Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Westminster · London
Alcove Units in Westbourne
Alcove units for your home in Westbourne: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Each piece is designed at a visit to your home, made at our workshop and fitted by us.
- Storage that suits a period room
- Room to work in an alcove
- Alcoves that are not square
Alcove units in Westbourne
Fitting day, step by step
When the fitting is done, we tidy the room and take up the floor coverings. Before we go, we look over the finished furniture with you and answer any questions. 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. In houses converted into flats, the route in may include a shared hall and stairs, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. The sections are sized for the narrowest point on the route. Saturdays can be arranged.
- To begin, use our contact form; a brief note on the room and the alcoves is enough, and mention if you live in a flat or up a few flights of stairs.
- We visit to measure the alcoves, talk through the design and check the route from the street to the room.
- Your written quote sets out the design, materials and finish.
- In our workshop we build the units from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, sized so each piece gets up the stairs and round the corners.
- We carry the sections in, assemble them in the alcoves and scribe them to the walls. A spray-painted finish arrives done; a hand-painted one is applied once the units are in.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician in advance
Getting a quote
If you know what you want, say so; if you do not, that’s fine, and we can work it out together. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To arrange a visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Related advice
How we make alcove units for Westbourne
Alcove units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, each used where it works best. MDF suits doors and panels because it paints so evenly, while birch plywood is strong and holds screws well. You can have a spray-painted finish from the workshop or a hand-painted one done on site, in the colour you choose. People usually come to us about somewhere to keep books and records and toys and paperwork with no proper home; the furniture is made from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Solid brick external walls are standard in Victorian and Edwardian houses, while the walls inside can be brick or lath and plaster. With so many homes around Westbourne built before 1919, the wall type is checked before any fixing for alcove units is chosen. Lath and plaster in particular needs fixings chosen for it, particularly behind loaded shelves.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, what it’s made from and how it is finished, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Location
- Westbourne (W2, W11, W9)
- Borough
- Westminster
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Why bespoke in Westbourne?
A bespoke unit takes longer to arrive than something from a shop: it needs a design visit, a quote and time in the workshop. What you get is a unit planned for your alcove, rather than the nearest standard size. Standard units assume square rooms, and period homes seldom have them, so it leaves gaps at the wall, tilts on sloping floors or sits awkwardly against skirting and picture rails. Fitted furniture is scribed to the wall instead.
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
Why us?
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- Designed for the room you have
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or how to compare quotes.
When you need someone else
Our work is the furniture itself: designing it, making it in our workshop and fitting it. That means:
- Any structural work on the chimney breast
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Curing damp, which needs the right specialist
If you’re not sure what’s possible in your room, you can send us a few details through our contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
Common questions about alcove units
My home in Westbourne is a period house with walls that are not straight. Is that a problem?
Yes. Walls in older houses are rarely flat or square, and floors are often out of level, so each piece is scribed to follow the wall and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Westbourne?
It can be: much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the measuring visit.
Can I send pictures ahead of the visit?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form.
Should alcove units go up to 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.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
There are two options: a spray-painted finish done in our workshop, or a hand-painted finish done on site. Either way, the colour is agreed with you. Spray painting is smooth and even, while hand painting is easy to touch up.
Should both alcoves have the same units?
It is entirely your choice. The two alcoves are often slightly different sizes. They can share a style while doing different things.
Boards, parts and paint
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF does not have a grain to show through the paint, so a painted finish looks even and calm. We choose the moisture-resistant grade for fitted furniture.
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting lets the colour be judged in the room itself. Scribed edges and joins are painted along with the rest.
Looking after your furniture
Painted fitted furniture is easy to look after with a little care. These habits help most:
- Deal with any damp on the chimney breast first
- Note the sizes of large things you want to store
- Decide what goes behind doors and what goes on show
- Plan any new sockets with your electrician before fitting
Paint is dry to the touch well before it has fully cured. For the first while, treat the units gently, lifting things rather than sliding them and avoiding any scrubbing.
Put the heaviest books and objects low down and spread the weight. Most sagging comes from shelves carrying more than they were planned for.
Places near Westbourne
More for homes in Westbourne
Living-room carpentry in Westbourne: local notes
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Westbourne were built before 1919 (about 59%) and between 1945 and 1972 (about 14%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. The National Heritage List has 169 entries within half a mile of the centre of Westbourne. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and alcove units can be designed to work around them. About 25% of households in the streets around Westbourne live in flats in converted or shared houses, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. 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.
If you live in a flat close to London Paddington station, alcove units are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. For an older house near St Stephen's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units. If you live near Emslie Horniman's Pleasance, alcove units can be arranged to keep the window and the light clear.
Westbourne is within the City of Westminster, about 2 miles east of City of Westminster. We cover Westbourne as part of our work across Westminster. We list Westbourne among 29 places we cover in Westminster.
In W2, W11 and W9, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. If your home is on a street like Salem Road, Acklam Road and Morgan Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for alcove units. The A404 and A4206 run close to Westbourne, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. Neighbouring places we cover for alcove units include Westbourne Green (1 mile north-east), Bayswater (1 mile south), Little Venice (1 mile north-east), Maida Vale (1 mile north) and Paddington Green (1 mile east). Across the rest of Westminster, our area takes in 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).
Landmarks near Westbourne
Our area takes in the homes around Abdus Salam Library, Maida Vale School and Westminster Academy, among other places. For rail, the closest station is London Paddington station, roughly 0.8 miles east of the centre. A little further out are Kensington Arcade (1.1 miles south) and Paddington General Hospital (0.5 miles north). Open spaces near Westbourne include The Long Water and Greville Place nature reserve.