Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Strand-on-the-Green Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Strand-on-the-Green. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Units that sit well with original features
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Alcove units designed for your room
Is it time for alcove units?
Others want a proper home for books, records or a TV. An alcove unit can be shaped around what you own, with each shelf set to suit it.
Common reasons to get in touch include:
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Shelving for books and records
If you live in a period home close to St Paul's Church, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Before you choose who makes it
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- A quote in writing that sets out the job
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight
Alcove units in Strand-on-the-Green: what you get
Period alcoves are rarely square. The walls lean, the chimney breast may bow and the floor often slopes, sometimes all in one recess. Each unit is built 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. If you are living with shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess and a desk that tucks into an alcove, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Around Strand-on-the-Green, a large share of homes date from before 1919, which in London mostly means Victorian and Edwardian houses. Main rooms in houses like these typically have a chimney breast with an alcove on each side, and those alcoves are the natural home for alcove units. Because old walls bow and floors slope, the units are scribed to follow the wall and levelled at the base, then cut neatly around the skirting and any picture rail or cornice.
Where other trades are needed, for instance an electrician to move a socket, we point that out, so it can be arranged before fitting day. The quote itself covers our work, from the design to the materials and finish.
- Place
- Strand-on-the-Green (W4, TW9, TW8)
- Area
- Hounslow
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting works for alcove units
Fitting day follows a set order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Terraced streets in London are often lined with parked cars, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. The van is unloaded quickly, with the sections carried straight in. Saturdays are possible by arrangement.
- You get in touch to say you’d like alcove units.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing, ready for you to check.
- The units are made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Preparing the room
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
Starting with a design visit
To get a quote, drop us a line using the contact form and tell us a little about the room and what you want the furniture to do. We then arrange a design visit to measure and go through the design, and a written quote follows.
Read more
Flats, leases and landlords
If the property is let, we will need access agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf.
A lot of London’s terraced houses are now converted flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it, once we have measured the way in.
Places near Strand-on-the-Green
Also in Strand-on-the-Green
Alcove units for homes in Strand-on-the-Green
In the neighbourhood around Strand-on-the-Green, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 48%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 15%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. 16 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of central Strand-on-the-Green. England has around 10,000 in all, and their controls are largely about how buildings look from outside. All of London, Hounslow included, is inside the ULEZ. So any van that delivers or fits furniture in Strand-on-the-Green is covered by it. We go through parking and access at the measuring visit.
Near listed buildings like Zoffany House, under half a mile north-west of the centre of Strand-on-the-Green, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. The wider area includes historic houses such as Kew Palace, about 0.7 miles west. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Strand-on-the-Green is about 3 miles west of Hounslow, within the London Borough of Hounslow. We cover Strand-on-the-Green as part of our work across Hounslow. Strand-on-the-Green is one of the places in Hounslow where we make alcove units.
In W4, TW9 and TW8, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. If your home is on a street such as Kew Road, Maze Road and Kent Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. The A3000 runs close to Strand-on-the-Green; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Other places close to Strand-on-the-Green include Kew (1 mile south), Grove Park (1 mile east), Gunnersbury (1 mile north), North Sheen (1 mile south) and Turnham Green (1 mile east). Across the rest of Hounslow, our area takes in Hounslow (3 miles west), Feltham (6 miles south-west), Isleworth (2 miles south-west), Woodlands (3 miles west), Lampton (4 miles west) and Hounslow West (5 miles west).
Local landmarks in Strand-on-the-Green
We fit furniture in homes around Kew College Prep, Library for Iranian Studies and Chiswick School. For rail, the closest station is Chiswick station, about 0.5 miles south-east of the centre. Nearby you’ll also find Museum No. 2. Monocotyledons and Cryptogams (0.6 miles west) and Barnes Hospital (1.5 miles south-east). For a walk, there is Duke's Hollow and Kew Gardens Lake.
Common questions about alcove units
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
My house in Strand-on-the-Green is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Each room is quoted on its own: the size, what goes inside, the finish and how square the room is all count. The written quote follows the design visit.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. You don’t need to watch us work.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
We do not do electrical work. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
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. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
With bought furniture you’re limited to the maker’s finishes. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Standard units assume square rooms, and period homes seldom have them, so you end up with gaps, wobbles and units that don’t meet the skirting. Fitted pieces follow the wall and sit level.
How it is painted is part of the price: spray painting happens in the workshop, and hand painting can be done in your home. Your choice, along with the size and the fittings, is reflected in the written quote.
Why us?
- Saturday visits and fitting by prior arrangement
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Finished by spray or by hand
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.
What affects the cost of alcove units
To work out the quote, we look at:
- Awkward walls, sloping ceilings and uneven floors
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- The overall size of the piece
- Parking near your home
Tricky rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. The quote allows for it.
Helping us understand the room
Here’s what helps us most when you contact us:
- Your postcode and the borough
- What the furniture needs to hold
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- A few photos of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.