Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove Units in Welling
For homes in Welling, 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.
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Walls too uneven for standard furniture
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Ask about alcove units in Welling
Alcove units in Welling: what you get
Period alcoves are rarely square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope. Each unit is made in our workshop to our measurements and scribed to the walls when we fit it, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. If your home has toys and paperwork with no proper home and room to work in an alcove, that’s what alcove units are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
In a semi from the 1920s or 1930s, the front room typically has a bay at one end and a chimney breast on the side wall. Interwar, semi-detached and detached houses make up a big part of the housing around Welling, so that layout is worth knowing well. Alcove units normally go on the chimney breast wall, leaving the bay clear, though every room is measured first.
Our quotes are written in plain words, without jargon. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Where
- Welling (DA16, DA15, DA6)
- Borough
- Bexley
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Caring for painted furniture
The finish lasts best with a little care. These practical tips help:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
- Think about what you’ll store before we meet
Do not let stored things block the chimney breast vent, even when the cupboards fill up. Air moving through the chimney helps keep damp away, which protects the units too.
Keep heaters and very hot lamps from standing right against the paintwork.
Places near Welling
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How fitting works for alcove units
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made during the design visit and set out in your quote, so fitting day is about putting it in place carefully and leaving the room tidy. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. It’s useful to clear the room and the route before we arrive. Fitting day starts with protecting the floors and setting out the pieces. The pieces are levelled, fitted to the walls and fixed back.
- You get in touch and tell us about the room and the alcoves, and we arrange a design visit at a time that suits you.
- We come to measure the alcoves, look at the walls and agree the design with you, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- Your quote follows, with the design, materials and finish set out.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted finish or for hand painting on site.
- We fit them in your home, scribing them to the walls.
Preparing the room
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
Starting with a design visit
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them give us a good feel for the space, along with rough sizes. To send them over, use our contact form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.
Related advice
Materials and finishes
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF doesn’t have a grain to show through the paint, so a painted finish looks even and calm. We choose the moisture-resistant grade for fitted furniture.
Shelves
How thick a shelf needs to be depends on how wide the alcove is and what it holds. For a wide span or heavy books, we use a thicker shelf, a lip on the front or a support.
Questions from Welling
Can you make alcove units for a home in Welling?
Yes, Welling is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Bexley and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and discuss the design, and then we send a quote.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Welling?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. It helps to let us know about parking during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
Will alcove units fit if my walls aren’t straight?
Yes. Few alcoves in older houses are truly square, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
How do I get a quote?
The first step is to fill in our short enquiry form with a few details about the room. We then arrange a design visit, measure up and send a written quote.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, by prior arrangement. If a Saturday works better for you, say so when you get in touch.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That is your choice. A matching pair balances the chimney breast, but you might want a desk on one side and cupboards on the other. Shared details, like the plinth and paint colour, keep them looking related.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. Some leases need the building owner’s consent for alterations. We cannot give advice on leases, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways not just the room, so each section is sized to get through without a struggle.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Bought units stop at standard heights, so there is often wasted space overhead. We can take a bespoke unit to the ceiling or stop it at the picture rail, depending on the room. Ready-made furniture rarely suits a bay, a box room or a bulkhead over the stairs, and those are common in interwar houses. Built-in pieces are designed to fit them.
How it is painted is part of the price: spray painting is done in the workshop, while hand painting can be done on site. Your choice, along with the size and the fittings, is reflected in the written quote.
Why us?
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- A design visit, then a written quote
- Designed for the room you have
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and how to compare quotes.
Welling homes and alcove units
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 75% of the housing in the area around Welling, with about 9% built between 1945 and 1972, on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Near the centre of Welling, Historic England’s list includes Danson Park Mansion (Grade I), less than half a mile south-east. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, such as fixing into original panelling. Ask the council’s conservation officer before anything is fixed. The Ultra Low Emission Zone has covered all of London since it reached the outer boroughs on 29 August 2023. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Welling, as it does anywhere else in London. We go through parking and access at the design visit.
If you live near Danson Park, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green. Danson House, about 0.4 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For an older house near St John's Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Welling is within the London Borough of Bexley, about 2 miles south of Sidcup. We can visit homes in Welling on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. Across Bexley, we cover Welling, along with the rest of the borough.
Here we cover the DA16, DA15 and DA6 postcode area for alcove units. You will find streets here such as Days Lane, Hook Lane and Lyme Road, and we cover homes on all of them for alcove units. Main roads around Welling include the A207. We also cover the places around Welling: Crook Log (1 mile east), Blendon (1 mile south-east), Upton (1 mile east), Bexleyheath (1 mile east) and West Heath (1 mile north-east). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as Sidcup (2 miles south), Erith (3 miles north-east), Belvedere (3 miles north-east), Northumberland Heath (3 miles east), Lessness Heath (3 miles north-east) and Albany Park (2 miles south). Being one of the larger places in Bexley, Welling is covered for all of our fitted furniture.
Local landmarks in Welling
The streets we cover here include those near Bexley Grammar School and Nags Head pub, among other places. The nearest railway station is Welling station, about 0.5 miles north-west. Other landmarks nearby include Broadway Shopping Centre (1.6 miles east) and Bexley Hospital (0.9 miles east).