Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Redbridge · London
Wanstead Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in Wanstead. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home.
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Room to work in an alcove
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
Alcove units in Wanstead
How we make alcove units for Wanstead
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 Wanstead has alcoves like these, each alcove gets a unit designed for it after we’ve measured them at a design visit. If you are living with worn or badly fitted alcove units and room to work in an alcove, that’s what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
A typical 1930s semi has a bay window at the front and a chimney breast with a recess either side. Around Wanstead, interwar houses, semis and detached homes make up a big part of the housing, so it is a layout worth planning for. We tend to plan alcove units along the chimney breast wall so the bay keeps its light.
If the job needs another trade, such as an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you, so it can be arranged before fitting day. The quote itself covers our work, from the design to the materials and finish.
- Place
- Wanstead (E11, E18)
- Area
- Redbridge
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What we do not do
Damp treatment and building work are for other specialists, and there are a few other limits too:
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can send us a few details through our contact form and we’ll tell you before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
What it’s made from
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
Caring for painted furniture
Getting the most from alcove units starts with the planning and carries on after fitting day. Here are some things worth bearing in mind:
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. At first, go gently with the new paintwork, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Watch for damp marks on the chimney breast or the walls near the units. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade.
Alcove units in Wanstead: local notes
About 33% of the homes in the area around Wanstead went up between 1919 and 1939, and about 28% before 1919, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The National Heritage List has 29 entries within half a mile of the centre of Wanstead. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. About 33% of homes in the streets around Wanstead date from between 1919 and 1939, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Interwar front rooms usually have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, and alcove units are planned around both.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St Mary, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. If you live in a period home close to Wanstead United Reformed Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Wanstead is in the London Borough of Redbridge, about 2 miles north of Woodford. Wanstead is part of the area we cover, and the process is the same everywhere we work. Wanstead is one of 18 places on our list for Redbridge.
Every home in E11 and E18 is within our area for alcove units. We cover homes on streets like High Street, Grove Park and The Avenue, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. Wanstead is near the A1008; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Wanstead: Snaresbrook (1 mile north-west), Redbridge (1 mile east), Bushwood Area of Leytonstone (1 mile south-west), Aldersbrook (1 mile south) and South Woodford (1 mile north). Other parts of Redbridge we cover include Woodford (2 miles north), Ilford (2 miles south-east), Loxford (3 miles south-east), Newbury Park (2 miles east), Gants Hill (2 miles east) and Seven Kings (3 miles east). Wanstead is among the bigger places we cover in Redbridge.
Local landmarks in Wanstead
We fit furniture in homes around Forest School, Wanstead High School and The George pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Leytonstone High Road station, roughly 1.4 miles south-west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Wanstead Hospital (0.5 miles north). For a walk, there is Hollow Pond.
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. Let us know about it when you get in touch.
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. An agent can arrange access for you, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.
Your questions about alcove units in Wanstead
Do you cover homes near Leytonstone High Road station?
Yes, homes across Redbridge and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with some details about the room, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Wanstead?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so 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.
How long are you in the house for the fitting?
It depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. We’ll talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Is it possible to have a desk built into one alcove?
Yes. Many people use one alcove for a desk and the other for cupboards. The desk is planned around the way you work.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room, but it helps to be around at the end.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
Also near Wanstead
What else we make in Wanstead
Fitting day, step by step
Fitting day follows a set order: we protect the floors, bring the sections in, set them level, scribe them to the walls, fix them and finish them. Then the room is tidied and we look over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Loft stairs in an interwar house can be tight, with a low ceiling at the top, so any section going up there is sized for them. The main stairs in houses of that age are typically straighter. Each section is assembled and fixed in the room.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them, and a rough sketch helps if you have one.
- At the design visit, we measure each alcove and go through the layout with you, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- You receive a written quote setting out the units, materials and finish, for you to read through at your own pace.
- Each unit is built in our workshop to the measurements we took, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Before we arrive
- Let us know about any meters, fuse boards or boilers in the area
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
- Empty the space we will be working in
Starting with a design visit
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To start, send us a few details through our contact form.
Related advice
Why people ask for alcove units in Wanstead
Many people ask about alcove units because the alcoves are the most obvious wasted space they have. Standard furniture seldom fits an alcove, leaving gaps at the sides and above. Built-in units use the whole recess from wall to wall.
If you recognise any of these, it’s worth talking to us:
- Units that sit well with original features
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Alcoves that are not square
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
For a family home near Wanstead Church School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
Before you choose who makes it
- Whether you’ll get a quote in writing, not just a figure
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
- Whether the route into your home has been checked