Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Alcove units in Temple Mills, Newham
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make alcove units for homes in Temple Mills, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Units that sit well with original features
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
Alcove units designed for your room
About our alcove units in Temple Mills
Many people choose cupboards at low level and shelves above them. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, and the shelves are for books and favourite objects. The cupboard top gives you a ledge for a lamp, a speaker or a plant. We set the heights to suit the room and what you’ll store. We make alcove units from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and people most often get in touch about tired cupboards in the alcoves and everyday clutter left on show.
A large number of homes around Temple Mills date from 2000 onwards, and newer homes tend to have open-plan living rooms with no chimney breast. So alcove units often give the room its shape, along a full wall or around the TV. Plasterboard stud walls are common in newer homes, so heavy pieces are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor.
After the design visit, we send you a written quote. It sets out the design we’ve talked through, the materials and the finish, so it’s clear what’s included.
- Location
- Temple Mills (E20, E15, E9)
- Area
- Newham
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: alcove units in Temple Mills
My home in Temple Mills is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
We measure the route in as well as the room: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. Alcove units are made at our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. It’s useful to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Temple Mills?
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 measuring visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Can an alcove unit include a desk?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. We’ll plan the desk around how you work.
What happens when you come to measure?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and go through the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
Electrical work is not something we do. New or moved sockets are a job for your electrician, ideally before fitting. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Flats, conversions and lettings
In a managed block, the building manager or concierge may need notice before we arrive. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Let us know about it when you contact us.
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. We choose fixings to suit the wall, which we check during the design visit.
Honest limits
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, and there are a few other limits too:
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Painting the walls, ceiling and woodwork around the units
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can message us from the contact page and we will tell you. How a job runs, step by step.
What it’s made from
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
Nearby places to Temple Mills
Other services in Temple Mills
Living-room storage in Temple Mills
Homes built since 2000 make up about 84% of the housing in the streets around Temple Mills, with about 8% built between 1945 and 1972, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. 4 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Temple Mills. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. About 82% of households in the neighbourhood around Temple Mills live in purpose-built flats, according to Census 2021. For a flat, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, the lift and the doors. Building management rules on lifts, deliveries and working hours are worth checking early.
If your children go to Chobham Academy or a school nearby, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place. Living in a block of flats near Stratford International station? Then it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. For an older house near St Eleutherius, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Temple Mills is in the London Borough of Newham, about 2 miles south-east of Plaistow. From period terraces to newer flats in Temple Mills, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Our work takes in places right across Newham, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We make alcove units across E20, E15 and E9 for alcove units. We cover homes on streets such as Major Road, Forbes Lane and Keirin Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. The A106 run close to Temple Mills; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. Nearby, we also make alcove units in East Village (1 mile south-east), Hackney Wick (1 mile south-west), Stratford (1 mile south-east), Maryland (1 mile south-east) and Fish Island (1 mile south-west). Other parts of Newham we cover include Plaistow (2 miles south-east), Canning Town (3 miles south-east), Forest Gate (2 miles east), East Ham (3 miles south-east), Upton Park (2 miles south-east) and Greengate (2 miles south-east).
Near you in Temple Mills
We fit furniture in homes around Eton Manor Boys' Club, Mossbourne Riverside Academy and The Cow pub and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Temple Mills itself: Stratford International station. Well-known places in the area include Westfield Stratford City (within half a mile south-east) and V&A East (0.6 miles south). Not far away are Old Ford Island.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Off-the-shelf units come in the colours the maker chose. Ours are painted in a colour agreed with you, sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site. You can match the walls or choose a contrast. Large off-the-shelf pieces can make a small room feel smaller, whereas fitted pieces painted to suit the walls sit back into the space.
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit, so size is the starting point. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Why us?
- Built around your room
- 300+ projects completed
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and how to compare quotes.
Fitting day, step by step
The last stage of the day is the finish. With a spray finish from the workshop, there is typically only filling and touching up to do in the room; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. Newer homes often have finished floors, painted walls and new doors that mark easily, so everything on the way in is covered before the sections arrive. Corners and door frames are covered as well. Once inside, the pieces are joined in place.
- You contact us with some details about the chimney breast and alcoves.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- 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.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
Arranging a design visit
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough measurements and some pictures if you have them. To send them, use our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a quote in writing.
Advice
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, and standard units leave gaps.