Alcove units with built-in desk and cloakroom — East London

A pair of full-height alcove units flanking the chimney breast in a London reception room, with one side reworked as a discreet home-office and the other as a coats-and-cloakroom run.

Location

London

Work type

alcove units, built in storage

On site

6 days

The problem

A single reception room being asked to do three jobs — lounge, occasional home-office and coats-storage near the front door. The chimney-breast alcoves were the only large vertical surfaces left, but the client didn't want them to read as "office furniture" or "boot room" in a space that was still primarily a sitting room.

The solution

Two visually identical alcove units. One has a fold-down desk surface concealed behind shaker doors, with cable management routed up to a shelf for a laptop dock; the other is fitted out internally as a coats/shoes cloakroom with hanging rail, shoe rack and a deep upper cupboard for bags. Both close up flush so the room reads as a sitting room when nothing's in active use.

Materials & finish

18mm Egger MFC carcass; 22mm MDF shaker doors hand-painted in Farrow & Ball Cornforth White (No. 228); painted timber rails to match existing room cornice; brass push-to-open catches; 18mm worktop surface inside the office bay finished in matt black laminate.

Outcome

One room now does three jobs without compromising any of them. Office surface deploys in under 10 seconds; coats and shoes live behind closed doors rather than on the back of a chair.

Two alcove cabinets that look identical from the outside, doing different jobs inside. One folds out to a desk, the other holds coats and shoes. Both close flush so the room remains a sitting room.