Alcove cupboards & shelving
Cupboards below, open shelves above, scribed to a chimney breast that is not square and painted to disappear into the wall.
Bespoke carpentry
Furniture built into the house, not placed against it
Alcove cupboards either side of a chimney breast, a bookcase to the ceiling, a window seat with storage under it. Made for your walls, painted to match your room.
Bespoke carpentry
The spaces flat-pack cannot reach
Every house has them. The alcove beside the chimney breast that is 940mm wide at the bottom and 968mm at the top. The awkward run under a staircase. The bay window with a radiator in the worst possible place. The landing that would take a full wall of storage if only a wardrobe came in that width.
These are precisely the places where bought furniture fails, and precisely where built-in joinery earns its keep. A unit made to the actual dimensions of the gap, scribed to walls that are not straight and painted the same colour as the surrounding woodwork stops reading as furniture altogether — it reads as part of the house.
Ollie began his career making bespoke furniture at seventeen, before kitchens, and it remains some of the most satisfying work he does. Bookcases, cupboards, wardrobes, shelving, window seats, media walls, desks, boot rooms, understairs storage — no job too big or too small.
Detail
Commonly asked for
Built-in bookcases
Floor to ceiling, with shelf spacing set to your actual books and a solid back so it does not rack when loaded.
Window seats
A seat with lift-up or drawer storage beneath, scribed into a bay and detailed to match the existing skirting.
Media walls
Cabinetry around a television with cable management, ventilation and a route for the equipment that does not involve drilling later.
Boot rooms & utilities
Bench seating, hanging pegs, boot storage, and cupboards for the hoover, the coats and the dog leads.
Understairs storage
The most wasted space in most houses, converted into pull-out drawers, a cloakroom cupboard or a small desk nook.
- 01
It uses the whole space
A freestanding bookcase in a 968mm alcove leaves 68mm of dust trap either side. A made unit uses all 968mm, and goes right to the ceiling.
- 02
It matches the house
Painted the same colour as your skirting, with a matching profile and the same cornice detail, joinery stops looking like an addition.
- 03
It handles crooked walls
Every unit is scribed on site to walls that bow, floors that fall and skirting that was fitted in 1890. Bought furniture simply sits at an angle.
- 04
It adds value honestly
Good built-in joinery is one of the few home improvements that reads as quality to a buyer without needing to be explained.
Straight answers
Questions about bespoke carpentry
It depends heavily on size, whether the doors are plain or panelled, and whether it is cupboards only or cupboards with shelving above. As a rough guide, a pair of alcove units either side of a chimney breast is typically a low four-figure job including making, fitting and painting. A written itemised quote follows the visit.
Yes, and it is usually the right choice. Painting on site after fitting means the unit, the scribes, the filler and the wall can be finished as one surface — so the joinery looks built in rather than pushed against the wall. Colour matched to your existing woodwork or anything you like.
Routinely. Gas meters, stopcocks, soil pipes, consumer units and radiators all need access retained, and that is designed in — removable panels, lift-out shelves, ventilated doors. It is more work than boxing something in, and it is the difference between a good job and a problem in five years.
Yes. Ollie started out making bespoke furniture and still takes on one-off pieces — tables, dressers, benches, desks — usually in solid oak or ash. Ask, and he will tell you honestly whether it is something he can fit into the diary.
Next step
Let's talk about your kitchen
Book a free, no-obligation design visit. Ollie measures up, talks through what you want and follows up with a drawing and a fixed written quote — usually within a week.