Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Haringey · London
Alcove units in West Green, Haringey
We make alcove units for homes in West Green, 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.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Everyday clutter left on show
Alcove units for your home in West Green
Alcove units in West Green
In a tall room, a full-height alcove cupboard holds a great deal. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding, while in a dining room it can keep china, glass and table linen. At the design visit we ask what you plan to keep there, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. If you’re living with storage that suits a period room and room to work in an alcove, alcove units made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
Rooms in houses from before 1919 tend to have generous ceiling heights, and a large share of the homes around West Green date from then. Full-height alcove units can run up to 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.
The furniture is made at our workshop after you have had the quote and decided to go ahead. It describes the design, the materials and the finish agreed at the visit, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- West Green (N15, N17, N4)
- Area
- Haringey
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Built-in living-room furniture in West Green
Homes built before 1919 make up about 61% of the housing in the area around West Green, with about 14% built between 1945 and 1972, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. 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 records 8 entries within half a mile of the centre of West Green. Being near listed buildings doesn’t make a home listed, and you can check any address on Historic England’s list. Flats in converted or shared houses account for about 24% of households in the area around West Green, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. In a converted house, rooms can be odd shapes, with new partitions meeting old walls, and the route in may go through a shared hall and stairs. If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before anything is fixed to the walls.
Living in a block of flats near Seven Sisters station? Then the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in. Close to Downhills Park? Alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
West Green is about 1 mile north-east of Tottenham, in the London Borough of Haringey. Homes in West Green are part of the area we cover for alcove units, as part of our work in every London borough. West Green is one of 23 places on our list for Haringey.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: N15, N17 and N4. Our area takes in homes on streets like Ida Road, Elmar Road and Ripon Road, whether you want alcove units or another piece made for the room. We also cover Duckett's Green (1 mile north-west), St Ann's (1 mile south-east), Harringay (1 mile south-west), Broadwater Farm (1 mile north-east) and Tottenham Green (1 mile east). Other parts of Haringey we cover include Crouch End (2 miles west), Bounds Green (2 miles north-west), Highgate (3 miles south-west), Muswell Hill (2 miles west), Fortis Green (3 miles west) and Northumberland Park (2 miles north-east).
Around West Green
Around West Green, we cover homes near Moselle Upper School, Church of St Andrew and The Queens Head pub and the streets around them. West Green’s nearest station is Seven Sisters station, roughly 0.7 miles east. Other landmarks nearby include Markfield Beam Engine and Museum (1.3 miles east) and The Mall Wood Green (1 mile north-west). Not far away are Railway Fields.
What alcove units cannot fix
We do not treat damp or carry out building work, so these points are worth knowing:
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Removing or altering a chimney breast, which is structural work
- Treating damp in the chimney breast or walls
Not sure whether your space suits alcove units? You can get in touch through our contact form and we’ll tell you. Our process from visit to fitting.
Materials and parts
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
From workshop to your room
With the carcasses fixed and level, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. We adjust each one so the gaps line up and it closes cleanly. How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. On fitting day, edges are trimmed on site to follow the walls, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. We keep dust down and tidy as we go. Hand painting, if that’s your finish, can follow the fitting.
- It starts with a short message from you about the alcoves.
- At the design visit we measure up, agree the layout and talk about colour and finish. You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted one done in your home.
- A written quote follows, with the finish written in alongside the design and materials.
- We make the units in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF, which takes paint well, and birch plywood.
- The units are fitted and scribed to the alcoves.
- New paintwork takes a while to cure fully, so treat the surfaces gently at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Tell us about parking near your home
- Get any new sockets or wiring done by your electrician before fitting day
Getting a quote
To get a quote, tell us about the room on 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 talk through the design, and a written quote follows.
Advice
Places near West Green
Also in West Green
Common questions about alcove units
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Seven Sisters station?
Yes. We cover all of Haringey and the rest of London. To get started, you can tell us about the room on our contact form with a few details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Does a conservation area in or near West Green affect fitted furniture?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, changes inside that alter its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need someone to let us in. It is good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Your electrician handles sockets and wiring. Ideally it’s done before fitting, and we can tell you where the units will sit so the sockets end up in the right place. The units are made with cut-outs and cable gaps to suit.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
That’s your choice. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while others stop them at the picture rail or leave open shelves above a low cupboard. We discuss the options during the design visit.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, by arrangement. Tell us when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.
What affects the price in West Green
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. These are the things that affect it:
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How square the room is
- How easy it is to get the furniture into the room
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
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. Doors, drawers, internal fittings and the finish make up most of the rest.
What we need to know
What helps most when you first contact us:
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- Whether it is a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Pictures showing the full wall, from floor to ceiling
- What the furniture needs to hold
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 written quote follows the visit for you to look over. To book one, send us a few details through our contact form.
How it is made
Plinths and scribe strips
Most alcoves need scribing on both sides and sometimes at the top. It is the difference between a unit that sits in the alcove and one that belongs there.
Moisture-resistant MDF
Moisture-resistant MDF is stable and takes paint well, which makes it our choice for doors and visible panels. It’s a good match for alcoves on an external wall.
Do you need alcove units in West Green?
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 is worth talking to us:
- Alcoves that are not square
- Shelving for books and records
- Old alcove cupboards that have seen better days
- A place for a small desk
Near listed buildings like Parish Church of St Ann, less than half a mile south-east of the centre of West Green, older homes may keep original joinery that alcove units can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can need listed building consent.
What to check before you book
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote