Choose alcove shelving if you want to display books and objects, make the most of a tall wall and give the room a sense of built in character. Choose low storage units if you want to hide clutter, keep the wall above free for art, mirrors or a TV, and create a surface at hip height. In many homes the strongest answer is a combination: a low cupboard with open shelves above.
Both approaches are well served by our modern shelving units UK sale range, and the right choice usually comes down to how you use the room, what you need to store and how your alcoves are shaped.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces, along with many interwar semis, were built around chimney breasts. The recesses either side are often deep, tall and slightly irregular. Even in homes where the fireplace no longer works, those alcoves remain one of the most valuable storage zones in the room.
Modern homes sometimes have similar recesses created by boxed in pipes, structural columns or a central media wall. The same principles apply wherever you have a recessed space beside a strong central feature.
Alcove shelving uses the full height of the recess. It might be a series of floating shelves fixed into the side walls, a freestanding shelving unit sized to fit the gap, or fitted joinery made to measure.
The main strengths are capacity and display. Tall shelving can hold a substantial book collection, and the symmetry of matching shelves either side of a chimney breast gives the room a calm, ordered feel. Shelving also draws the eye upwards, which emphasises the ceiling height in period rooms.
The trade off is visibility. Everything on open shelves is on show, so they look their best when edited carefully. Tall shelving can also make a small room feel enclosed if the shelves are packed full.
Low storage units sit at roughly hip height and usually have doors, drawers or a mix of both. They might be cupboards, small sideboards or low media units.
Their great advantage is concealment. Games, paperwork, chargers and children’s toys disappear behind doors, keeping the room tidy with little effort. The top surface becomes a useful shelf for a lamp, a speaker, a plant or a stack of books, and the wall above stays free for artwork, a mirror or a wall mounted TV.
Low units also keep the room feeling open. Because they stop well below eye level, they do not crowd the space visually, which is valuable in smaller living rooms. Our modern living room furniture UK range includes low cabinets and media units that suit alcove widths in many period properties.
Alcove shelving wins on sheer volume, especially for books. Low units store less, but what they store is hidden and protected from dust.
Low units keep sight lines open and let light move freely around the room. Tall shelving adds structure and height but can make a dark room feel darker if it is filled to the top with dense colours.
Many people place a TV on the chimney breast or in one alcove. If your TV sits on the chimney breast, low units in the alcoves keep the wall balanced and avoid competing with the screen. If the TV sits in an alcove, a low media unit beneath it handles cables and devices neatly.
Alcoves often contain radiators, sockets or both. Tall shelving above a radiator is possible with floating shelves, but freestanding units should not sit directly against a heat source. Low units need to allow access to sockets and should be kept clear of radiators to protect their finish.
Alcoves in older homes are rarely square. Floating shelves can be scribed or adjusted to fit, while freestanding units need a little clearance on either side. Small gaps can be disguised with a plant or a slim stack of books.
A low cupboard with shelves above is a long standing solution for good reason. It gives you closed storage at the bottom, where clutter naturally collects, and open display above, where it is seen and enjoyed. The top of the cupboard forms a natural surface for lamps and decorative objects.
You can achieve this look without fitted joinery. A low cabinet or compact sideboard placed in the alcove, with two or three floating shelves fixed above it, gives a very similar effect. Keep the shelf finish consistent with the cabinet, or paint the shelves to match the wall so they recede and let the objects stand out.
For low cupboard options, our modern storage furniture UK range and modern sideboards UK sale collection include compact designs that sit comfortably in many alcoves.
Matching treatments in both alcoves create a calm, formal look that suits period rooms. However, asymmetry can be more practical and just as attractive. A low media unit in one alcove with shelving in the other can work well, particularly when one alcove is used for the TV and the other for books.
If you choose different treatments, link them through finish or colour. Matching wood tones, or painting both in the same colour as the chimney breast, keeps the scheme cohesive.
Measure the width of each alcove at three heights: near the floor, at the middle and near the top. Use the smallest measurement, as walls often lean or bow. Measure the depth from the back wall to the front face of the chimney breast, and note the position of skirting boards, sockets, radiators and window frames.
For a low unit, also check how far doors need to open and whether they will clear the chimney breast or any nearby furniture. Allow a few centimetres either side so the unit can slide in without scraping the walls.
If you are planning a TV in or near the alcove, our guides to fitting a TV unit with fireplace into a small UK room and low TV unit measurements for UK living rooms cover heights and clearances in detail.
Fitted shelving and floating shelves involve drilling into walls, which many tenancy agreements restrict. Freestanding low units and shelving units are the simpler route for renters, as they need at most a small fixing for a wall restraint and move with you when you leave.
A low unit in each alcove, styled with a lamp and a few books, gives a finished look without any permanent change to the property.
Mix books with a few objects, leaving gaps so the shelves do not look crammed. Repeat colours across both alcoves if you have shelving on either side. Place heavier, larger items on the lower shelves for visual balance.
Keep the top surface simple: a lamp, a plant and one or two decorative pieces. Hang artwork or a mirror centred above the unit, leaving roughly a hand span between the top of the unit and the bottom of the frame.
Lighting has a big influence on how either option looks in the evening. Open shelving benefits from a warm table lamp on a lower shelf or a picture light fixed above, which casts a soft glow across books and objects. Battery powered puck lights under shelves avoid the need for new wiring and are easy to remove in a rented home.
Low storage units provide a natural spot for a table lamp, which lights both the top surface and any artwork hung above. A pair of matching lamps on units in both alcoves frames the chimney breast and gives the room a balanced, welcoming feel after dark.
Think about where sockets sit before you choose. A low unit with a cable opening at the back keeps lamp and device cables neatly hidden.
If you have a large book collection, love to display objects and have good ceiling height, alcove shelving makes the most of your space. If you need to hide everyday clutter, prefer a calm look or want the wall above free for a TV or art, low storage units are the more practical answer. If you want both display and concealment, combine them.
We offer modern storage and living room furniture with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes. Browse options for alcoves and beyond at Furniture in Fashion.
Around 25cm to 30cm suits most books and decorative objects. Avoid shelves that project beyond the front face of the chimney breast, which can look awkward.
It is best avoided, as it blocks heat and can damage the unit over time. Choose a shorter unit that leaves the radiator clear, or use floating shelves above it.
Matching alcoves feel formal and balanced, but different treatments work well when linked by finish or colour.
This is common in older homes. Choose units sized to the narrower alcove for symmetry, or treat each alcove differently and link them through colour.
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