Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Merton · London
Wimbledon Alcove Units
We make alcove units for homes in Wimbledon, designed around the room you have. Your alcove unit is designed at a visit to your home and built in our workshop.
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Cupboards in keeping with an older house
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
Alcove units for your home in Wimbledon
Built-in living-room furniture in Wimbledon
About 44% of the homes in the area around Wimbledon went up before 1919, and about 18% between 1945 and 1972, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. Within a mile of the centre of Wimbledon, 18 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Around Wimbledon, about 44% of homes date from before 1919, well above the figure for Merton as a whole, about 27%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of alcove units.
For an older house near St. Mark's Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. Close to Cannizaro Park? A room that looks out on trees deserves a design that leaves the window alone.
Wimbledon is in the London Borough of Merton. From period terraces to newer flats in Wimbledon, the furniture is designed around the room as we find it. We list Wimbledon among 20 places we cover in Merton.
Every home in SW19, SW20, SW17 and SW18 is within our area for alcove units. You’ll find streets here such as High Street Mews, High Street and Church Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. The A218 and B235 runs close to Wimbledon; on busy main roads, unloading alcove units takes a little planning. We also cover the places around Wimbledon: Crooked Billet (1 mile west), Wimbledon Park (1 mile north), Wimbledon Chase (1 mile south), Copse Hill (1 mile south-west) and Merton Park (1 mile south-east). Elsewhere in Merton, we also cover Colliers Wood (2 miles east), Morden (2 miles south), Eastfields (3 miles south-east), Merton Abbey (2 miles south-east), Mitcham (3 miles south-east) and Hackbridge (3 miles south-east). Being one of the larger places in Merton, Wimbledon is covered for alcove units and everything else we make.
What’s near Wimbledon
The streets we cover here include those near Dog & Fox pub, Willington School and Bishop Gilpin CofE Primary School and the streets around them. There is a railway station in Wimbledon itself: Wimbledon station. A little further out are Wimbledon Museum (close by, under half a mile west) and Atkinson Morley Hospital (1.2 miles west). For a walk, there’s Henman Hill and Merton Park Green Walks.
About our alcove units in Wimbledon
In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the chimney breast leaves an alcove on either side of it. Alcove units turn that space into cupboards and shelves that look as though they belong there. Where a room in Wimbledon has a pair of alcoves, we design a unit for each one, starting with a design visit to measure. If your home has room to work in an alcove and bare alcoves beside the fireplace, that is what alcove units are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.
Some living rooms in London have tall ceilings and cornices, while others have low, plain ceilings. In Wimbledon, as anywhere, we measure the height as carefully as the width, because it decides how tall alcove units can go. Sections are sized for the stairs and doors on the way in.
Once you’ve read the quote and decided to go ahead, the furniture is made in our workshop. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so you can check every detail beforehand.
- Place
- Wimbledon (SW19, SW20, SW17, SW18)
- Borough
- Merton
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after fitting day
Most of what helps is simple. What we’d suggest:
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
- Have any damp looked at before the units are made
- Let us know about parking and access at the design visit
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
Keep any chimney vent clear once the units are in. Ventilation helps keep the chimney breast dry.
Spread heavy loads and keep the heaviest things on lower shelves. Overloaded shelves are the main cause of sagging, so tell us at the design visit if a shelf will hold something heavy.
Common questions about alcove units
Is Wimbledon in the area you cover for alcove units?
Yes, Wimbledon is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Merton and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, and then we send a quote.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Wimbledon station?
Yes, homes across Merton and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can drop us a line using the contact form to arrange a design visit.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room, though we like to go over the furniture with you at the end.
Can the two alcove units be different?
That’s your choice. 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.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by prior arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
Are alcove units spray painted or hand painted?
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. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
What affects the cost of alcove units
Each piece is designed for one room, so each price is too. What affects it comes down to:
- The internal fittings
- The overall size of the piece
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
Rooms that are not square take more work: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That is reflected in the quote.
Before the design visit
A few details help us understand the job before we visit. It’s useful to include:
- Rough sizes: width, height and depth
- Your postcode and the borough
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Pictures of styles you like, if you have any
The design visit is where every quote starts. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. A quote in writing follows the visit, so you can take your time with it. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Also near Wimbledon
Also in Wimbledon
The problems alcove units solve
Others want a proper home for books, records or a TV. An alcove unit can be shaped around what you own, with shelf heights and depths to suit.
People normally get in touch with us about things like these:
- Shelving for books and records
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Shop-bought shelving that doesn’t fill the recess
- Everyday clutter left on show
The wider area includes historic houses like Southside House, about 1.1 miles south-west. If your own home is a period one, walls that bow and floors that slope are why alcove units are scribed to fit rather than pushed into place.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How they’ll get the furniture into the room
- How they handle walls that are not straight
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
How fitting day works
Fitting day follows a set order: floors are protected, the sections come in, everything is levelled, scribed to the walls, fixed and finished. At the end, we tidy up and go over the work with you. How long the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Before fitting day, we check the route in as well as the room, so alcove units arrive in sections that fit through. We cover floors and doorways on the way in.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- We visit to measure the alcoves top, middle and bottom, and check the floor for level.
- You get a quote in writing for the units, materials and finish.
- The units are made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, leaving a scribing allowance where they meet the walls.
- On fitting day we level the units and scribe the edges so they follow the line of the plaster. Spray-painted units arrive finished; hand-painted ones are painted once fitted.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
Ask for a quote
We quote once we’ve seen the room. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, then send a quote in writing. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Related advice
Is bespoke worth it?
Bespoke furniture isn’t instant: it needs a design visit, a quote and time in the workshop. In return, the unit is planned for your alcove alone, rather than the nearest standard size. Off-the-shelf furniture comes in set sizes, and real rooms rarely match them, which leaves gaps at the sides and wasted space on top. Built-in pieces fill the space they’re made for.
Access to the room makes a difference too. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, and that is part of the price. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit.
What you get with us
- Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Take a look at how bespoke compares with ready-made or what a quote should include.