR1)
- Borough
- Bromley
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting day works
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, one at a time. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a 1930s house with a converted loft, the stairs to the loft room are often steeper than the main flight, so pieces for a loft room are sized for the narrowest point. Elsewhere in the house, the route is usually more generous. The pieces are joined and fixed once in place.
- You get in touch about alcove units and the room they’re for.
- 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.
- The written quote then sets out the design, the materials and the finish you’ve picked.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that is done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Preparing the room
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, fill in our short enquiry form and tell us a little about the room. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and send you a written quote afterwards.
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Nearby places to Southborough
Other services in Southborough
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shop-bought shelving and cabinets can go in an alcove, and they’re usually cheaper. The trouble is normally the gaps: standard sizes seldom match the alcove, and walls that aren’t straight show up every gap. A bespoke unit is built to the alcove and scribed to follow the wall. In an extended or opened-up house, old and new walls often meet slightly out of line, and straight-sided ready-made units make that obvious. Fitted pieces are scribed to both.
There’s no price list, because each job is designed for a single room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a written quote, with the materials and finish set out. To arrange a design visit, use our contact form.
Why work with us in Southborough
- Designed for the room you have
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Work across the whole of London
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and how to compare quotes.
Built-in living-room furniture in Southborough
In the streets around Southborough, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 35%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 23%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Southborough include Turpington Farmhouse (Grade II), less than half a mile south-west, and The Chequers Public House (Grade II), less than half a mile east. Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside, so works that affect a listed home’s character, like removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. Each London borough runs its own parking controls, and Bromley is no exception. If parking near you is controlled, a visitor permit or a bay suspension may be needed, and the council arranges suspensions, often with notice. We ask about parking at the measuring visit, so the day can be planned around it.
If you live in a flat close to Bickley station, the route in is measured along with the room itself, and the sections are sized to fit it. The wider area includes historic houses such as Bromley Palace, about 1.4 miles north-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Southborough is about 3 miles east of Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley. Whether your home in Southborough is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our Bromley coverage includes Southborough, along with the rest of the borough.
In BR2 and BR1, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. You will find streets here such as Pope Road, Crown Lane and Union Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Bromley Common (1 mile south-west), Petts Wood (1 mile east), Locksbottom (2 miles south-east), Shortlands (2 miles west) and Crofton (2 miles south-east). Elsewhere in Bromley, we also cover Orpington (3 miles east), Bromley (2 miles north-west), Beckenham (3 miles west), St Mary Cray (3 miles east), Chislehurst (2 miles north-east) and Penge (5 miles west).
What’s near Southborough
Around Southborough, we cover homes near Bishop Justus CofE School and The Chequers Public House, among other places. The nearest railway station is Bickley station, roughly 0.7 miles north. A little further out are Bridgeways Day Hospital (close by, under half a mile south) and Bethlem Museum of the Mind (0.9 miles south-west). Not far away are Summer Hill.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Let us know about it when you contact us.
Landlords furnishing a let use fitted furniture too. The materials are the same as for any home: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Your questions about alcove units in Southborough
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Southborough?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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 measuring visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Southborough?
Yes, Southborough is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Bromley and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, and then we send a quote.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That depends on how you use the room. Alcoves are often different widths anyway, so each unit is made to its own measurements. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
That’s a job for your electrician. It’s best done before the units go in so the sockets line up with the design. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
What happens during the design visit?
It’s a chance to measure properly and talk through what you’d like. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, then send a written quote.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
What prompts alcove units in Southborough
Often the alcoves are simply the biggest unused space in the room. Standard furniture seldom fits an alcove, leaving gaps at the sides and above. Built-in units use the whole recess from wall to wall.
We’re often asked to help with:
- Space for a growing book collection
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
If you live near Jubilee Country Park, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
What we don’t do
Some parts of a job need another trade, such as an electrician, a plumber or an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Here is what to bear in mind:
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can message us from the contact page and we’ll give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves