Example photo by Jelezniac Bianca on Unsplash, not our project
Newham · London
Built-in bookshelves in Custom House, Newham
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make built-in bookshelves for homes in Custom House, each designed at a visit to your home.
- Shelving that works with picture rails and cornices
- Shelves deep enough for large books
- A home library or study
Built-in bookshelves designed for your room
How we make built-in bookshelves for Custom House
Shelving near a radiator needs some thought. Heat has to rise and move into the room, so any shelving over or around a radiator is planned with a gap or an open front. Some people prefer to keep the shelves clear of the radiator altogether, or ask their plumber about moving it. Most enquiries start with a bare wall above a doorway and a home library or study, and the answer is made at our workshop from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted.
Many homes around Custom House have been built since 2000, and newer homes tend to have open-plan living rooms with no chimney breast. That means built-in bookshelves often create the structure of the room, framing a screen or running a full wall. Many internal walls in newer homes are plasterboard on timber or metal studs, so fixings go into the studs or use fixings made for the board.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we have agreed. It describes the built-in bookcase we have designed for the room, its materials and its finish, and the workshop works from it.
- Where
- Custom House (E16, E13)
- Borough
- Newham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Materials and finish
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Fitting days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Your questions about built-in bookshelves in Custom House
My home in Custom House is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
We measure the route in along with the room itself: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. Built-in bookshelves are built in our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Custom House?
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. It’s useful to tell us about parking during the design visit, so the day can be planned around it.
Do you do the electrics?
No. Electrical work is not something we do; it is a job for your electrician. We can plan cable routes into the design, and new sockets should be in place before fitting day.
Can bookshelves go around a door?
Yes. A bookcase around a door or window uses the whole wall. The openings are measured when we visit, and we plan the shelves around the architraves.
How long are you in the house for fitting?
It depends on the size of the bookcase and the walls it’s fitted to, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. The bookcase is made at our workshop first.
Should my shelves be fixed or adjustable?
You can have fixed shelves, adjustable ones or a mix. Fixed shelves add stiffness to the bookcase, while adjustable ones let you change the spacing later. Many people choose both.
How we price built-in bookshelves
Prices vary from room to room, for these reasons:
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- The width and height of the space
- Hanging rails, shelves, drawers and other fittings inside
Every room is priced on its own, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. Spray painting and hand painting are different processes, which affects the cost. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
What we need to know
These details help when you get in touch:
- How you want to use the space
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- Your postcode and the borough
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
Every quote follows a design visit. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and go through the design with you, and the written quote comes after. Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. To book a design visit, message us from the contact page.
Materials and finishes
Shelves
Each shelf’s depth suits its job.
Plinths and scribe strips
A plinth lifts the bookcase and takes up an uneven floor. It can line up with the skirting.
Nearby places to Custom House
Other services in Custom House
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
The real difference is in 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 usually do that in an older room.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
From workshop to your room
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site. How long the fitting takes depends on how long and how tall the shelving is, and the fitting days are set out in your quote. Parking at newer developments can be restricted, with private bays or loading areas, so let us know what applies at the design visit. On fitting day, the sections are carried in, assembled and fixed. Saturday fitting is possible by arrangement.
- To begin, send us a few details through our contact form; a brief note on the books and objects you want on show is plenty.
- We visit to measure, check how the wall is built and plan the spans, because long shelves under heavy books need a thicker shelf, a lip or a support.
- You get a written quote for the design, materials and finish.
- The bookcase is built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with shelves stiffened where they span furthest.
- The bookshelves are fitted and fixed securely, with the finish sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand on site.
Before we arrive
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
How to get a quote
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. Each room is different, so we quote after seeing it. To arrange a visit, message us from the contact page.
Related advice
Built-in living-room furniture in Custom House
Homes built since 2000 make up about 64% of the housing in the streets around Custom House, with about 16% built between 1973 and 1999, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Custom House include Warehouse K (Grade II), less than half a mile north-west, and Warehouse W (Grade II), less than half a mile west. Where a home is listed, listed building consent can be needed for inside works that affect its character, like fixing into original panelling. It’s worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. About 74% of households around Custom House live in purpose-built flats, well above the figure for Newham as a whole, about 44%, according to Census 2021. So the route in, from stairs to lifts, is part of the design.
For an older house near St Matthew's Church, the alcoves beside a chimney breast are the natural place for built-in bookshelves. If you live in a flat close to Custom House station, built-in bookshelves 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 Thames Barrier Park, built-in bookshelves can be planned to frame a window with a view rather than block it.
Custom House is part of the London Borough of Newham, about 1 mile north of Plaistow. From period terraces to newer flats in Custom House, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Our Newham coverage includes Custom House.
Design visits and fitting in E16 and E13 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover homes on streets such as Tree Road, Ethel Road and Booth Road, along with the roads around them, whether you want built-in bookshelves or another piece made for the room. Main roads around Custom House include the A1020. If your home is on one of them, tell us during the design visit, as some main roads have strict stopping rules. Nearby, we also make built-in bookshelves in West Silvertown (1 mile south-west), Silvertown (1 mile south), Canning Town (1 mile north), Royal Docks (1 mile east) and Limmo Peninsula (1 mile west). Elsewhere in Newham, we also cover Stratford (3 miles north-west), Forest Gate (3 miles north), East Ham (2 miles north-east), Upton Park (2 miles north), Maryland (3 miles north-west) and Upton (2 miles north).
Near you in Custom House
We fit furniture in homes around Royal Docks Academy, The Connaught Tavern and The Royal Docks Community School and the streets around them. Custom House has its own railway station: Custom House station. Other landmarks nearby include Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital (0.5 miles north-east) and Charlton Athletic Museum (1.5 miles south). Open spaces near Custom House include Gilbert's Pit.
Is bespoke worth it?
Standalone bookcases leave gaps at the top and sides, and on a wall that is not straight the gaps show. Built-in shelves are scribed to the walls and run to the ceiling if you want. Separate ready-made pieces can make an open-plan room feel unplanned, while fitted furniture can give the space structure.
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Several flights of stairs, a small lift or a narrow hall can mean smaller sections and more carrying, and that’s part of the price. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose.
What you get with us
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Over 300 projects completed
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what a quote should include.