Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Barnet · London
Alcove Units in The Burroughs
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. Our work on alcove units in The Burroughs starts with a design visit, and everything is built in our workshop.
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units for your home in The Burroughs
Alcove units in The Burroughs
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. At the design visit we ask what you plan to keep there, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. Typical reasons to get in touch are somewhere to keep books and records and worn or badly fitted alcove units, and the answer is built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Around The Burroughs, with interwar houses or semis making up much of the housing, the main room is often well proportioned, with a bay, a chimney breast and not many other recesses. That leaves room for alcove units in the alcoves, along a full wall or around the chimney breast, depending on how you use the room. Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood keep the pieces stable, and the paint finish is agreed with you.
The furniture is made at our workshop after you’ve had the quote and decided to go ahead. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so every detail can be checked first.
- Place
- The Burroughs (NW4, NW9, NW11)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job.
Nearby places to The Burroughs
More for homes in The Burroughs
Common questions about alcove units
I live in a flat in The Burroughs. How will the furniture get up the stairs?
At the design visit, we measure the way in not just the room. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It helps to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Do you cover homes near Hendon station?
Yes, homes across Barnet and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can send us a few details through our contact form with some details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That is your choice. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. Shared details, like the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
What affects the price of alcove units?
It depends on the size, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish, along with access and parking. We send a written quote after the design visit.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
That is a job for your electrician. Ideally it is done before fitting so the sockets line up with the design. We then plan cut-outs and cable gaps around them.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. The desk is planned around the way you work.
Fitting day, step by step
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Interwar houses typically have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, though we still measure the route in as well as the room. Alcove units arrive in sections and are assembled in place.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- We send a quote in writing for the units.
- The units are built in our workshop.
- We install the units, set them level and scribe them to the alcoves.
Before we arrive
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Getting a quote
You do not need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit. To get started, message us from the contact page with a few details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Related advice
What it costs
The price for your room depends on:
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- Spray painting or hand painting
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- The width and height of the space
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Before the design visit
There’s no need for exact sizes or plans. It’s enough to send:
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
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. Afterwards, we send a written quote. To book one, message us from the contact page.
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. Mention it when you contact us.
If the property is let, we will need access agreed with the tenants. An agent can arrange access for you.
Living-room carpentry in The Burroughs: local notes
In the streets around The Burroughs, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 45%) and before 1919 (about 20%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. 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 centre of The Burroughs is within about a quarter of a mile of the Hendon The Burroughs Conservation Area. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Purpose-built flats are home to about 42% of households in the neighbourhood around The Burroughs, the 2021 Census shows. 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.
Near listed buildings like Church Farmhouse Museum, less than half a mile north of the centre of The Burroughs, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can need listed building consent. The wider area includes historic houses like Heath Hall, about 2.6 miles east. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Close to Hendon Park? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
The Burroughs is part of the London Borough of Barnet, about 2 miles east of Finchley. Design visits and fitting in The Burroughs can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. The Burroughs is one of the places in Barnet where we make alcove units.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: NW4, NW9 and NW11. Streets in the area include Bell Lane, Eaton Road and Lodge Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Main roads around The Burroughs include the A41. Nearby, we also make alcove units in Hendon (1 mile south-east), Colindale (1 mile west), Brent Cross (1 mile south-east), West Hendon (1 mile south-west) and The Hyde (1 mile south-west). Other parts of Barnet we cover include Finchley (2 miles east), Barnet (4 miles north-east), Burnt Oak (2 miles north-west), East Finchley (2 miles east), Whetstone (4 miles north-east) and Edgware (3 miles north-west).
Near you in The Burroughs
We fit furniture in homes around Brampton College, Kisharon College and The Claddagh Ring pub and the streets around them. The closest station to The Burroughs is Hendon station, about 0.8 miles south-west of the centre. Nearby you’ll also find Brent Cross Shopping Centre (0.8 miles south) and Church Farmhouse Museum (less than half a mile north). Open spaces near The Burroughs include Copthall South Fields.
Boards, parts and paint
Plinths and scribe strips
The plinth raises the unit and takes up uneven floors. Its height can match the skirting board.
Shelves
We set shelf spacing around what you own, from paperbacks to tall art books. A shallower top shelf can keep things within reach.