Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Camden · London
Alcove units in West Hampstead, Camden
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, for homes in West Hampstead. After a design visit and a written quote, it’s built in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Alcoves that are wasted space
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units for your home in West Hampstead
Why bespoke in West Hampstead?
Shelves in some flat-pack furniture are thin and can bow under books. Shelves in a bespoke unit are sized for the span and the load, with birch plywood where it’s needed. That said, if you are renting or moving soon, a good off-the-shelf unit may make more sense. Recesses in older houses come in every size except the standard ones, so ready-made units rarely fill them properly. Furniture made for the space fills it.
Every room is priced on its own, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. You will see the figure in your written quote, after the design visit.
Why choose us
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- A design visit, then a written quote
Read bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
About our alcove units in West Hampstead
Some alcoves suit a full-height unit, with doors from floor to ceiling. In a bedroom, it can become a small wardrobe or a linen cupboard. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, and set out the shelves and rails around it. If you’re living with shelving for books and records and toys and paperwork with no proper home, alcove units made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted can solve it.
In streets where so much of the housing went up before 1919, as it did around West Hampstead, the living room is often two rooms knocked through, with a chimney breast in each half. One pair of alcoves might take shelves and the other cupboards, a TV or a desk. Some internal walls in houses of that age are lath and plaster, so fixings are chosen to suit what’s behind the paint.
Where other trades are needed, for instance an electrician to move a socket, we point that out. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- West Hampstead (NW3, NW6, NW2)
- Borough
- Camden
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Materials and finishes
Plinths and scribe strips
A plinth lifts the cupboard off the floor and hides any slope. It can be set to line up with the skirting for a tidy finish.
Moisture-resistant MDF
For alcove units, MDF gives crisp doors and smooth sides. The moisture-resistant grade is a sensible choice next to a chimney breast.
Neighbourhoods near West Hampstead
What else we make in West Hampstead
What happens on fitting day
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details, so it sits neatly against the room. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a period home, the furniture is fitted to walls that are not straight, so there’s some trimming and adjusting on site. Floors are protected, and dust is kept down as far as possible. Parking can be tight on terraced streets, so let us know about permits and bays at the measuring visit.
- 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 quote in writing.
- We build the units in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We bring them to your home and fit them in place.
Preparing the room
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
Arranging a design visit
A quote begins with some details from you: which room it is, rough sizes and a couple of photos if you can take them. To send them, drop us a line using the contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and go through the design, then send a written quote.
Related advice
Living-room carpentry in West Hampstead: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around West Hampstead were built before 1919 (about 63%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 10%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Part of West Hampstead is in the Redington Frognall Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. The council can confirm if you’re not sure. Flats in converted or shared houses account for about 37% of households in the area around West Hampstead, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. Conversions often leave rooms in unusual shapes, with partition walls, boxed-in pipes and chimney breasts in odd places, and the route in may go through a shared hall and stairs. A lease can require consent for alterations, so it is worth checking yours first.
If your children go to Emmanuel Church of England Primary School or a school nearby, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. Fenton House, about 0.5 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St John, 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.
West Hampstead is part of the London Borough of Camden, about 4 miles south-east of St Pancras. We cover West Hampstead as part of our work across Camden. Our work takes in places right across Camden, large and small.
We cover every part of NW3, NW6 and NW2. You’ll find streets here such as Mill Lane, Acol Road and Ajax Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. The A502 run close to West Hampstead, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Fortune Green (1 mile west), Hampstead (1 mile east), Greenhill (1 mile east), Childs Hill (1 mile north-west) and Vale of Health (1 mile north-east). We also make alcove units in nearby places such as St Pancras (4 miles south-east), West End (4 miles south-east), St Giles (4 miles south-east), Seven Dials (4 miles south-east), Holborn (4 miles south-east) and Bloomsbury (3 miles south-east).
Around West Hampstead
Our area takes in the homes around South Hampstead High School, Holly Bush pub and St Anthony's Preparatory School. There’s a railway station in West Hampstead itself: Finchley Road & Frognal station. Other landmarks nearby include Isokon Gallery (1.2 miles east) and New End Hospital (0.5 miles north-east). For a walk, there is Westbere Copse and Parliament Hill.
Looking after your furniture
These points come up often when people plan alcove units. They’re worth knowing before and after fitting:
- Consider whether the units should reach the ceiling
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Measure anything large that must fit inside, such as a record player
To clean painted units, a soft cloth that’s barely damp is enough. Avoid abrasive pads and strong cleaning sprays, which can dull or mark the paint. Wipe it dry when you have finished.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade.
FAQs: alcove units in West Hampstead
My home in West Hampstead is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes, that is normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
My home in West Hampstead is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Do I need planning permission for fitted furniture?
Not normally. Fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission, even in a conservation area. Listed buildings may need listed building consent for works that affect their character, so check with the council first.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
It needs a little planning: ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps avoid condensation and mould. Damp treatment isn’t something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
How long will the fitting take?
How long the fitting takes depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and your quote sets out the fitting days. Most of the making happens in our workshop, so the work in your home is about fitting and finishing.
Do both alcove units have to match?
It’s up to you. Matching units give a balanced, formal look around the chimney breast, but many people put a desk or a TV in one alcove and cupboards in the other. We can keep the details the same so they still look like a pair.
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
In a flat, the route in matters as much as the room. At the design visit, we measure the stairs, the landings, any lift and the doors, so each section is sized to get through without a struggle.
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there’s a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Mention it when you get in touch.