Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Alcove Units in Tyburn
For homes in Tyburn, we make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- A place for a small desk
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
Need alcove units in Tyburn?
Alcove units in Tyburn
A classic layout is a low cupboard with open shelves above. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, while the shelves hold books and the things you want on show. The top of the cupboard makes a useful surface at a comfortable height. We set the heights to suit the room and what you’ll store. We make alcove units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand, and the things people most often want solved are empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast and space for a growing book collection.
With a large share of homes around Tyburn built before 1919, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. 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. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- Tyburn (W1H, W1U, W1K)
- Area
- Westminster
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
How fitting day works
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and fitting day is where that happens. Walls in older homes are rarely 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 how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Hand painting, if that’s your finish, can follow the fitting.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill.
- We come to measure and talk through cupboards, shelves, heights and doors. If one alcove needs a desk or a TV space, this is when we plan it.
- We put the design, materials and finish into a quote in writing.
- We build the units in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill. Any scribing to the walls is done on the day.
Before we arrive
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
How to get a quote
To make a start, send us a few details through our contact form and let us know which room you have in mind and roughly what you’d like. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a quote in writing follows.
Related advice
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Alcoves vary in depth, and the chimney breast decides how far a unit can come out. Standard cabinets can stand proud of the breast or sit too far back. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want. Standard furniture is drawn for modern rooms, so its proportions can look odd in a tall period room, whereas fitted pieces can pick up the room’s height and mouldings.
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. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, then set it out in the quote.
Why us?
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- We work across all London boroughs
- Every quote follows a design visit
Could you do it yourself?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. In a room with square walls and standard sizes, it can work well.
Built-in living-room furniture in Tyburn
In the streets around Tyburn, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 50%) and the years since 2000 (about 15%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Tyburn is partly covered by the Bayswater Conservation Area, one of the conservation areas recorded by Historic England. 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 you want to be certain, ask the council’s planning team. About 72% of households in the area around Tyburn live in purpose-built flats, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. 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.
Handel Hendrix House, about 0.8 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. If your children go to Hampden Gurney CofE Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. Close to Hyde Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Tyburn is within the City of Westminster, about 1 mile east of City of Westminster. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Tyburn included. In Westminster, Tyburn is one of the places we cover.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: W1H, W1U and W1K. You’ll find streets here like Sussex Square, Oxford Square and Bayswater Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Tyburn is near the A4209; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. If you’re just outside Tyburn, we also cover Connaught Village (1 mile north-west), Hyde Park Estate (1 mile north-west), Paddington (1 mile north-west), City of Westminster (1 mile east) and Paddington Green (1 mile north-west). Elsewhere in Westminster, we also cover Covent Garden (2 miles east), Aldwych (2 miles east), Charing Cross (2 miles east), Adelphi (2 miles east), Clare Market (2 miles east) and Westminster (2 miles south-east).
Around Tyburn
The streets we cover here include those near International Community School, Royal Society of Medicine Library and Ark King Solomon Academy. Tyburn’s nearest station is London Paddington station, about 0.6 miles north-west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Fortius Clinic (0.5 miles north-east) and Harrods (0.9 miles south). Not far away are Serpentine.
Nearby places to Tyburn
More for homes in Tyburn
Questions we’re often asked
My house in Tyburn is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
Does a conservation area in or near Tyburn affect fitted furniture?
Usually not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Should I send photos?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
What happens to the chimney vent when alcove units go in?
Any vent is kept clear in the design. Air moving through a capped chimney helps stop damp. If there’s damp on the breast already, it’s best sorted before fitting.
Pricing alcove units in Tyburn
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- The internal fittings
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- How many doors and drawers there are
Tricky rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That’s reflected in the quote, which we write after seeing the room.
Getting in touch
There’s no need for exact sizes or plans. It’s enough to send:
- How you want to use the space
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
It’s useful to see the room before we come. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space, especially with rough measurements. To send them over, use our contact form, and we will suggest a time for a design visit.
Caring for painted furniture
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Mention parking and access when we visit
- Think about what you’ll store before we meet
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
Make a note of the paint colour used so any touch-ups match. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up, and it helps to keep a little of the paint.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork.