Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove units in Thamesmead, Bexley
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Thamesmead. Every piece is built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Alcoves that are wasted space
Alcove units designed for your room
The problems alcove units solve
A move into an older home is a common reason. People who have just moved in want storage that suits the age of the house, and the alcoves are the natural place for it. It is easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
People usually get in touch with us about needs like these:
- Space for a growing book collection
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Eastbury Manor House, about 2.4 miles north-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Before you hire any carpenter
- How parking will work on your street
- Real projects you can actually look at
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
Alcove units in Thamesmead: what you get
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Thamesmead has a pair of alcoves, each alcove gets a unit designed for it. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and people most often get in touch about furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and alcoves that aren’t square.
Ceiling heights across London vary a lot, from tall period rooms to compact modern ones. In Thamesmead, as anywhere, we measure the height as carefully as the width, since it sets how tall alcove units can be. Each section is sized to fit the route into the room.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If something is not quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Location
- Thamesmead (SE28, SE2, DA18)
- Area
- Bexley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Tips worth knowing
People planning alcove units often ask about these. They’re worth knowing before and after fitting:
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Let us know about parking and access at the design visit
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
A soft, slightly damp cloth is all painted units typically need. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Dry the surface afterwards.
Use a mat under plants, vases and drinks. Dry any spills quickly.
Thamesmead homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Thamesmead were built between 1973 and 1999 (about 71%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 15%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Purpose-built flats are home to about 43% of households in the streets around Thamesmead, based on Census 2021. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day. Parking controls in London are set borough by borough, so Bexley 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 at the measuring visit.
Close to Abbey Wood Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone. For families living near Jubilee Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Thamesmead is in the London Borough of Bexley, about 5 miles south of Sidcup. We work across all London boroughs and the City of London, and Thamesmead is part of that. In Bexley, Thamesmead is one of the places we cover.
Every address in SE28, SE2 and DA18 is within our area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Attlee Road, Aisher Road and Carlyle Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. We also cover the places around Thamesmead: Crossness (1 mile south-east), Dagenham Dock (1 mile north-east), Barking Riverside (1 mile north-west), Thames View Estate (2 miles north-west) and Hornchurch Marshes (2 miles north-east). Other parts of Bexley we cover include Sidcup (5 miles south), Welling (3 miles south), Erith (3 miles south-east), Bexley (4 miles south), Belvedere (2 miles south-east) and Northumberland Heath (3 miles south-east).
Near you in Thamesmead
Our area takes in the homes around Harris Garrard Academy, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Abbey Wood station, roughly 1 mile south. Nearby you will also find Gallions Reach Shopping Park (2 miles west) and Greenwich Borough Museum (1.7 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include Crossness Nature Reserve.
Questions from Thamesmead
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Thamesmead?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It is useful to let us know about parking during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Thamesmead?
Yes, Thamesmead is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Bexley and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and talk through the design, and then we send a quote.
Do photos help?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot. You can send them when you message us from the contact page.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
How do I get started?
Simply get in touch through our contact form. Rough sizes and a few photos help, and we’ll arrange a design visit, followed by a written quote.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
Either a spray-painted or a hand-painted finish. Spray painting gives a smooth, factory-like finish, while hand painting suits a softer, traditional look and is simple to touch up. We’ll help you choose at the measuring visit.
Fitting day, step by step
At the end, we tidy up. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you. 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. Fitting day means joining the sections, fitting them to the walls and setting them level. The fixings suit whatever the walls are made of. Saturdays can be arranged.
- 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. Then we go through the design together.
- We send the design, materials and finish in a quote in writing.
- In our workshop the units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a little extra left on the edges that meet the wall.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster.
Before we arrive
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
How to get a quote
The design visit is where every quote starts. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A written quote follows the visit. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Related advice
Also near Thamesmead
Other services in Thamesmead
Materials and finishes
Moisture-resistant MDF
With no grain to show through, MDF keeps the painted surface smooth and even. Moisture-resistant MDF is what we use for fitted work.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood helps shelves stay straight under books. We size the shelf for the span and the load.
How we price alcove units
A few things affect what fitted furniture costs:
- The overall size of the piece
- How many doors and drawers there are
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. Size, the number of doors and drawers and the internal fittings make the biggest difference to the price.
Helping us understand the room
Here’s what helps us most when you get in touch:
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- What the furniture needs to hold
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.