Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Stroud Green Alcove Units
Alcove units in Stroud Green: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Storage that suits a period room
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
Need alcove units in Stroud Green?
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load, using birch plywood where strength matters. Still, a decent off-the-shelf unit can be the sensible choice if you are renting or moving soon. Alcoves and recesses in period houses are rarely a standard width or depth, so ready-made units rarely fill them properly. Furniture made for the space fills it.
Tricky rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. The quote allows for it.
Why work with us in Stroud Green
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- A spray or hand-painted finish
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and how to compare quotes.
How we make alcove units for Stroud Green
Skirting boards, picture rails and coving are common in older rooms. Units can be cut around them, stop just below them or run neatly up to them, depending on the look you want. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting. These details are settled when we visit, before anything is made. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are units that sit well with original features and clutter with nowhere to go.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and they set the lines that alcove units have to meet. Homes built before 1919 make up a large share of the housing around Stroud Green, so those details are worth looking at closely at the design visit. The top line can stop at the rail or run on to the cornice, depending on the room.
Everything we agree at the design visit goes into the written quote: the layout and internal fittings, the materials and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it’s easier before the furniture is made.
- Where
- Stroud Green (N4, N8, N19)
- Area
- Haringey
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near Stroud Green
What else we make in Stroud Green
FAQs: alcove units in Stroud Green
Is parking a problem for fitting in Stroud Green?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Stroud Green?
Yes. Stroud Green is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Haringey and London. To get started, you can use our contact form with a few details.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Do I need permission in a conservation area?
Normally not. Fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission, even in a conservation area. If the building is listed, works affecting its character may need listed building consent, so ask the council’s conservation officer.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that are not square?
Yes. We measure each alcove carefully at the measuring visit, make the units in our workshop and trim the edges on site to meet the wall.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Honest limits
It is worth being clear about where our work stops:
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
If in doubt, you can message us from the contact page and describe the room. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Spray-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
Is it time for alcove units?
A busy family living room is another reason. Toys, games, paperwork and gadgets need somewhere to go, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. The shelves above can then stay tidy.
Here are some of the needs we are asked about most:
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Room to work in an alcove
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Somewhere to keep books and records
For families living near St Aidan's Voluntary Controlled Primary School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design.
Before you choose who makes it
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- A written quote that sets out the job
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
- Whether they measure the room themselves
Fitting day, step by step
Before anything is fixed, we set the furniture level. Where the floor slopes, we bring the furniture up to level on adjustable feet or a plinth. After that, it’s fixed to the wall using fixings that suit the wall, whether that is solid brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Original hallway tiles and old floorboards are worth protecting, so they’re covered before anything comes in. Fixings into older walls are made carefully, as lath and plaster can crack if treated roughly. Decorating around the furniture afterwards is for your decorator.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish.
- A quote in writing follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood. If you chose spray painting, that’s done in the workshop too, for a smooth, even surface.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves; a hand-painted finish is done on site after fitting and is easy to touch up later.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Before fitting day
- Take anything hanging off the wall we are fitting to
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Tell us about parking near your home
Ask for a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. Everything is measured properly when we visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To arrange it, tell us about the room on our contact form with a few details about the room. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Read more
Stroud Green homes and alcove units
In the area around Stroud Green, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 73%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 9%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. 8 conservation areas have at least part of their area less than a mile from the middle of Stroud Green. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. Where a home in Stroud Green is on or beside a main road, it is useful to mention that during the design visit. We’ll plan where the van can stop.
For a flat near Harringay station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If your home is one of the older houses near Holy Trinity, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Stroud Green is within the London Borough of Haringey, about 2 miles north-east of Tottenham. Stroud Green is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Our work takes in places right across Haringey.
Here we cover the N4, N8 and N19 postcode area for alcove units. If your home is on a street like Ella Road, Lorne Road and Ridge Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. Stroud Green is near the A1201, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. If you’re just outside Stroud Green, we also cover Finsbury Park (1 mile south-east), Crouch End (1 mile west), Hornsey (1 mile north-west), Turnpike Lane (1 mile north) and Upper Holloway (1 mile south-west). We also make alcove units in nearby places like Tottenham (2 miles north-east), Wood Green (2 miles north), Tottenham Green (2 miles north-east), South Tottenham (2 miles east), Seven Sisters (2 miles east) and Bowes Park (2 miles north).
Near you in Stroud Green
Our area takes in the homes around Woodberry Down School, Hornsey School for Girls and Beaconsfield pub, among other places. Stroud Green has its own railway station: Harringay station. Other landmarks nearby include City of London Maternity Hospital (0.7 miles south-west) and Arsenal Football Club Museum (1.4 miles south). For a walk, there’s Railway Fields and Highgate Hill.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways not just the room, so each section is sized to get through without a struggle.
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.