Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Alcove Units in Tottenham Green
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Tottenham Green. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Shelving for books and records
Ask about alcove units in Tottenham Green
How we make alcove units for Tottenham Green
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that sit as part of the room. Where a room in Tottenham Green has a pair of alcoves, each alcove gets a unit designed for it after we have measured them at a design visit. Typical reasons to get in touch are bare alcoves beside the fireplace and a desk that tucks into an alcove; the furniture is made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around Tottenham Green, plenty of living rooms are two reception rooms knocked into one, each with its own chimney breast. That can mean one pair of alcoves for shelving and the other for low cupboards, with the screen on a chimney breast between. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
The furniture is made in our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- Tottenham Green (N15, N17, N16)
- Borough
- Haringey
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Why people ask for alcove units in Tottenham Green
In bedrooms, the alcoves may be the only place for hanging space. A fitted alcove cupboard holds clothes without filling the floor.
Some of the things we’re asked to solve include:
- Storage that suits a period room
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- Shelving for books and records
If you live in a period home close to Church of Holy Trinity, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- How doors and drawers are fitted
Places near Tottenham Green
Other services in Tottenham Green
Tottenham Green homes and alcove units
Homes built before 1919 make up about 47% of the housing in the streets around Tottenham Green, with about 19% built since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). 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 National Heritage List has 20 entries within half a mile of the centre of Tottenham Green. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. Controlled parking zones are run by the boroughs, so the rules in Haringey are set locally. 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 what the parking is like at the design visit.
The wider area includes historic houses such as Bruce Castle, about 0.9 miles north. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For a family home near Earlsmead Primary School, shelving with deep cupboards below keeps books, games and school things in one place.
Tottenham Green is within the London Borough of Haringey, about 1 mile north of Tottenham. From period terraces to newer flats in Tottenham Green, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. We cover places right across Haringey, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Every address in N15, N17 and N16 is covered for alcove units. You will find streets here such as Ida Road, High Road and Hale Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. Other places close to Tottenham Green include South Tottenham (1 mile south), Seven Sisters (1 mile south), Tottenham Hale (1 mile east), St Ann's (1 mile south-west) and Broadwater Farm (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Haringey we cover include Wood Green (2 miles north-west), Crouch End (2 miles west), Finsbury Park (2 miles south-west), Bowes Park (2 miles north-west), Bounds Green (3 miles north-west) and Hornsey (2 miles west). Being one of the larger places in Haringey, Tottenham Green is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Local landmarks in Tottenham Green
We fit furniture in homes around Church of St Andrew, The Beehive Public House and Ada College and the streets around them. There is a railway station in Tottenham Green itself: Seven Sisters station. Well-known places in the area include Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (0.6 miles south-east) and North Middlesex University Hospital (1.9 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Woodberry Wetlands.
Practical tips
Getting the most from alcove units starts with the planning and carries on after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Clear the alcoves before the design visit if you can
- Check whether there’s a vent in the chimney breast
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
Load the shelves evenly rather than piling weight in the middle. Books weigh more than most people expect, and an even load keeps the shelves straight.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for, so tell us at the measuring visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
What affects the price in Tottenham Green
A few things affect what fitted furniture costs:
- The overall size of the piece
- Parking near your home
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. We’ll talk through what you need inside during the design visit, then set it out in the quote.
What we need to know
Ahead of the design visit, we will normally ask about:
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
A quote begins with some details from you: the room, rough measurements and some photos if you have them. To send them, tell us about the room on our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and go through the design, then send a quote in writing.
What alcove units cannot fix
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. Please bear these in mind too:
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Decorating the rest of the room
If in doubt, you can message us from the contact page and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
FAQs: alcove units in Tottenham Green
I live near Seven Sisters station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Haringey and the rest of London. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Tottenham Green?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Can you build alcove units for alcoves that aren’t square?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so each unit is scribed to the wall on site. A plinth or adjustable feet set it level on a sloping floor.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
Someone needs to let us in. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
We don’t do electrical work. 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.
Fitting day, step by step
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and fitting day is where that happens. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so we scribe the edges by hand to follow the wall, closing the gaps a standard unit would leave. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a period home, the furniture is fitted to walls that aren’t straight, so there is some trimming and adjusting on site. Floors are protected, and dust is kept down as far as possible. Parking can be tight on terraced streets, so let us know about permits and bays during the design visit.
- To begin, tell us about the room on our contact form; a brief note on the alcoves is plenty, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- In our workshop we build the units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, sized so each piece gets up the stairs and round the corners.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls.
How to prepare
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Keep pets in another room while we work
Ask for 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. Afterwards, we send a written quote for you to look over. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.