Eaves, alcoves and bay windows: bespoke storage for Dorset's awkward rooms
· Design tips · 6 min read
Period houses, loft conversions and Edwardian terraces don't have flat walls. Here's how we make storage work anyway.
Dorset's housing stock is wonderfully varied and routinely awkward. Edwardian terraces in Bournemouth and Boscombe have chimney-breast alcoves either side of the fireplace. Cottages in Wimborne and Cranborne have low ceilings and uneven plaster. Loft conversions across the conurbation have sloping ceilings and purlins running through the middle of the room.
Off-the-shelf furniture struggles in any of these. The wardrobe doesn't fit the alcove (gap on one side, planted-on architrave the other). The bookcase looks shoved into the eaves rather than designed for them. The ironing-board cupboard sits proud of the chimney breast.
Bespoke fitted furniture is, frankly, what awkward rooms were invented for. We pre-build modules at our Verwood workshop, then bring them on site, scribe each panel to the existing skirting, cornice and uneven wall, and trim everything by hand so the joinery reads as part of the architecture rather than bolted-on.
Three patterns we use over and over:
Alcove wardrobes either side of a chimney breast — full-height, painted to match the wall, with the door-line aligned to the chimney breast so the room reads symmetrical even though the alcoves never are.
Eaves storage in lofts — full-height hinged doors at the high wall, drawer banks and pull-outs under the slope. We never box in the eaves to make the room rectangular; that's the single biggest mistake loft conversions make.
Bay-window window seats with concealed storage — flip-up lids on hidden hinges, painted to match the surrounding panelling so it reads as a built-in feature rather than a bolted-on box.
If you have a room you've been avoiding because nothing fits, send us a photo. We'll usually have an idea before we even arrive to measure up.