Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Richmond upon Thames · London
Alcove Units in Strawberry Hill
Alcove units in Strawberry Hill: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Every piece is made at our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Alcove units for your home in Strawberry Hill
Alcove units in Strawberry Hill: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the area around Strawberry Hill were built before 1919 (about 47%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 18%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. There are 14 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Strawberry Hill. Being near listed buildings doesn’t make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. TfL’s red routes have strict stopping rules. If your home is on or just off a main road, it’s useful to mention it. That way we can plan where to load and unload.
For an older house near Holy Trinity Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Living in a block of flats near Strawberry Hill station? Then it is useful to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. For a family home near Kneller Hall Senior School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Strawberry Hill is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 1 mile north of Twickenham. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Strawberry Hill is part of that. Our work takes in places right across Richmond upon Thames, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Here we cover the TW1, TW11 and TW2 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street such as Tower Road, Heath Road and Clive Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. We also cover Fulwell (1 mile south-west), Eel Pie Island (1 mile north-east), Twickenham (1 mile north), Teddington (1 mile south) and Whitton (1 mile north-west). Across the rest of Richmond upon Thames, our area takes in Richmond (2 miles north-east), Richmond upon Thames (2 miles north-east), Hampton (2 miles south-west), Barnes (5 miles north-east), Kew (4 miles north-east) and Hanworth (2 miles west).
Around Strawberry Hill
We fit furniture in homes around Pope's Grotto pub, St Richard Reynolds Catholic High School and Archdeacon Cambridge's Church of England Primary School. There’s a railway station in Strawberry Hill itself: Strawberry Hill station. Well-known places in the area include Teddington Memorial Hospital (0.9 miles south) and Eel Pie Island Museum (0.8 miles north-east). Green spaces nearby include Ham Lands.
About our alcove units in Strawberry Hill
Even a chimney that is been blocked or capped needs some ventilation to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, with nothing covering it. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in. Typical reasons to get in touch are alcoves that aren’t square and room to work in an alcove; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
In a Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. That matters around Strawberry Hill, as a large share of the homes there were built before 1919. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting.
Once you have read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made in our workshop. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- Strawberry Hill (TW1, TW11, TW2)
- Area
- Richmond upon Thames
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What it’s made from
Moisture-resistant MDF
For alcove units, MDF gives crisp doors and smooth sides that take a spray or hand-painted finish evenly. Its moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice beside a chimney breast.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood helps shelves stay straight under books. We size the shelf for the span and the load.
Pricing alcove units in Strawberry Hill
There’s no set price, because there is no set room. What affects it comes down to:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- How big the furniture is
- Parking near your home
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
Before the design visit
The more you can tell us at the start, the better the design visit goes. When you get in touch, it’s useful to send:
- Examples of the look you’re after
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Where you live, with the postcode
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it, once the room is measured and the design talked through. To arrange a visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
What happens on fitting day
With the carcasses fixed and level, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route in. Floors and stair carpets are protected on the way in and out.
- You contact us with a short note about the room and the units you have in mind, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout 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.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves.
How to prepare
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Getting a quote
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, get in touch through our contact form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.
Read more
Common questions about alcove units
My home in Strawberry Hill is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
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. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Do you cover homes near Strawberry Hill station?
Yes. We cover all of Richmond upon Thames and the rest of London. You can use our contact form to arrange a design visit.
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 route left for cables.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It’s up to you. 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 block the chimney vent?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away, so we never box a vent in.
Should I send pictures?
Yes. They give us a feel for the space before we visit. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Places near Strawberry Hill
Other services in Strawberry Hill
Flats, blocks and rented homes
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.
Blocks of flats often have their own rules on lift bookings, entry systems and times for trades. Tell us about them at the design visit, so fitting day is planned around them.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
A bespoke unit takes longer to arrive than something from a shop: there’s a design visit, a quote and making time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, not the nearest catalogue size. Off-the-shelf furniture is made for flat walls and level floors, which older houses rarely have, so you end up with gaps, wobbles and units that don’t meet the skirting. Fitted furniture is scribed to the wall instead.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, and that’s part of the price. There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Strawberry Hill
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- 300+ projects completed
- Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what to look for in a quote.