Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Havering · London
Alcove units in Wennington, Havering
In Wennington, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. We design your alcove unit at a visit to your home, make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Everyday clutter left on show
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
- Shelving for books and records
Alcove units for your home in Wennington
What affects the price in Wennington
Not every room costs the same, for these reasons:
- Doors and drawers, and how many
- Where a van can park, such as a permit bay or a bay suspension
- The internal fittings
- The width and height of the space
In London, parking can affect the price. Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones, so we may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a suspended bay near your home. Let us know about parking at the measuring visit, so we can plan for it.
What to send when you get in touch
A little information at the start saves time later. Where you can, include:
- Examples of the look you are after
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Your postcode and the borough
To get a quote, get in touch through our contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and a quote in writing follows.
How we make alcove units for Wennington
An alcove can also take a small desk, with shelving overhead and storage underneath. It gives you a place to work without turning a room into an office. We plan the desk height and depth with you, and leave a route for cables to reach the sockets. If you are living with standard units leaving gaps at the sides and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, alcove units made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
In an area like Wennington, where interwar homes or semis make up much of the housing, many living rooms have been opened up to the dining room behind. That leaves a long room with a chimney breast on one side, which suits alcove units along that wall. At the design visit we plan any cable routes and ventilation the room needs, with any new sockets left to your electrician.
Our quotes are written in plain words. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, all taken from the design visit.
- Where
- Wennington (RM13)
- Area
- Havering
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Honest limits
Before you plan the job, it helps to know what we do not do:
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Finding and fixing the cause of damp
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can tell us about the room on our contact form and we’ll tell you. How it works.
Materials and parts
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Panelled or flat doors
- Scribed side panels
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Adjustable shelves
Before and after fitting day
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. Here are some things worth bearing in mind:
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Check whether there is a vent in the chimney breast
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
Do not let stored things block the chimney breast vent. Ventilation helps keep the chimney breast dry, which protects the units too.
Every so often, check that hinges and handles haven’t worked loose and adjust a door before a small rub becomes a mark.
Built-in living-room furniture in Wennington
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Wennington were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 47%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 22%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. Near the centre of Wennington, Historic England’s list includes Church of St Mary and St Peter (Grade II*), under half a mile west, and Lennard Arms Inn (Grade II), under half a mile east. If you live in a listed building, fixing into or taking out original features such as panelling can require listed building consent. The council’s conservation officer is the person to ask before work starts. About 47% of homes in the neighbourhood around Wennington date from between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Interwar front rooms typically have a bay at the front and a chimney breast on the side wall, and alcove units are planned around both.
For a flat near Rainham (Essex) station, it helps to book the lift and tell the concierge before fitting day. If you live in a period home close to St Mary and St Peter's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. Close to Wildspace Conservation Park? Shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Wennington is part of the London Borough of Havering, about 5 miles north of Romford. Anywhere in Wennington, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. We cover places right across Havering, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
In RM13, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Hacton (2 miles north), Upminster Bridge (4 miles north), Hornchurch (4 miles north) and North Ockendon (4 miles north-east). Across the rest of Havering, our area takes in Romford (5 miles north), Gallows Corner (6 miles north), Heath Park (5 miles north), Elm Park (3 miles north), Collier Row (6 miles north) and Upminster (4 miles north).
Near you in Wennington
Around Wennington, we cover homes near The Chafford School, Lennard Arms Inn and Harris Academy Rainham and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Rainham (Essex) station, about 1.4 miles north-west of the centre. Open spaces near Wennington include Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve.
Also near Wennington
Other services in Wennington
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
Bought units stop at standard heights, so there is often wasted space overhead. A bespoke unit can run up to the ceiling or finish just under the picture rail, depending on the room. The spaces between doors, windows and radiators are seldom a stock size, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Built-in pieces are planned around those fixed points.
There’s no price list: each design is priced in writing after we’ve seen the space. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit, so size comes first. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
Why us?
- Designed for the room you have
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
- Work across the whole of London
- A spray or hand-painted finish
Read bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
Questions we’re often asked
Is parking a problem for fitting in Wennington?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Wennington?
Yes, Wennington is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Havering and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and go through the design, and then we send a quote.
How long will the fitting take?
The fitting depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. We will talk you through what fitting day involves before we start.
Can you fit a desk into an alcove?
Yes. A desk in one alcove, with shelves above and storage below, works well in many rooms. Height and depth are agreed with you, with a route left for cables.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Do both alcove units have to match?
It is entirely your choice. Alcoves are often different widths anyway. They can match in style while doing different jobs.
How fitting works for alcove units
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. In a 1930s house with a converted loft, the stairs to the loft room are often steeper than the main flight, so pieces for a loft room are sized for the narrowest point. Elsewhere in the house, the route is normally more generous. Each section is assembled and fixed in the room.
- You send us some details about the alcoves and what you’d like in them.
- We visit to measure the alcoves and discuss the design, noting the skirting, picture rail and any chimney vent.
- We send a quote in writing for the units, 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.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
Ask for a quote
A quote begins with a few details from you: which room it is, rough measurements and a couple of photos if you can take them. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and go through the design, then send a quote in writing.