Southwark · London
Wall beds in East Dulwich, Southwark
Fold-down wall beds built into fitted cabinets, for homes in East Dulwich. After a design visit and a written quote, it is made at our workshop and fitted in your home.
- A study that doubles as a spare room
- A hobby room with a bed for guests
- Storage built around a fold-down bed
Wall beds in East Dulwich
Wall beds in East Dulwich
A wall bed needs clear space in front of it to fold down, and that shapes the design. We think about where a chair, rug or desk will go, so the bed can come down without a shuffle. We make wall beds from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and the things people most often want solved are a spare room that’s rarely slept in and more floor space in a studio flat.
In houses built before 1919, a floor can drop noticeably from one side of a room to the other, which matters around East Dulwich, as a large share of homes there date from before 1919. Pieces stand on a levelled plinth or adjustable feet, so the doors line up and the gaps run straight. Where the wall bows, the edge is scribed to follow it.
Everything we agree at the measuring visit goes into the written quote: the layout, what goes inside, the materials used and the finish. If you’d like to change anything, it is easier before the furniture is made.
- Location
- East Dulwich (SE5, SE22, SE15)
- Area
- Southwark
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Weekdays, and Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Fitting day, step by step
When we arrive on fitting day, we start by protecting your floors and the route from the front door to the room. Next, we carry in the sections built in our workshop, a piece at a time. How long fitting takes depends on the bed, the cabinets and the wall it fixes to, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. Where a period house has been split into flats, the way in often goes through shared parts, so neighbours may appreciate a note before fitting day. Each section is sized for the tightest door or turn. Saturday fitting is possible by prior arrangement.
- To begin, tell us about the room on our contact form; a brief note on the room and how often guests stay is plenty.
- We visit to measure up, look at the wall and floor and make sure there is clear space in front to lower the bed.
- You receive a written quote for the wall bed and any storage.
- The bed housing and any shelves or desk are made at our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit the cabinet in your home and fix the mechanism as its maker specifies.
- Before we leave we show you how to lower and lift the bed.
How to prepare
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
Starting with a design visit
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, fill in our short enquiry form and let us know about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Advice
Neighbourhoods near East Dulwich
What else we make in East Dulwich
Questions we’re often asked
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Normally not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can need listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
My house in East Dulwich is Victorian. Can you deal with uneven walls?
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. Older walls can be solid brick or lath and plaster, and the fixings are chosen to suit.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
Someone needs to be there to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room.
Should I send pictures?
Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough sizes. It helps to show radiators, sockets and anything else on the wall.
Is the furniture spray painted or hand painted?
There are two ways to finish it: spray painted or hand painted. A spray finish is smooth and even, while a hand-painted one is easy to touch up later.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
It’s a chance to measure properly and talk through what you’d like. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, and the written quote comes afterwards.
What affects the price in East Dulwich
To work out the quote, we look at:
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Access to the room, like stairs, lifts and narrow halls
- Parking and unloading on your street
The inside of the furniture affects the price as well: drawers take more making than shelves, and each rail, divider or pull-out adds to the work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, and the quote follows.
What we need to know
Before the design visit, it helps us to know about:
- Where you live, with the postcode
- Radiators, sockets, pipes or meters on or near the wall
- The type of home and how the room is reached
- Any ideas or images you have saved
To get a quote for wall beds in East Dulwich, drop us a line using the contact form. Let us know which room it is and roughly what you have in mind, with sizes if you have them. We will arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.
Practical tips
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Look at your lease before fixing to the walls
- Lower and lift the bed steadily
- Clean the cabinet with a soft, damp cloth
- Think about how often the bed will be used
If the bed ever feels different when you lower or lift it, stop using it and get in touch. The mechanism should only be adjusted as its maker allows.
Check how the cabinet will get into the room. Furniture made in a workshop comes in sections sized for stairs, landings and lifts, so let us know about narrow stairs or a small lift.
Fitted bedroom furniture in East Dulwich
Homes built before 1919 make up about 64% of the housing in the area around East Dulwich, with about 12% built between 1945 and 1972, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That matters for wall beds, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. The centre of East Dulwich is within about a quarter of a mile of the Camberwell Grove Conservation Area. Conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. Much of inner London is covered by controlled parking zones run by the boroughs. A van working in East Dulwich will typically need a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension arranged through the council, which often needs notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
If your home is one of the older houses near The Latter Rain Outpouring Revival Church, a bedroom chimney breast and its alcoves often shape where wall beds go. Close to Brunswick Park? A bedroom facing the green is best kept light, with the furniture on the side walls. The wider area includes historic houses such as Kingswood House, about 2.2 miles south. If your own home is a period one, a bedroom chimney breast and its alcoves often shape where wall beds go.
East Dulwich is within the London Borough of Southwark. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, East Dulwich included. We list East Dulwich among 21 places we cover in Southwark.
In SE5, SE22 and SE15, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. Streets in the area include Rye Lane, Wren Road and Adys Road, and we cover homes on all of them for wall beds. East Dulwich is near the A2214 and A2215; on busy main roads, unloading wall beds takes a little planning. Other places close to East Dulwich include Denmark Hill (1 mile north-west), Herne Hill (1 mile south-west), Dulwich Village (1 mile south), Camberwell (1 mile north) and Peckham (1 mile north-east). Other parts of Southwark we cover include Bermondsey (2 miles north), Elephant and Castle (2 miles north), Bankside (3 miles north), Southwark (3 miles north), St George's Fields (3 miles north) and Newington Butts (2 miles north). East Dulwich is among the bigger places we cover in Southwark.
Around East Dulwich
The streets we cover here include those near The Charter School East Dulwich, The Fox on the Hill pub and The Charter School, among other places. East Dulwich has its own railway station: East Dulwich station. Other landmarks nearby include Dulwich Community Hospital (close by, under half a mile south-east) and House of Dreams Museum (under half a mile south-east). Not far away are Centre for Wildlife Gardening and Knight's Hill.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Where bespoke earns its keep is 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.
Long shelves are where off-the-shelf often struggles. How much a shelf bends depends on its span, depth and load, and long runs need a thicker shelf, a lip along the front or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. Each section is sized with that in mind, once we’ve measured the way in.
If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before fixing furniture to the walls. A lease can require consent from the building owner for alterations, and that is best sorted before fitting day. We cannot give advice on leases.