Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Hounslow · London
Turnham Green Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Turnham Green. We measure, design and quote first, then make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
Alcove units in Turnham Green
Alcove units in Turnham Green: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Turnham Green were built before 1919 (about 56%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 16%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Turnham Green is partly covered by the Chiswick House Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. More than half of the homes in the neighbourhood around Turnham Green (about 56%) were built before 1919, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Most London houses of that age have chimney breasts with an alcove either side in the main rooms, the classic place for alcove units.
Hogarth's House, about 0.2 miles west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place. Near listed buildings like Chiswick House Conservatory, under half a mile west of the centre of Turnham Green, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent. If you live in a flat close to Chiswick station, the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in.
Turnham Green is about 4 miles west of Hounslow, part of the London Borough of Hounslow. Anywhere in Turnham Green, the process is the same: a design visit, a quote in writing, furniture built in our workshop and fitting in your home. Our work takes in places right across Hounslow, large and small.
Design visits and fitting in W4, SW13 and W6 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover homes on streets like Duke Road, Short Road and Binns Road, along with the roads around them, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. If you’re just outside Turnham Green, we also cover Old Chiswick (1 mile east), Chiswick (1 mile north), Grove Park (1 mile south-west), Barnes (1 mile south-east) and Kew (1 mile west). Other parts of Hounslow we cover include Hounslow (4 miles west), Feltham (7 miles west), Brentford (2 miles west), Isleworth (3 miles west), Woodlands (4 miles west) and Lampton (5 miles west).
What’s near Turnham Green
Our area takes in the homes around Polish Library POSK in London, The Swedish School and George and Devonshire pub, among other places. The closest station to Turnham Green is Chiswick station, roughly 0.7 miles south-west. A little further out are Barnes Hospital (1.3 miles south) and Kurdish Museum Library and Archive (0.9 miles north-east). Open spaces near Turnham Green include Duke's Hollow.
Alcove units in Turnham Green
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that sit as part of the room. If your home in Turnham Green has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it. People normally come to us about furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove and a desk that tucks into an alcove; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
A large share of the homes around Turnham Green were built before 1919, and in London most homes of that age are Victorian or Edwardian. Houses of that age normally have a chimney breast in the front and back reception rooms, with an alcove either side, and those alcoves are the natural home for alcove units. Walls are rarely flat, so each piece is scribed to the plaster and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet.
The quote comes in writing, so you can read it at your own pace and share it with anyone else involved. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Turnham Green (W4, SW13, W6)
- Area
- Hounslow
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after fitting day
Painted fitted furniture is easy to look after. These habits help most:
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Let us know about parking and access during the design visit
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
Do not let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away.
Watch for damp marks on the chimney breast or the walls near the units. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade, and it’s easier to deal with before it spreads.
What alcove units can’t fix
As carpenters, we leave some work to other trades. It helps to know these before you plan the job:
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
- Electrical work, such as new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can message us from the contact page and we will tell you. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Adjustable shelves
- Birch plywood
Could you do it yourself?
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: flat-pack is normally cheaper to buy. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is tricky, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
Standard units come in set widths and heights, so there is usually 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.
What happens on fitting day
Every fitting follows the same order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. On fitting day in an older house, the main job is scribing to walls and levelling on floors that slope, so each piece is trimmed and adjusted on site. Floors are protected, and dust is kept down as far as possible. Parking can be tight on terraced streets, so tell us about permits and bays at the measuring visit.
- You get in touch and let us know about the room and the alcoves, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out, for you to read through at your own pace.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls, so they sit tight to the chimney breast.
Before we arrive
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
Starting with a design visit
It is useful to see the room before we come. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them tell us a lot about the space, along with rough measurements. To send them over, get in touch through our contact form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.
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Places near Turnham Green
What else we make in Turnham Green
Flats, blocks and rented homes
If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before fixing furniture to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, and that’s best sorted before fitting day. We cannot give advice on leases.
Mansion blocks and purpose-built blocks often have house rules about lifts, entry systems and when trades can come in. Let us know about them at the design visit, so fitting day is planned around them.
Questions from Turnham Green
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Chiswick station?
Yes, homes across Hounslow and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with some details about the room.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room, though we like to go over the furniture with you at the end.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
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.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
We do not do electrical work. New or moved sockets are a job for your electrician, ideally before fitting. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.