Alcove wardrobes, built into the house.

01 The London alcove

Why alcoves need made-to-measure.

Almost every Victorian and Edwardian house in London has them: two recesses either side of the chimney breast, in the bedrooms and the living room. They are perfect for storage — and almost impossible to fill with anything off the shelf.

No two alcoves are the same width, even in the same room. The walls lean, the corners are rarely square, the skirting and picture rail get in the way, and the ceiling is often higher than any standard wardrobe. Freestanding furniture leaves gaps on every side.

A fitted alcove wardrobe is built for the recess. We measure at several heights, then make the carcass to fit and scribe the side panels to the exact line of the wall, so it looks as though it was built with the house. Taken to the ceiling, the pair of alcoves either side of a chimney breast can hold as much as a full wall wardrobe.

The same approach works in living rooms, with cupboards below and shelving above — a classic look in period homes.

Alcoves are deep enough for clothes in some houses and surprisingly shallow in others. The interior is planned around the depth you actually have.

Deep alcoves

Where the recess is around 550–600 mm deep, clothes hang across the wardrobe on a normal rail. A typical layout has double hanging for shirts on one side, long hanging on the other, drawers below and a top cupboard to the ceiling.

Shallow alcoves

This is very common in London terraces. Many London alcoves are only 350–450 mm deep. Here clothes hang front to back on pull-out rails, which slide out like drawers. Shelves and drawers work at any depth, so a shallow alcove can still be a very useful wardrobe for everyday clothes.

High ceilings

In rooms over three metres high, a pull-down rail brings clothes to arm’s height, and the space above holds the things you need only once or twice a year.

Sharing the two sides

In a shared bedroom, each person often gets one alcove. The interiors can differ — more hanging on one side, more drawers on the other — while the doors match.

The two alcoves either side of a chimney breast are almost never the same size. Planning them as a pair is what makes the finished room look right.

Making unequal alcoves look equal

If one alcove is a few centimetres wider than the other, the doors, shelves and drawer lines are designed so they line up across the chimney breast. The difference is absorbed in the side panels, where nobody sees it.

Different uses, one design

One side can be a wardrobe and the other a desk, or one side closed and the other open shelving. Matching the heights of the lower cupboards and the top line keeps the room balanced even when the uses differ.

Fireplaces

If the fireplace is still in use, the units need to keep a safe distance from it and from the hearth. Tell us at the measure whether the fire is working, and check any requirements with your fireplace installer.

Televisions and cables

With a TV on the chimney breast, equipment goes in one of the lower cupboards with cable routes planned through the units, so nothing is left hanging on the wall.

Open shelves in alcoves are often loaded with books, which are heavier than almost anything else you store. A sagging shelf is the first sign of a poorly planned unit.

• Span. The wider the alcove, the more a shelf can bend under weight. In wide alcoves, shelves are supported or divided so they stay flat.
• Spacing. Around 30–35 cm between shelves suits most books; taller spaces at the bottom take large art books and records.
• Depth. Shelves above a cupboard are often shallower than the cupboard, which makes the room feel more open and keeps books at a comfortable depth.
• Lighting. LED strips under shelves or at the sides light books and objects in the evening.

In bedrooms, the same thinking applies inside wardrobes: rails and shelves are supported so they do not bow under a full load of clothes. Getting this right is invisible on the day the units are fitted, and obvious ten years later.

Many London flats are in converted Victorian and Edwardian houses, so alcoves are just as common in flats as in whole houses — often in the main bedroom and the living room.

In a conversion, the alcoves may be the only storage in the room, so making the most of them matters even more. Full-height units with top cupboards take suitcases and seasonal items that would otherwise go in a loft the flat does not have.

For landlords, alcove wardrobes are a practical alternative to freestanding furniture: they cannot be knocked over, they use the full height of the room and they suit most tenants. Simple doors in a neutral colour work best. See our page for developers and landlords.

If you are furnishing a whole flat, alcoves are usually designed together with the kitchen and other wardrobes — see whole-apartment furniture.