Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Alcove Units in St John's Wood
For homes in St John's Wood, we make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Alcove units for your home in St John's Wood
Alcove units for homes in St John's Wood
We work across London, including St John's Wood. The first step is a design visit to measure the alcoves and agree the layout. After that we send a written quote, and once you are happy the units are made at our workshop and fitted in your home. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a place for a small desk and alcoves that aren’t square.
Getting long pieces into a flat often takes the most planning. Since most households around St John's Wood live in purpose-built flats, alcove units are designed in sections from the start, with the route in measured as well as the room. Joins are positioned so they’re hidden once everything is in place.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Where
- St John's Wood (NW8, NW6, NW3)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Where other trades come in
We are carpenters, so some jobs belong to other trades. These are worth knowing before you plan:
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can use our contact form and we will tell you. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
We also make and fit furniture for landlords furnishing a let, as it makes good use of an tricky room. The materials are the same as for any home: moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
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. Mention it when you contact us.
Caring for painted furniture
Looking after painted furniture is simple with a little care. These habits help most:
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that is barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, as they can mark the finish. Dry the surface afterwards.
Put coasters or mats under anything that holds water. Dry any spills quickly.
Living-room carpentry in St John's Wood: local notes
About 30% of the homes in the neighbourhood around St John's Wood went up before 1919, and about 29% between 1945 and 1972, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The centre of St John's Wood is within about a quarter of a mile of the St John's Wood Conservation Area. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If you’re unsure, check with the council before work starts. About 72% of households in the streets around St John's Wood live in purpose-built flats, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. For a flat, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, the lift and the doors. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
If you live near Primrose Hill, alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. For a flat near South Hampstead station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Nuffield Lodge, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent.
St John's Wood is in the City of Westminster, about 2 miles south-east of City of Westminster. We cover St John's Wood as part of our work across Westminster. St John's Wood is one of 29 places on our list for Westminster.
Here we cover the NW8, NW6 and NW3 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as The Lane, Hall Road and Hill Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. St John's Wood is near the A5205; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Nearby, we also make alcove units in South Hampstead (1 mile north), Swiss Cottage (1 mile north), Primrose Hill (1 mile north-east), Lisson Grove (1 mile south) and Haverstock (1 mile north-east). Across the rest of Westminster, our area takes in City of Westminster (2 miles south-east), Marylebone (2 miles south-east), Soho (2 miles south-east), Chinatown (3 miles south-east), St James's (3 miles south-east) and Covent Garden (3 miles south-east).
Local landmarks in St John's Wood
The streets we cover here include those near Cecil Sharp House, Quintin Kynaston Community Academy and Cafe Med pub, among other places. St John's Wood has its own railway station: South Hampstead station. A little further out are O2 Centre (0.9 miles north) and Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth (a few minutes’ walk south). For a walk, there’s Greville Place nature reserve.
From workshop to your room
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and take up the floor coverings. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Loading near a block of flats can take some planning, so let us know about bays, permits or any loading area at the measuring visit. Once inside, the sections are joined and fixed with fixings that suit the wall. Saturdays can be arranged.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- 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.
- We send a quote in writing for the units, for you to read through at your own pace.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Arranging a design visit
To get a quote, message us from the contact page and tell us which room you have in mind and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and talk through the design, and a quote in writing follows.
Related advice
Questions from St John's Wood
Is St John's Wood in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes. St John's Wood is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Westminster and London. You can fill in our short enquiry form to arrange a design visit.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in St John's Wood?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove 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.
Will alcove units fit if my walls are not straight?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
Can I send pictures ahead of the visit?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough measurements. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths.
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.