Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bexley · London
Alcove Units in West Heath
In West Heath, we design alcove units around the room you actually have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and made at our workshop.
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Shop-bought shelving that does not fill the recess
Alcove units for your home in West Heath
Built-in living-room furniture in West Heath
In the area around West Heath, the largest groups of homes date from between 1919 and 1939 (about 73%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 17%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. There is a conservation area within about a quarter of a mile of the centre of West Heath, going by Historic England’s data. Fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission in a conservation area, as the controls are largely about how buildings look from outside. If you want to be certain, ask the council’s planning team. More than half of the homes in the area around West Heath (about 73%) date from between 1919 and 1939, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Houses from the 1920s and 1930s often have a bay window and a chimney breast in the front room, and alcove units are planned around both.
If you live in a flat close to Abbey Wood station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. The wider area includes historic houses like Danson House, about 1.5 miles south. For a period home anywhere nearby, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If your home is one of the older houses near St Andrew's, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
West Heath is part of the London Borough of Bexley, about 3 miles south of Sidcup. We can visit homes in West Heath on weekdays, or on a Saturday by prior arrangement. We cover places right across Bexley, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Postcode districts we cover here for alcove units: DA7, DA16 and SE2. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Hurst Lane, Hadlow Road and Denton Road, for alcove units and any of our other fitted furniture. West Heath sits close to the A206. If your home is on one of them, tell us during the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. We also cover Abbey Wood (1 mile north-west), Crook Log (1 mile south), Lessness Heath (1 mile north-east), Upton (1 mile south) and Bexleyheath (1 mile south-east). Elsewhere in Bexley, we also cover Sidcup (3 miles south), Erith (2 miles east), Bexley (2 miles south), Northumberland Heath (2 miles east), Albany Park (4 miles south) and Bexley Riverside (2 miles east).
Local landmarks in West Heath
Our area takes in the homes around Co-op pub and Welling School. For rail, the closest station is Abbey Wood station, roughly 1 mile north of the centre. A little further out are Bexley Hospital (1.4 miles south) and Broadway Shopping Centre (1.7 miles south-east).
Alcove units for homes in West Heath
Some alcoves suit a full-height unit, with doors from floor to ceiling. In bedrooms, this often becomes a compact wardrobe or a place for bedding, and in a dining room a home for china and glass. We ask what you want to store before we plan the inside, so shelves and rails go where they’re needed. If you’re living with tired cupboards in the alcoves and everyday clutter left on show, that’s what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Plenty of semis and interwar houses have been extended at the back or had the back rooms knocked through, which matters around West Heath, where homes like these are a big part of the housing. In a long knocked-through room, alcove units can run the full length of one wall, or mark out the sitting end from the dining end. New plasterboard in an extension and older brick or block in the original house take different fixings.
The quote comes in writing, so there is time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Location
- West Heath (DA7, DA16, SE2)
- Borough
- Bexley
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: alcove units in West Heath
Can you make alcove units for a home in West Heath?
Yes, West Heath 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, followed by a quote.
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mainly about the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Do alcove units need to reach the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. The height is settled at the design visit.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Most period alcoves are out of square in some way, so we scribe each unit to follow the wall. Adjustable feet or a plinth take care of a floor that slopes.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch, and we will see what we can do.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You don’t need to watch us work, but it helps to be around at the end.
Is bespoke worth it?
A bespoke unit takes longer to arrive than something from a shop: there’s a design visit, a quote and making time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, not the nearest catalogue size. Off-the-shelf units come in set widths, so a run along a wall usually ends with a gap, which fitted furniture avoids. It can also go up to the ceiling rather than stopping short.
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. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Why work with us in West Heath
- Fitted tight to walls that aren’t straight
- Work across the whole of London
- A design visit, then a written quote
- Built around your room
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
Nearby places to West Heath
Other services in West Heath
What it costs
What you pay depends on:
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
- How many doors and drawers there are
- How big the furniture is
The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
What to send when you contact us
Some details help us understand the job before we visit. It is useful to include:
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and discuss the design with you, and the written quote comes after. Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. To book a design visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
What we don’t do
We design, make and fit the furniture. That means:
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Making good damaged walls before fitting
- Redecorating, which is for your decorator
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can tell us about the room on our contact form and we will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Adjustable shelves
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Scribed side panels
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Panelled or flat doors
How fitting works for alcove units
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made at the measuring 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. Interwar houses normally have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. Alcove units arrive in sections and are assembled in place, with floors protected throughout.
- You contact us about the alcoves you want to fill, with a note of the room they’re in.
- A design visit follows, where we measure up and agree the layout with you. 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 written quote.
- The units are built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. A spray-painted finish is applied there too, if that’s what you chose.
- The units are fitted in your home, ready to fill.
Before we arrive
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Keep pets out of the room and the hallway
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
Getting a quote
If you know what you want, say so; if you don’t, that is fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To arrange a visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Advice
How it’s made
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish often suits alcove units in older houses. You choose the colour, and touch-ups are simple if the units get marked later.
Spray-painted finish
Spraying gets an even coat into corners and onto edges, which suits panelled doors. You choose the colour at the design stage.