Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Wandsworth · London
Alcove units in Wandsworth
We make alcove units for homes in Wandsworth, designed around the room you have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Bowed walls and sloping floors
Alcove units designed for your room
Alcove units in Wandsworth: what you get
Most Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses have a chimney breast in the main rooms, with an alcove on each side. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. If your home in Wandsworth has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it after we’ve measured them at a design visit. Most enquiries start with units that sit well with original features and bare alcoves beside the fireplace; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
Older houses tend to come with picture rails, tall skirtings and cornices, and they set the lines that alcove units have to meet. A large share of the housing around Wandsworth went up before 1919, so those details are worth looking at closely at the measuring visit. The top of the furniture can stop at the picture rail or carry on to the cornice, whichever suits the room.
The written quote puts the design visit in writing: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it is easier before the furniture is made.
- Location
- Wandsworth (SW18, SW15, SW11)
- Area
- Wandsworth
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Living-room storage in Wandsworth
In the neighbourhood around Wandsworth, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 49%) and the years since 2000 (about 27%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 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 centre of Wandsworth is within about a quarter of a mile of the Wandsworth Town Conservation Area. Planning controls in conservation areas are mainly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitting furniture inside a house does not normally need permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. About 42% of households in the neighbourhood around Wandsworth live in purpose-built flats, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. 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.
For families living near St Anne's CofE Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else. Near listed buildings like Church of St Anne, less than half a mile east of the centre of Wandsworth, 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.
Wandsworth is about 1 mile north-east of Clapham Junction, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. We can visit homes in Wandsworth on weekdays, or on a Saturday by prior arrangement. We cover places right across the rest of London, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We make alcove units across SW18, SW15 and SW11. If your home is on a street like Alma Road, Marl Road and Knoll Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. We also cover the places around Wandsworth: Southfields (1 mile south), Earlsfield (1 mile south), Hurlingham (1 mile north), Clapham Junction (1 mile north-east) and Battersea (1 mile north-east). Across the rest of the rest of London, our area takes in Tooting (2 miles south-east), Tooting Bec (2 miles south-east), Balham (2 miles south-east), Furzedown (3 miles south-east), Streatham Park (3 miles south-east) and Roehampton (2 miles west).
Landmarks near Wandsworth
In Wandsworth, that includes homes near Emanuel School, Spread Eagle pub and Ashcroft Technology Academy and the streets around them. Wandsworth has its own railway station: Wandsworth Town station. Nearby you will also find Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability (1 mile west) and Southside Wandsworth (less than half a mile west).
Why people ask for alcove units in Wandsworth
A busy family living room is another reason. Toys, games, post and chargers all need a home, and cupboards with doors keep them out of sight. Open shelves above are left for the things you like to see.
Common reasons to get in touch include:
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Space for a growing book collection
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
If you live in a flat close to Wandsworth Town station, the route in is measured not just the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Before you choose who makes it
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- Who does any electrics, plumbing or gas work
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- How parking will work on your street
Also near Wandsworth
Other services in Wandsworth
What happens on fitting day
However carefully a piece is made in the workshop, it still has to meet the room, and that happens on fitting day. Few walls in older London homes are truly flat or square, so each edge that meets a wall is scribed to follow it, until the line is tight. How long the fitting itself takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so alcove units are made in sections sized to get through. Floors and stair carpets are protected on the way in and out, and the sections are joined and scribed in the room.
- 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 written quote.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill.
How to prepare
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
How to get a quote
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. To send them over, drop us a line using the contact form, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Advice
Flats, blocks and rented homes
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so each section is sized to get through.
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. An agent can arrange access for you.
Your questions about alcove units in Wandsworth
My home in Wandsworth is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. We also work around skirting boards, picture rails and cornices. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Is Wandsworth in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Wandsworth is within the area we cover, which takes in all of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and talk through the design, and then we send a quote.
Do I need planning permission for fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation areas mostly control changes to the outside, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.
Should I send photos?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, especially with rough sizes. To send them, message us from the contact page.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
Electrical work isn’t something we do. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
Do both alcove units have to match?
That depends on how you use the room. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes, so each unit is made for its own recess. They can share a style while doing different things.
How we price alcove units
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- The number of doors and drawers
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit, so size is the starting point. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
What to send when you get in touch
These details help when you get in touch:
- Whether it is a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Rough sizes, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
- What you’d like to store or use the space for
- Where you live, with the postcode
The quote is built from the design visit. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A quote in writing follows the visit for you to look over. To arrange the visit, use our contact form.
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. 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. We design shelves with that in mind.
The real difference is in the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. Off-the-shelf furniture cannot normally do that in an older room.