Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Lambeth · London
Streatham Alcove Units
Planning alcove units for a home in Streatham? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a quote in writing.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
Need alcove units in Streatham?
What it’s made from
Shelves
Shelf heights are planned around your things so tall books and records have room. A shallower top shelf can keep things within reach.
Birch plywood
For alcove shelves that carry books, birch plywood helps keep them straight. We size the shelf for the span and the load.
How we make alcove units for Streatham
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. If your home in Streatham has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it, starting with a design visit to measure. Most enquiries start with furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, and the answer is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. Around Streatham, where a large share of homes date from before 1919, that’s a common starting point. Alcove units built into the recesses either side are scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting.
The furniture is built 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
- Streatham (SW16, SW2, CR4, SW12)
- Borough
- Lambeth
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Caring for painted furniture
Fresh paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat it gently at first. Beyond that, these tips help:
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Tell us about parking and access at the measuring visit
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
Keep any chimney vent clear once the units are in, even when the cupboards fill up. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away, which protects the units too.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork.
Alcove units in Streatham: local notes
About 55% of the homes in the streets around Streatham went up before 1919, and about 17% between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. The Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill Conservation Area is close by, within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of Streatham. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. The share of homes built before 1919 around Streatham, about 55%, is well above the figure for Lambeth as a whole, about 40%, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
If you live in a period home close to St Leonard's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. For a family home near St Andrew's Catholic Primary School, low doors that small hands can open, with books and ornaments higher up, suit a busy family room. Close to Streatham Common? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Streatham is part of the London Borough of Lambeth, about 3 miles north of Stockwell. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Streatham included. Streatham is one of the places in Lambeth where we make alcove units, and the borough has 22 places on our list.
Every home in SW16, SW2, CR4 and SW12 is covered for alcove units, from the main roads to the quieter streets. Whether you live on a street like Stanthorpe Road, Gleneagle Mews and Madeira Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Main roads around Streatham include the A205 and A216. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the measuring visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. We also cover Streatham Park (1 mile west), Furzedown (1 mile west), Streatham Hill (1 mile north), Hyde farm estate (1 mile north) and Grange Mills (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Lambeth we cover include Stockwell (3 miles north), Kennington (4 miles north), North Brixton (3 miles north), Little Portugal (3 miles north), Clapham (3 miles north) and South Bank (5 miles north). As one of the bigger places in Lambeth, Streatham is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Around Streatham
The streets we cover here include those near Waldorf School of South West London, Bishop Thomas Grant Catholic Secondary School and The Holland Tringham pub. There is a railway station in Streatham itself: Streatham station. Other landmarks nearby include Clockworks Museum (1.1 miles east) and Tooting Bec Hospital (1 mile west). Not far away are Biggin Wood.
Questions we’re often asked
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Normally not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter 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 home in Streatham is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that is 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 work outside London?
No. Our work is in London only: every London borough and the City of London.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Streatham?
Yes. We work across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, Streatham included.
Can the fitting be on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
That’s a job for your electrician. It is best done before the units go in, and we can tell you where the units will sit so the sockets end up in the right place. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
Flats, leases and landlords
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, once we have measured the way in.
If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so tell us about it at the design visit.
How fitting works for alcove units
You will not need to do much on the day. Someone needs to let us in, and it helps to have the room cleared beforehand. After that, it’s over to us: the floors are covered, the sections come in and the fitting begins. 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. Parking on terraced streets can be tight, particularly in a controlled parking zone, so details of permits, bays and any loading restrictions help. Unloading is kept short, with sections taken straight inside. Saturdays are possible by arrangement.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square, then discuss the design with you.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a written quote.
- The units are made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- At fitting, we set each unit level on a plinth or feet and trim that edge to follow the wall. Spray-painted units arrive finished; hand-painted ones are painted once fitted.
Preparing the room
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
Getting a quote
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. Afterwards, we send a quote in writing for you to look over. To book one, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Related advice
When is bespoke worth it?
If you’re handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.