Alcove units, media cabinets, dressing tables and bookcases — built for the room rather than bought to fit it.
Nearly every Victorian and Edwardian living room in Bristol has the same feature: a chimney breast with an alcove on each side. They're the obvious place for storage, and the hardest place to put anything shop-bought.
The two alcoves are almost never the same width. One is often deeper than the other. The walls aren't square, the floor isn't level, and there's usually a picture rail or a deep skirting running through where you'd want a shelf to land.
Each side gets measured and built separately, even when the finished pair are meant to look identical. That's the difference between a unit that fits the alcove and one that merely sits in it.
Cabinets below, open shelving above, each side measured on its own.
Planned around your TV, sockets and cable routes, with ventilation for kit.
Built-in vanity units with drawers, sized to the wall they sit against.
Floor-to-ceiling shelving scribed around picture rails and skirting.
Every piece starts with the room and what it needs to do. A dressing table in a bedroom with a bay window is a different problem from a media unit on a chimney breast wall, and neither is solved well by something bought in a standard size.
Finishes are chosen to suit the house — hand-painted with brass hardware in a period room, or cleaner and more contemporary where that fits better.
Jake looks at the room, takes measurements and talks through what the piece needs to hold and do.
An itemised quote covering materials, build and fitting — free, and with no obligation.
The piece is built to your measurements, ready to be scribed to the walls on site.
Fitted, finished and cleaned up, with a walkthrough before we leave.
We work throughout Bristol — the period terraces of Bishopston, Southville, Totterdown and Easton, the larger houses of Clifton, Redland and Henleaze, and out into Fishponds, Horfield and Westbury-on-Trym.
We also cover Portishead, Clevedon, Keynsham, Thornbury and Yate, and travel across South Wales for larger projects.
Check If We Cover YouIt varies a great deal with the piece. A single set of alcove shelves is a different job from a pair of full-height cabinets with drawers, doors and a hand-painted finish.
Because everything is made to measure for the room it sits in, we quote after seeing the space. Quotes are free, itemised and carry no obligation.
Yes — it's one of the most common requests in Bristol living rooms. The two alcoves either side of a chimney breast are almost never identical in width or depth, and the walls are rarely square.
Each side is measured and built separately, even when the finished pair are meant to look symmetrical.
Usually, yes. Pieces can be hand-painted to match an existing colour, and door and drawer styles can be made to echo the skirting, architrave or other joinery already in the room — so the new piece doesn't look bolted on.
Yes. Media units are planned around the kit going into them — the width of the TV, where the sockets and aerial points are, ventilation for equipment, and routes for cables so they aren't on show.
It's worth having those details to hand at the first visit.
In a period room it usually is. Freestanding furniture is built to standard sizes, so in a Victorian room it tends to leave gaps at the sides and dead space behind.
Built-in furniture uses the full width and height of the space it sits in, which matters most in alcoves and smaller rooms.
All of it — Clifton, Redland, Bishopston, Cotham, Southville, Bedminster, Totterdown, Knowle, Easton, Horfield, Henleaze, Westbury-on-Trym and Fishponds, plus surrounding areas such as Long Ashton, Portishead, Clevedon, Keynsham, Thornbury and Yate.
Not sure whether you're in range? Just ask — we're happy to travel for the right project.
"I couldn't be happier with the custom TV unit Jake made for me! He was incredibly friendly, professional, and accommodating, taking the time to understand exactly what I wanted. The unit fits perfectly in my space and looks absolutely stunning, better than I could have imagined!"