Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Alcove units in Temple Fortune, Barnet
Alcove units for your home in Temple Fortune: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made at our workshop and fitted by us.
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Room to work in an alcove
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Alcove units for your home in Temple Fortune
Alcove units for homes in Temple Fortune
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, whichever suits the room. A plinth can be set to line up with the skirting for a tidy line around the room. These details are settled when we visit. Most enquiries start with alcoves that aren’t square and empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Ceilings in homes built before 1919 are often taller than in later houses, and around Temple Fortune, a large share of homes are that age. Full-height alcove units can run up to the picture rail or the cornice, so the furniture looks as if it belongs to the house. Where a fireplace has been blocked up, the chimney still needs ventilating, and any damp is sorted before units go in.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you, so it can be arranged before fitting day. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Location
- Temple Fortune (NW11, NW4, N3)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Why bespoke in Temple Fortune?
With bought furniture you are limited to the maker’s finishes. We paint ours in the colour you pick, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither. Recesses in older houses come in every size except the standard ones, so off-the-shelf pieces either do not fit or leave a gap either side. Furniture made for the space fills it.
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, and the quote follows.
Why work with us in Temple Fortune
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Built around your room
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
Built-in living-room furniture in Temple Fortune
Homes built before 1919 make up about 52% of the housing in the neighbourhood around Temple Fortune, with about 30% built between 1919 and 1939, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Part of Temple Fortune is in the Hampstead Garden Suburb Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. The controls in a conservation area are mostly about the outside of buildings, so furniture fitted inside a house does not normally need planning permission. The council can confirm if you are not sure. Parking controls in London are set borough by borough, so Barnet has its own. If parking near you is controlled, a visitor permit or a bay suspension may be needed, and the council arranges suspensions, often with notice. Let us know about parking during the design visit.
Heath Hall, about 1.3 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Living in a block of flats near Brent Cross West station? Then alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room.
Temple Fortune is about 1 mile north-east of Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet. Anywhere in Temple Fortune, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. Our work takes in places right across Barnet, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We cover every part of NW11, NW4 and N3 for alcove units. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Hoop Lane, Bridge Lane and Limes Avenue, along with the roads around them, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. Temple Fortune sits close to the A598. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. We also cover the places around Temple Fortune: Golders Green (1 mile south), Hampstead Garden Suburb (1 mile east), East Finchley (1 mile north-east), North End (1 mile south-east) and Childs Hill (1 mile south). Across the rest of Barnet, our area takes in Barnet (4 miles north), Burnt Oak (3 miles north-west), Whetstone (3 miles north), Edgware (4 miles north-west), Friern Barnet (3 miles north-east) and Southgate (4 miles north-east).
Near you in Temple Fortune
Our area takes in the homes around The Henrietta Barnett School and The King Alfred School, among other places. Temple Fortune’s nearest station is Brent Cross West station, roughly 1.5 miles south-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Jewish Museum - Finchley (1 mile north-east) and Brent Cross Shopping Centre (1.1 miles west). For a walk, there’s Turner's Wood.
How fitting day works
Once the main sections are fixed in place, we hang any doors and fit any drawers or lids. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly, then checked again. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In houses converted into flats, the route in may include a shared hall and stairs, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. The sections are sized for the narrowest point on the route. Saturday fitting is possible by arrangement.
- 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. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- 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.
- 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.
- Paint needs time to cure, so go gently with the new units at first.
Preparing the room
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
How to get a quote
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you do not, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Advice
Also near Temple Fortune
What else we make in Temple Fortune
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.
Flat-pack and off-the-shelf furniture has its place. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it is easy to buy.
Caring for painted furniture
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
Once the cupboards are filled and in daily use, a door may settle slightly. Hinges can normally be adjusted to bring a door back in line.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight, and adjust any door that starts to catch.
Your questions about alcove units in Temple Fortune
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Temple Fortune?
Normally not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character may need listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Temple Fortune?
Yes, Temple Fortune is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Barnet and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You do not need to watch us work, but it is useful to be around at the end.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That’s your choice. A matching pair balances 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.
How do I get started?
Just tell us about the room on our contact form. It is useful to send rough measurements and a few photos, and we will arrange a design visit.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It can be done with some care: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. We don’t treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Is it time for alcove units?
Often the alcoves are simply the biggest unused space in the room. Standard furniture seldom fits an alcove, so there are gaps at the sides and the top. A fitted unit fills the recess up to the ceiling if you want.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- Storage that suits a period room
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
- Room to work in an alcove
For an older house near Saint Mary and Archangel Michael Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Will the quote be in writing?
- How the doors are hung and adjusted