Kensington and Chelsea · London
Alcove Units in Kensington and Chelsea
Alcove units for homes across Kensington and Chelsea, from the largest neighbourhoods to the smallest streets, made in our workshop and fitted in your home, and fitting on weekdays or Saturdays by arrangement.
Alcove Units in Kensington and Chelsea
Alcove units across Kensington and Chelsea
What it covers: cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. The lists below link to a page for each place.
Main places
More for homes in Kensington and Chelsea
- Fitted cupboards
- Fitted wardrobes
- Walk-in wardrobes
- Fitted home offices
- TV and media units
- Bespoke kitchens
- Under-stairs storage
- Window seats
- Wall beds
- Loft storage
- Built-in bookshelves
Postcodes in Kensington and Chelsea
How we make alcove units for Kensington and Chelsea
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 sit as part of the room. Where a room in Kensington and Chelsea has a pair of alcoves, we design a unit for each one, starting with a design visit to measure. 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 somewhere to keep books and records and units that sit well with original features.
At the end, we tidy up and lift the floor protection. Before we leave, we go over the finished piece together and answer any questions. The time the fitting takes depends on the size and number of units, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote.
- You get in touch and describe the alcoves you want to fill.
- At the design visit we measure each alcove at several heights, because period walls are rarely flat or square.
- You get a quote in writing for the units, materials and finish.
- In our workshop the units are made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a little extra left on the edges that meet the wall.
- At fitting, we set each unit level on a plinth or feet and trim that edge to follow the wall.
Quotes in Kensington and Chelsea
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. Bigger pieces use more board and take longer to make and fit. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
Why work with us
- A spray or hand-painted finish
- Saturday visits and fitting by arrangement
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Every London borough and the City of London covered
Ask for a quote
The quote is built from the design visit. We measure the room properly, check how the walls and floors run and talk through the design with you. A written quote follows the visit for you to look over. To arrange the visit, tell us about the room on our contact form.
Landmarks near Kensington
Around Kensington, we cover homes near Holland Park School, St Barnabas and St Philip's CofE Primary School and Abdus Salam Library and the streets around them. Other local landmarks include Kensington School (0.5 miles east), Scarsdale Tavern (within half a mile south-east), Church of St Barnabas (under half a mile west) and Holland Park (a few minutes’ walk north-west). There is a railway station in Kensington itself: Kensington Olympia station. A little further out are Kensington Arcade (within half a mile east) and St Mary Abbot's Hospital (0.5 miles east). Open spaces near Kensington include The Long Water and Campden Hill.
Living-room carpentry across Kensington and Chelsea
If you’re in one of the older streets of Kensington and Chelsea, expect walls that lean and floors that dip, and alcove units are scribed to them on site. In newer homes across Kensington and Chelsea, the challenge is more often a plasterboard wall, which needs the right fixings.
The biggest shares of homes in Kensington and Chelsea were built before 1919 (about 66%) and between 1973 and 1999 (about 10%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). For carpentry, the era of a house is a useful clue to how square its rooms are and what its walls are made of. About 66% of homes in Kensington and Chelsea were built before 1919, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Most London houses of that age have chimney breasts with an alcove either side in the main rooms, the classic place for alcove units, scribed to walls that are rarely straight. Flats in converted or shared houses account for about 25% of households in Kensington and Chelsea, based on Census 2021. Conversions often leave rooms in unusual shapes, with partition walls, boxed-in pipes and chimney breasts in odd places, and the route in may go through a shared hall and stairs. If your flat is leasehold, check your lease before anything is fixed to the walls.
We cover the whole of London, so homes in Kensington and Chelsea are well within our area. Let us know about access and parking when you first get in touch.
Kensington: If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like The Tower House, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. Leighton House, about 0.1 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Alcoves vary in depth, and the chimney breast decides how far a unit can come out. A shop-bought cabinet may stick out past the chimney breast or leave a deep gap behind it. Bespoke units are made to the depth you want, flush with the chimney breast or set back from it.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
- Do they scribe the furniture to the walls?
- Whether you will get a written quote, not just a figure
Where other trades come in
It is useful to know what’s outside our work before you plan:
- Electrical work, like new sockets or switches, which is for your electrician
- Decorating the rest of the room
- Plastering or repairing loose plaster in the alcoves
Flats, blocks and rented homes
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. Fixings are chosen to suit whatever the wall is made of.
Many London terraces have been converted into flats, and that often means a shared hallway and a tight turn on the stairs. We plan the size of each section around it.
Caring for painted furniture
The finish lasts best with a little care. Here are our suggestions:
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Make the alcoves easy to reach for measuring
- Sort out damp patches before fitting
- Look for a chimney vent that needs to stay clear
Keep a record of the colour for future touch-ups. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade, and it is easier to deal with before it spreads.
Why people ask for alcove units in Kensington and Chelsea
For some, it is about books, records or a TV. An alcove unit can be shaped around what you own, with shelf heights and depths to suit.
Most of the enquiries we get are about things like these:
- Somewhere to keep books and records
- Alcoves that aren’t square
- Everyday clutter left on show
- Room to work in an alcove
Your questions about alcove units in Kensington and Chelsea
How do I get a quote?
Just send us a few details through our contact form. Rough measurements and a few pictures help, and then we arrange a visit to measure and discuss the design, followed by a quote in writing.
Do you work outside London?
No. Our work is in London only: every London borough and the City of London.
How tall should alcove units be?
It is up to you. Some people take the units right to the ceiling for the most storage, while a low cupboard with shelves above keeps the room feeling lighter. We go through the options during the design visit.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
We don’t do electrical work. If you want sockets moved or added, your electrician should do that before we fit, and some electrical work in homes is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations. We can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
What happens during the design visit?
We measure the space and discuss the design, materials and finish. We look at the walls, floors and anything the furniture has to work around, and the written quote comes afterwards.
Can you make alcove units for a home in Kensington and Chelsea?
Yes. We work across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, and that includes Kensington and Chelsea.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Let us know when you first get in touch.