Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Islington · London
Alcove units in Upper Holloway, Islington
Alcove units in Upper Holloway: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
- A place for a small desk
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Alcove units for your home in Upper Holloway
Alcove units in Upper Holloway: what you get
A classic layout is a low cupboard with open shelves above. The cupboards take the things you’d rather not see, and the shelves are for books and favourite objects. The cupboard top gives you a ledge for a lamp, a speaker or a plant. Heights are agreed with you to suit the room and your things. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the things people most often want solved are everyday clutter left on show and space for a growing book collection.
Ceilings in homes built before 1919 are often taller than in later houses, and a large share of the homes around Upper Holloway date from then. That gives full-height alcove units room to reach the picture rail or the cornice, so the furniture looks as if it belongs to the house. Where a fireplace has been blocked up, the chimney still needs ventilating, and any damp is sorted before units go in.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If something isn’t quite right, tell us before anything is made.
- Where
- Upper Holloway (N19, N7, N6)
- Borough
- Islington
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Where it’s made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What affects the price in Upper Holloway
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. What affects it comes down to:
- Parking and unloading on your street
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
- How square the room is
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
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.
Before the design visit
The more you can tell us at the start, the better the design visit goes. When you contact us, it’s useful to send:
- What the furniture needs to hold
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- Photos of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
To make a start, message us from the contact page and tell us a little about the room and what you want the furniture to do. From there, we arrange a design visit to measure up and talk through your ideas, and a quote in writing follows.
Places near Upper Holloway
Also in Upper Holloway
Questions we’re often asked
Is parking a problem for fitting in Upper Holloway?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. 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’s useful to let us know about parking at the measuring visit.
My home in Upper Holloway is a period house with walls that aren’t straight. Is that a problem?
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. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Do pictures help?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough measurements. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It’s up to you. Full-height units give the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We will go through what suits your room when we visit.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That is your choice. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but many people put a desk or a TV in one alcove and cupboards in the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
Is the furniture made to order?
It is made at our workshop. Then we bring it to your home and fit it.
Upper Holloway homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Upper Holloway were built before 1919 (about 59%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 16%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Within a mile of the centre of Upper Holloway, 7 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. Much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones run by the boroughs. A van working in Upper Holloway will usually need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension arranged through the council, which often needs notice. Let us know about parking near your home at the measuring visit.
Near listed buildings like Cromwell House, about 0.6 miles north-west of the centre of Upper Holloway, 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. The wider area includes historic houses such as Witanhurst, about 0.9 miles west. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Upper Holloway is about 2 miles south-east of Highbury, within the London Borough of Islington. Whether your home in Upper Holloway is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. Upper Holloway is one of 17 places on our list for Islington.
Design visits and fitting in N19, N7 and N6 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover homes on streets such as Ward Road, Kiver Road and Foxham Road, along with the roads around them, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. Upper Holloway sits close to the A103. If your home is on one of them, tell us during the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. If you are just outside Upper Holloway, we also cover Tufnell Park (1 mile south), Dartmouth Park (1 mile south-west), Highgate (1 mile north-west), Nag's Head (1 mile south-east) and Holloway (1 mile south-east). Elsewhere in Islington, we also cover Highbury (2 miles south-east), Farringdon (3 miles south), Clerkenwell (3 miles south-east), Finsbury (3 miles south-east), St Luke's (3 miles south-east) and Islington (2 miles south-east).
Near you in Upper Holloway
The streets we cover here include those near City of London Academy, Vaughan Williams Memorial Library and The Mother Red Cap pub and the streets around them. Upper Holloway has its own railway station: Upper Holloway station. Nearby you’ll also find Royal Northern Hospital (0.5 miles south-east) and Arsenal Football Club Museum (1.2 miles south-east). Not far away are Parkland Walk and Dartmouth Park Hill.
Why people ask for alcove units in Upper Holloway
A move into an older home is a common reason. New owners want storage that suits the house, and the alcoves are an obvious place to start. It is easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
A few of the things people ask us to solve include:
- Units that sit well with original features
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Space for a growing book collection
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
If you live in a period home close to St Andrew's Whitehall Park, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- A quote in writing that sets out the job
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
When is bespoke worth it?
It’s worth being honest about cost: flat-pack is usually cheaper to buy. Bespoke earns its place where the room is tricky, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. That’s something we plan for in the design.
Practical tips
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. Here are a few tips worth knowing:
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
Painted finishes feel dry quickly but take longer to cure fully. At first, go gently with the new paintwork: lift things onto the shelves rather than sliding them, and don’t scrub the surfaces.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose and adjust a door before a small rub becomes a mark.
How fitting day works
Finishing comes last. With a spray finish from the workshop, there’s normally only filling and touching up to do in the room; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. If your hall still has its original tiles or boards, they’re covered before any carrying starts. Fixings into older walls are made carefully, as lath and plaster can crack if treated roughly. Any decorating around the new pieces is for your decorator.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas.
- At the design visit, we measure both alcoves, check the walls and look at the skirting and picture rail.
- You receive a quote with the design, the materials and the paint finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, each one sized to its own alcove.
- We fit the units, scribe them to the walls and set them level.
How to prepare
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
Starting with a design visit
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and go through the design with you. Afterwards, we send a quote in writing, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, message us from the contact page.