If you live in a house with a chimney breast, you might find yourself faced with two alcove spaces that you don’t know how to utilise. Often, DIY store-bought furniture won’t fit the space - not very well, anyway.

The good news is, there’s a solution!

Custom-built furniture and shelves can transform your living room, office or bedroom alcoves into beautiful and functional spaces. So, there is plenty of potentials whether you opt for floating shelves, cupboards or cabinets. 

And to help you harness this potential, we’ve put together a list of six great ways to make the most of your alcove shelves. 

1. Shake it up with floating alcove shelves.

Why settle for standard, full-width alcove shelves when you can shake up the look of your room with floating shelves instead? 

These might be more practical if you’re using your shelves to display ornaments or plants rather than store belongings. In addition, these attractive and exciting shelves can be made in various sizes and materials, making them perfect for a stylish room. 

2. Turn your nook into a bookcase. 

Are you a bookworm? Or perhaps you’ve got an impressive collection of magazines? Maybe you have more folders and binders than you know what to do with. 

Then why not transform your alcoves into a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf? This can be the ultimate way to make the most of your alcove space, providing they are deep enough.

And this technique can be perfect for an office, study or bedroom. 

3. Add some lighting to your shelves. 

As well as design and layout, lighting can make or break a room’s feel. Think about it. No one wants to sit and relax under a bright white light. That’s why we have lamps and dimmer switches - to create a warm ambience. 

So why not incorporate this into your alcoves by adding some lights underneath your shelves? 

These can be multi-purpose, adding warm, cosy light to the room and highlighting your photos, ornaments, or belongings on your shelves. 

4. Choose contemporary alcove shelves. 

Are you looking for something a little different? Then why not consider random floating shelves that don’t fit the standard structure? For example, these can look great in a contemporary living room or office space.  

Though the shelves and the cubby holes they create might seem random, you can mirror this on either side of the chimney breast, so they are built symmetrically. 

This can be an entertaining way to display your belongings and means that you can play around with the size of the cubby holes and the belongings stored within them.

5. Add doors for an alcove cupboard. 

Whether you’d prefer to hide your belongings or use glass doors to display them proudly, adding them to your alcoves can transform the space. 

Alcove wardrobes can be significant in bedrooms and the perfect way to make the most of the space when DIY store-bought wardrobes don’t cut. 

Alternatively, add shelves and some glass front doors, turning your alcoves into beautiful, space-saving display cabinets. 

6. Create a TV cabinet.

Last on our list, why not turn your alcoves into a media centre using shelves and a TV cabinet? This can be great for most rooms in the house and means you can tuck your TV away, so it doesn’t take up any additional space. 

You can also use the cabinet to store game consoles or TV boxes and the shelves to display your DVD collections or ornaments - creating a beautiful media unit. 

Contact us today with any related inquiries and get comprehensive and professional assistance for your new bespoke shelves.