Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Alcove units in Upton, Newham
Alcove units in Upton: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Every piece is made in our workshop and fitted in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Clutter with nowhere to go
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
Alcove units for your home in Upton
What it is made from
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves help brace the unit, while adjustable ones give you room to change things.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying gets an even coat into corners and onto edges and leaves no brush marks. You choose the colour at the design stage.
How we make alcove units for Upton
One alcove can be given over to a desk, with shelves above and a drawer or cupboard below. It is a neat way to work from home without giving up a whole room. Desk height and depth are agreed with you, with a gap or hole planned so cables can reach the sockets. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a desk that tucks into an alcove and everyday clutter left on show.
Rooms in houses from before 1919 tend to have generous ceiling heights, and around Upton, a large share of homes are that age. That gives full-height alcove units room to reach the picture rail or the cornice, with the top line set to match the room’s own mouldings. Blocked fireplaces are common too, and a capped chimney should still be ventilated before anything is built against it.
After the design visit, we send you a quote in writing. It sets out the design we’ve talked through, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- Upton (E7, E13, E15)
- Borough
- Newham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Where other trades come in
We make and fit furniture, and we do not do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Moving sockets or switches, which needs an electrician
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can get in touch through our contact form and we will tell you before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What it is made from
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
- Hand-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
From workshop to your room
Getting everything level comes first. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. If your hall still has its original tiles or boards, they’re covered before any carrying starts. Drilling into lath and plaster is done with care, so the plaster around stays sound. Any decorating around the new pieces is for your decorator.
- To begin, tell us about the room on our contact form; a brief note on the alcoves is plenty.
- At the design visit we measure the alcoves and also the way in: the front door, the hall and any stair turns. It is useful to tell us then about parking, as much of London is in a controlled parking zone.
- We then send a written quote for the units.
- 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.
Before we arrive
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
Arranging a design visit
The design visit is where every quote starts. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and discuss the design with you. A written quote follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Related advice
Questions we’re often asked
My house in Upton is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Forest Gate station?
Yes. We cover all of Newham and the rest of London. To get started, you can fill in our short enquiry form with some details about the room.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
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.
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 talk through the options at the design visit.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That’s 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, such as the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
What affects the cost of alcove units
The price reflects the time and materials the job needs. That depends on:
- The width and height of the space
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- The number of doors and drawers
- Access to the room, like stairs, lifts and narrow halls
Awkward rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That is reflected in the quote, which we write after seeing the room.
Before the design visit
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- The postcode, so we can plan the visit
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
If you know what you want, say so; if you do not, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, send us a few details through our contact form.
Flats, conversions and lettings
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. Lifts sometimes need to be booked, and the lift size helps decide how big each section can be. Mention it when you get in touch.
If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so let us know about it during the design visit.
Also near Upton
Also in Upton
Alcove units in Upton: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the streets around Upton were built before 1919 (about 67%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 14%), 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. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Upton include Church of St Antony and Monastery (Grade II), under half a mile north-west, and Red House (Grade II), less than half a mile north-west. Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside, so works that affect a listed home’s character, like removing original joinery, can need listed building consent. Check with the council’s conservation officer first. Terraced houses are home to about 37% of households in the streets around Upton, according to Census 2021. Terraced houses in London often have alcoves beside a chimney breast, which suit alcove units built to their exact widths.
For an older house near St Peter's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Close to West Ham Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. Valentines Mansion, about 2.8 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Upton is within the London Borough of Newham, about 1 mile south of Plaistow. Upton is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Upton is one of the places in Newham where we make alcove units.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: E7, E13 and E15. If your home is on a street like May Road, West Road and Park Road, or close by, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Upton Park (1 mile south-east), Greengate (1 mile south), West Ham (1 mile south-west), Forest Gate (1 mile north) and Plashet (1 mile east). Elsewhere in Newham, we also cover Canning Town (2 miles south), East Village (2 miles west), Wallend (2 miles east), Three Mills (2 miles south-west), Mill Meads (2 miles south-west) and Custom House (2 miles south).
Around Upton
Our area takes in the homes around St Bonaventure's RC School, St Bonaventure's RC School and Spotted Dog pub, among other places. Upton’s nearest station is Forest Gate station, roughly 0.8 miles north of the centre. Nearby you will also find West Ham United Football Club Museum (0.7 miles south-east) and Queen Mary's Hospital for the East End (1 mile west).