Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Bromley · London
Alcove units in Widmore, Bromley
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Widmore. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Tired cupboards in the alcoves
Alcove units in Widmore
How we make alcove units for Widmore
Few alcoves in older houses are truly square. Walls bow, corners wander and floors slope. We make each unit in our workshop to the measurements we take, then scribe it on site, so the edges follow the plaster instead of leaving a gap. A plinth or adjustable feet take up any slope in the floor. If you’re living with shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess and cupboards in keeping with an older house, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
London homes run from Victorian terraces and interwar semis to mansion blocks and recent flats, and your home in Widmore could be any one of them. Each brings different walls and floors, so the design of alcove units starts with a look at what you have. A period house may need scribing to bowed walls, while a newer flat may need fixings for plasterboard.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we have agreed. It describes the alcove unit we have designed for the room, its materials and its finish.
- Where
- Widmore (BR1, BR2, BR7)
- Area
- Bromley
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Flats, leases and landlords
For flats on red routes or busy main roads, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so tell us about it at the measuring visit.
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. We choose fixings to suit the wall, after checking the walls during the design visit.
Living-room carpentry in Widmore: local notes
In the neighbourhood around Widmore, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 33%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 25%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. Within a mile of the centre of Widmore, 4 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. The ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) now covers the whole of London, Bromley included. That includes the vans that bring and fit furniture in Widmore. We go through parking and access at the design visit.
Close to Jubilee Country Park? Alcove units can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it. If you live in a period home close to Church of St George, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for alcove units.
Widmore is about 3 miles south-east of Orpington, within the London Borough of Bromley. Wherever you are in Widmore, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. We list Widmore among 49 places we cover in Bromley.
Here we cover the BR1, BR2 and BR7 postcode area for alcove units. Whether you live on a street like Golf Road, The Avenue and Canon Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for alcove units. Close by, we also work in Bickley (1 mile north), Elmstead (1 mile north), Chislehurst (1 mile north-east), Bromley (1 mile west) and Sundridge (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Bromley we cover include Orpington (3 miles south-east), Beckenham (3 miles west), St Mary Cray (3 miles east), Penge (5 miles west), Anerley (5 miles west) and Crystal Palace (5 miles west).
Near you in Widmore
Our area takes in the homes around St George's, Bird In Hand Public House and Holy Trinity College Bromley and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Widmore itself: Bickley station. Well-known places in the area include Bethlem Museum of the Mind (1.5 miles south-west) and The Mall (1.3 miles west). Not far away are Summer Hill.
Your questions about alcove units in Widmore
Do you cover homes near Bickley station?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with a few details about the room.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Widmore?
Yes. We cover all of Bromley and the rest of London, and Widmore is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
How long does it take to fit alcove units?
How long fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Most of the making happens in our workshop.
Do alcove units affect the chimney’s ventilation?
Any vent in the chimney breast is kept clear when we design the units. Even a blocked chimney needs some ventilation to help keep damp away.
How is the price worked out?
Every job is priced for its room: size, internal fittings, the finish and how awkward the walls are all play a part. The written quote follows the design visit.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
We offer spray painting in the workshop and hand painting on site. A sprayed finish is very smooth and even; a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later. We talk through both at the measuring visit.
Also in Widmore
Practical tips
A few practical points help before and after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Move things out of the alcoves so we can measure properly
- Think about what you will store before we meet
Doors can settle a little once the units are in use. Hinges can usually be adjusted to bring a door back in line, which deals with a door that starts to catch.
Use a mat under plants, vases and drinks, since standing water can mark painted shelves. Wipe up spills straight away.
Fitting day, step by step
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. How long the fitting takes depends on the size of the alcoves and what goes in them, and your quote sets out the fitting days. It is useful to clear the room and the route in before fitting day, including anything on the walls near the work. We cover floors and doorways first. Sections are then carried in and assembled.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas, even if the design is only a rough idea so far.
- We visit to measure, look at how the walls run and note the skirting, picture rail and any vent.
- We send a written quote setting out the layout, materials and finish.
- Once you’re happy, the units are built in our workshop, each one sized to its own alcove.
- Fitting day: the units go in, are scribed to the alcoves and levelled on a plinth or feet.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Let us know about parking near your home
Ask for a quote
Getting a quote starts with a few details: which room it is, rough measurements and a couple of photos if you can take them. To send them, fill in our short enquiry form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, then send a quote in writing.
Read more
Could you do it yourself?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there is 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.
What you pay for with bespoke is mainly the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. Off-the-shelf furniture can’t typically do that in an older room.
Do you need alcove units in Widmore?
Some homes already have alcove cupboards, but they’ve seen better days. New units are a chance to rethink how the space works.
If any of these sound familiar, it’s worth getting in touch:
- Standard units leaving gaps at the sides
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- A place for a small desk
- Clutter with nowhere to go
Bromley Palace, about 1.1 miles west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
- Whether the route into your home has been checked