Example photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash, not our project
Enfield · London
Winchmore Hill Alcove Units
We make alcove units in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Winchmore Hill. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Bare alcoves beside the fireplace
- Furniture that does not fit the alcove
Alcove units designed for your room
About our alcove units in Winchmore Hill
We fit alcove units across Enfield and the rest of London. It starts with a design visit, where we measure the alcoves and talk through the design. After that we send a written quote, and once you are happy the units are made in our workshop and fitted in your home. We make alcove units from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and people most often get in touch about alcoves that are wasted space and storage that suits a period room.
If you live in one of the interwar houses or semis around Winchmore Hill, the main room is often well proportioned, with a bay, a chimney breast and not many other recesses. That leaves room for alcove units in the alcoves, along a full wall or around the chimney breast. The carcasses are made from moisture-resistant MDF or birch plywood, painted in a colour agreed with you.
Our quotes are written in plain words. You will see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Winchmore Hill (N21, N13, N9)
- Area
- Enfield
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Contact
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Caring for painted furniture
Getting the most from alcove units starts with the planning and carries on after fitting day. These are worth keeping in mind:
- Think about what you will store before we meet
- Book your electrician first if sockets need moving
- Let us know about stairs, parking and access early
- Bring the sizes of anything that has to fit in the cupboards
Make a note of the paint colour used. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up, and it’s useful to keep a little of the paint.
Now and then, check handles and hinges are still tight, and adjust any door that starts to catch.
Also near Winchmore Hill
Also in Winchmore Hill
Questions from Winchmore Hill
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Winchmore Hill?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit.
I live near Winchmore Hill station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Enfield and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
What happens at the measuring visit?
We measure the room, check how level the walls and floors are and discuss the design with you. Access and parking are worth talking about too, and a quote in writing follows.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
It can be done with some care: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. Damp treatment is not something we do, so any damp needs sorting first.
Who moves the sockets behind the alcove units?
We do not do electrical work. New or moved sockets are a job for your electrician, ideally before fitting, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We plan the units around the sockets, with cut-outs where needed.
Which finishes are there for alcove units?
Either a spray-painted or a hand-painted finish. Spray painting gives a smooth, factory-like finish, while hand painting suits a softer, traditional look and is simple to touch up. We’ll help you choose at the design visit.
What we don’t do
Not everything around alcove units is carpentry, from an electrician to a plumber or a Gas Safe registered engineer. Here is what to bear in mind:
- New sockets or wiring (your electrician handles those)
- Replastering, which is a plasterer’s job
- Decorating the rest of the room
If in doubt, you can get in touch through our contact form and describe the room. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Scribed side panels
- Adjustable shelves
- Panelled or flat doors
Winchmore Hill homes and alcove units
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Winchmore Hill were built between 1919 and 1939 (about 56%) and before 1919 (about 19%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That matters for alcove units, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Part of Winchmore Hill is in a conservation area, going by Historic England’s data. The controls in a conservation area are mostly about the outside of buildings, so furniture fitted inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If in doubt, the council’s planning team can confirm. Strict stopping rules apply on red routes, which TfL runs. Where a home in Winchmore Hill is on or beside a main road, it helps to mention that during the design visit. That way we can plan where to load and unload.
For families living near St. Paul's School, a cupboard for board games and a shelf for reading books can go into the same design. If you live in a flat close to Winchmore Hill 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. If you live near Grovelands Park, shelving that stops short of the window keeps the view of the green.
Winchmore Hill is part of the London Borough of Enfield, about 2 miles south-east of Edmonton. We can visit homes in Winchmore Hill on weekdays, or on a Saturday by arrangement. Winchmore Hill is one of the places in Enfield where we make alcove units.
Here we cover the N21, N13 and N9 postcode area for alcove units. Streets in the area include Farm Road, Arlow Road and Hurst Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for alcove units. If you’re just outside Winchmore Hill, we also cover Bush Hill (1 mile north-east), Bush Hill Park (1 mile north-east), Enfield (1 mile north-east), Enfield Chase (2 miles north) and Edmonton (2 miles south-east). Elsewhere in Enfield, we also cover New Southgate (2 miles south-west), Gordon Hill (2 miles north), Arnos Grove (2 miles south-west), Ponders End (2 miles east), Enfield Highway (3 miles north-east) and Forty Hill (3 miles north-east).
Local landmarks in Winchmore Hill
We fit furniture in homes around Keble Preparatory School, Winchmore School and The Kings Head pub and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Winchmore Hill itself: Winchmore Hill station. A little further out are Museum of Enfield (1.4 miles north-east) and Greentrees Hospital (1.6 miles south).
Flats, conversions and leaseholders
If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, unloading takes some planning. TfL runs the red routes, and the stopping rules are strict, so it is worth raising during the design visit.
If the property is let, we’ll need access agreed with the tenants. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf.
Fitting day, step by step
The last stage of the day is the finish. With a spray finish from the workshop, there is usually only filling and touching up to do in the room; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. Interwar houses usually have a straight run of stairs and a reasonable hallway, but the route in is still measured, not just the room. The furniture comes in sections and is put together where it is going, with floors protected throughout.
- 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.
- You receive a quote with the design, the materials and the paint finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- Once you’re happy, the units are made 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.
Before fitting day
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
Starting with a design visit
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space. To share them, use our contact form, and we’ll arrange a design visit.
Advice
Bespoke alcove units or ready-made?
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. The spaces between doors, windows and radiators are seldom a stock size, so ready-made furniture often ends up in the wrong place. Built-in pieces are planned around those fixed points.
Parking is part of the price picture in London. The boroughs run controlled parking zones across much of the city, so a van may need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension. Tell us about parking during the design visit, so we can plan for it.
Why choose Bespoke Carpentry in Winchmore Hill
- Every quote follows a design visit
- Designed for the room you have
- Made in our workshop, then fitted in your home
- More than 300 projects completed
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.