Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Westbourne Green Alcove Units
Cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast, designed for your room in Westbourne Green. We measure, design and quote first, then make it in our workshop and fit it.
- Space for a growing book collection
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
- A desk that tucks into an alcove
Alcove units designed for your room
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before fixing furniture to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, which is worth sorting early. We can’t advise on your lease, so check it yourself or ask your managing agent.
For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf.
Alcove units for homes in Westbourne Green
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Built-in alcove units put that space to work as cupboards and shelving that sit as part of the room. If your home in Westbourne Green has alcoves like these, we design a unit for each one. Typical reasons to get in touch are bowed walls and sloping floors and bare alcoves beside the fireplace; the furniture is made from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
In a house from the Victorian or Edwardian years, the chimney breast tends to survive even when the fireplace itself has been blocked up. That matters around Westbourne Green, as a large share of the homes there were built before 1919. The recesses either side take alcove units scribed to the plaster and cut around the skirting.
A quote in writing follows the design visit. It sets out the design we have talked through, the materials and the finish, so you know exactly what you are getting.
- Where
- Westbourne Green (W2, W9, W11)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it is made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Neighbourhoods near Westbourne Green
Other services in Westbourne Green
Do you need alcove units in Westbourne Green?
Where a fireplace has been blocked up or removed, the chimney breast can look bare. A pair of alcove units frames it and gives the wall a sense of order, whether or not the fireplace is used.
Requests we hear often include:
- Furniture that doesn’t fit the alcove
- Storage that suits a period room
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Toys and paperwork with no proper home
Close to Emslie Horniman's Pleasance? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Before you hire any carpenter
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
Common questions about alcove units
Will a conservation area stop me having alcove units fitted in Westbourne Green?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
Do you make alcove units for homes in Westbourne Green?
Yes, we work across Westminster, Westbourne Green included, and across the rest of London. You can message us from the contact page to arrange a design visit.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room.
How much will my alcove unit cost?
Size, doors and drawers, what goes inside and the finish all affect it. We send a written quote after the design visit.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
We plan alcove units so any chimney vent stays clear. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away, so we never box a vent in.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
That depends on the room and what you’d like to store. In a tall period room, units can stop under the picture rail or the cornice, or run to the ceiling for a built-in look. We agree the height during the design visit.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s often a strip of wasted space at the side or above. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.
The real difference is in the fit: scribed edges, a level base on an uneven floor and furniture that meets the ceiling, skirting and picture rail. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
Materials and finishes
Hand-painted finish
A hand-painted finish suits alcove units in a period room. The colour is agreed with you, and touch-ups are simple if the units get marked later.
Shelves
Shelves can be fixed in place or set on adjustable supports. Fixed shelves add stiffness to the unit, while adjustable ones give you room to change things.
Living-room storage in Westbourne Green
About 67% of the homes in the streets around Westbourne Green went up before 1919, and about 12% between 1973 and 1999, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. The centre of Westbourne Green is within about a quarter of a mile of the Bayswater Conservation Area. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If you are unsure, check with the council before work starts. Purpose-built flats are home to about 59% of households in the streets around Westbourne Green, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Church of St Mary Magdalene, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can need listed building consent. If your home is one of the older houses near St Mary Magdalene, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Westbourne Green is about 2 miles east of City of Westminster, within the City of Westminster. We can visit homes in Westbourne Green on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. Our work takes in places right across Westminster, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
Here we cover the W2, W9 and W11 postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Salem Road, Talbot Road and Harrow Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Main roads around Westbourne Green include the A404 and A4206. If your home is on one of them, tell us at the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Little Venice (1 mile east), Westbourne (1 mile south-west), Maida Vale (1 mile north), Paddington Green (1 mile east) and Paddington (1 mile east). Elsewhere in Westminster, we also cover City of Westminster (2 miles east), Marylebone (2 miles east), Soho (3 miles east), Chinatown (3 miles east), St James's (3 miles east) and Covent Garden (3 miles east).
Near you in Westbourne Green
In Westbourne Green, that includes homes near Maida Vale School, The Bridge House and Abdus Salam Library. Westbourne Green’s nearest station is London Paddington station, roughly 0.5 miles south-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Kensington Arcade (1.4 miles south) and Paddington General Hospital (less than half a mile north-west). Green spaces nearby include Campden Hill and The Long Water.
Fitting day, step by step
Before anything is fixed, we set the furniture level. Floors are often out of level, so adjustable feet or a plinth take up the difference. After that, it’s fixed to the wall using fixings that suit the wall, whether that is solid brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Older London houses often have narrow hallways and tight turns on the stairs, so alcove units are made in sections sized to get through. Floors, stairs and doorways are covered before anything is carried through, and the sections are joined and scribed 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 go through the design, checking how far the walls are out of square.
- We send a quote in writing for the units, for you to read through at your own pace.
- We make the cupboards and shelves in our workshop.
- The units are fitted in your home and scribed to follow the walls. Then we go through the doors and shelves with you.
How to prepare
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
How to get a quote
Getting a quote starts with some details: the room, rough sizes and some pictures if you have them. To send them, drop us a line using the contact form. We will then arrange a design visit and follow it with a written quote.