Newham · London
Alcove Units in Newham
Wherever you are in Newham, we can design, make and fit alcove units. We visit, measure and talk it through before we quote.
Alcove Units across Newham
Where we work in Newham
We make cupboards and shelves built into the alcoves beside a chimney breast. Find your neighbourhood in the lists below for local details, or get in touch to arrange a design visit.
Biggest places in Newham
About alcove units in Newham
A capped or blocked chimney should still be ventilated to help keep damp out of the breast. We keep any vent clear when we design alcove units, with nothing covering it. Any damp in the alcoves should be dealt with by the right trade before the units go in so the new furniture starts on a dry wall. Most enquiries start with space for a growing book collection and storage that suits a period room; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
Finishing comes last. 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. Either way, the finish is the one set out in your quote.
- You get in touch with a short description of the alcoves and your ideas.
- We visit to measure, look at how the walls run and note the skirting, picture rail and any vent. We also talk through heights, doors and shelves.
- We send a written quote setting out the layout, materials and finish. If anything needs changing, just tell us.
- The cupboards and shelves are then built in our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- Fitting day: the units go in, are scribed to the alcoves and levelled on a plinth or feet. The finish is sprayed in our workshop or hand-painted on site, as agreed.
How our quotes work
Awkward rooms take more time: uneven walls, sloping floors and angled ceilings all add scribing and cutting on site. That’s reflected in the quote, which we write after seeing the room.
What you get with us
- A design visit, then a written quote
- Saturday work by arrangement
- Made for your room, not a standard size
- More than 300 projects completed
Arranging a design visit
To make a start, tell us about the room on our contact form and tell us which room you have in mind. We then arrange a design visit to measure and talk through the design, and send you a quote in writing afterwards.
Near you in Plaistow
Our area takes in the homes around Newham Sixth Form College, Kaizen Primary School and Memorial Community Church and the streets around them. Other local landmarks include The Service for Deaf and Partially Hearing Children (within half a mile east), Keir Hardie Park (0.9 miles south-west) and The Earl Of Derby Public House (less than half a mile north-west). The nearest railway station is West Ham station, roughly 0.9 miles west. Other landmarks nearby include West Ham United Football Club Museum (0.9 miles north-east) and Stratford Centre (1.6 miles north-west).
Living-room carpentry across Newham
Across Newham, a living room might be a double reception room in a terrace or a single open-plan space in a block. Alcove units can take on either, from a pair of alcoves to a full wall. You choose the colour, and whether it’s sprayed in the workshop or painted by hand.
In Newham, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 37%) and the years since 2000 (about 29%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. The age of a home tells us a lot about its walls, floors and ceilings, and so about how alcove units are fixed and fitted. A quarter or more of the homes in Newham (about 29%) were built since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Newer homes usually have plasterboard stud walls and open-plan rooms, often with no chimney breast, so alcove units are fixed into the studs or stand on the floor. Terraced houses are home to about 31% of households in Newham, according to Census 2021. Many London terraces have a chimney breast and alcoves in the main rooms, which suit alcove units built to their exact widths.
We work across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, and Newham is part of that. Every job starts the same way, with a design visit to measure and talk through the design.
Plaistow: If your home is one of the older houses near Memorial Community Church, picture rails and cornices give alcove units a line to finish at. For families living near Kaizen Primary School, alcove units can be planned with low cupboards for toys and higher shelves for everything else.
The problems alcove units solve
Moving into a period house often prompts it. New owners want storage that suits the house, and the alcoves are the natural place for it. It’s easier to do before the room fills with boxes.
If any of these sound familiar, it is worth getting in touch:
- Room to work in an alcove
- Worn or badly fitted alcove units
- Empty alcoves either side of the chimney breast
- Alcoves that aren’t square
Tips worth knowing
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Decide whether the units stop at the picture rail or run to the ceiling
- Note any vent or air brick on the chimney breast
- Talk to your electrician early if you want new sockets
- Make a rough list of what the cupboards need to hold
Keep a record of the colour. Small marks on a hand-painted finish are easy to touch up, and it is useful to keep a little of the paint.
If a damp patch appears near a unit, look into it early. Damp needs its cause fixing by the right trade.
Could you do it yourself?
If you’re handy, a simple shelf or a standard wardrobe in a square room is a reasonable DIY job. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Cost matters, and it’s fair to say so: flat-pack is usually cheaper to buy. Bespoke earns its place where the room is awkward, space is tight or you want the furniture to look part of the house.
What it is made from
Spray-painted finish
Spraying in the workshop means the units arrive already finished, in the colour agreed with you. Give the paint time to cure fully once fitted.
Plinths and scribe strips
The plinth raises the unit and takes up uneven floors. It can be set to line up with the skirting for a tidy finish.
Made for the room, or bought in a box?
Off-the-shelf units come in the colours the maker chose. We paint ours in the colour you pick, either spray painted in the workshop or hand painted. They can match the walls, the woodwork or neither.
What to check before you book
- Which materials they’ll use, named in the quote
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- How doors and drawers are fitted
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
Your questions about alcove units in Newham
Do you move sockets for alcove units?
Electrical work is not something we do. 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 can plan cut-outs and cable routes in the units around them.
How long will the fitting take?
The time on site depends on how many alcoves there are and how tall the units go, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. The units are made in our workshop first.
What paint finish can I have on alcove units?
You can choose a spray-painted finish from our workshop or a hand-painted finish in your home. Both are in a colour agreed with you. Spraying gives a smooth, even surface, and hand painting is easy to touch up.
Where is the furniture made?
We make it in our workshop, to the design and sizes agreed after the design visit. Then we bring it to your home and fit it.
Do you cover areas outside London?
No. Our work is in London only: every London borough and the City of London.
Can alcove units be fitted to uneven walls?
Yes. Each alcove is measured during the design visit, then the units are made in our workshop and scribed to the walls when we fit them, so there are no tricky gaps.
Should alcove units go up to the ceiling?
It depends on the room and the look you want. Units can stop just under the picture rail or run up to the cornice. The height is settled at the design visit.