Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Brent · London
Alcove units in Stonebridge, Brent
For homes in Stonebridge, 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.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Alcove units for your home in Stonebridge
About our alcove units in Stonebridge
Many people choose cupboards at low level and shelves above them. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, and the shelves are for books and favourite objects. The cupboard top gives you a ledge for a lamp, a speaker or a plant. Heights are agreed with you to suit the room and your things. Most enquiries start with somewhere to keep books and records and old alcove cupboards that have seen better days; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Homes built since 2000 are often open-plan, with the kitchen, dining and living space in one room, and many homes around Stonebridge were built in that time. In a room like that, alcove units can help separate the sitting area from the kitchen, without putting up a wall. Floors are protected throughout, as newer finishes mark easily.
You get the quote in writing, so there is time to read it properly and share it with anyone else involved. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Stonebridge (NW10, HA9, HA0)
- Area
- Brent
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
What alcove units cannot fix
Not everything around alcove units is carpentry, from an electrician to a plumber or a Gas Safe engineer. Here’s what to know:
- Taking out a chimney breast or opening up a fireplace
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
If in doubt, you can send us a few details through our contact form and describe the room. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Scribed side panels
- Panelled or flat doors
- Birch plywood
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Cost matters, and it is fair to say so: flat-pack is typically cheaper to buy. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is awkward, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths.
Questions we are often asked
Can you make alcove units for a home in Stonebridge?
Yes, Stonebridge is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Brent and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, followed by a quote.
I live in a flat in Stonebridge. 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’s worth checking those early.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That is your choice. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
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. A plinth or adjustable feet set it level on a sloping floor.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room, but it helps to be around at the end.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
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 way planned for cables to reach the sockets.
How it is made
Spray-painted finish
A sprayed coat covers edges and corners evenly and leaves no brush marks. You choose the colour at the design stage.
Shelves
We set shelf spacing around what you own so tall books and records have room. A shallower top shelf can keep things within reach.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Off-the-shelf furniture comes in set heights, so there’s often wasted space overhead. We can take a bespoke unit to the ceiling or stop it at the picture rail, whichever looks right in your room. Large off-the-shelf pieces can make a small room feel smaller, while fitted furniture, painted in a colour that suits the walls, reads as part of the room.
Every room is priced on its own, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. You’ll see the figure in your written quote, after the design visit.
Why us?
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
- Work across the whole of London
- Designed for the room you have
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
How fitting day works
You are welcome to ask questions while we work. Most of the decisions were made at the design visit and set out in your quote, so fitting day is about putting it in place carefully. The time the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a newer development, the lift, the concierge and set working hours may all need checking, so check them with the managing agent before fitting day. Alcove units are made in sections sized for the lift and doors.
- You tell us which room it is and roughly what you’d like in the alcoves.
- We visit to measure, look at how the walls run and note the skirting, picture rail and any vent. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- We send a quote in writing setting out the layout, materials and finish.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, each one sized to its own alcove.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Getting a quote
To get a quote, fill in our short enquiry form and tell us a little about the room. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a quote in writing follows.
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Places near Stonebridge
Other services in Stonebridge
Alcove units in Stonebridge: local notes
Homes built since 2000 make up about 36% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Stonebridge, with about 28% built before 1919, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Stonebridge is partly covered by a conservation area, going by Historic England’s data. 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. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. London’s red routes are run by TfL, and stopping on them is tightly controlled. Where a home in Stonebridge is on or beside a main road, it is useful to mention that at the measuring visit. We will plan where the van can stop.
The wider area includes historic houses such as Pitzhanger Manor, about 2.8 miles south-west. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For a family home near The Stonebridge School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room. If you live in a flat close to Harlesden station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day.
Stonebridge is about 3 miles east of Kilburn, part of the London Borough of Brent. From period terraces to newer flats in Stonebridge, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Our work takes in places right across Brent, large and small.
We make alcove units across the NW10, HA9 and HA0 postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Wood Road, Park Road and Acton Lane or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Stonebridge Park (1 mile north-west), Church End (1 mile north-east), Tokyngton (1 mile north-west), Brent Park (1 mile north) and Harlesden (1 mile south-east). Other parts of Brent we cover include Kilburn (3 miles east), Wembley (2 miles north-west), Queen's Park (3 miles east), Kenton (4 miles north-west), Kensal Rise (2 miles east) and Cricklewood (2 miles north-east).
Landmarks near Stonebridge
Around Stonebridge, we cover homes near Stonebridge Park Public House, St Claudine's Catholic School for Girls and The Swaminarayan School and the streets around them. There is a railway station in Stonebridge itself: Harlesden station. A little further out are London Designer Outlet (1.4 miles north-west) and Brent Museum and Archives (1.5 miles east).