Measure an alcove and compare cabinet, shelf and television layouts

Alcoves look like simple rectangles, but they rarely are. Walls lean, corners drift out of square, baseboards and moldings stick out, and outlets or vents sit where a cabinet back wants to go. Choosing between closed cabinets, open shelves, full-height storage or a TV setup gets much easier once you have measured each recess as its own space and know what you plan to keep in it.

The short answer

Measure each recess separately. Take the width at the top, middle and bottom, the depth on both sides and the full height. Note every piece of trim, outlet, switch, pipe, vent and cable that sits inside or beside the recess. Then compare layouts by what you need to store and what you need to reach. For mixed living-room storage, a low closed cabinet with shelves above is the common middle ground. Full-height storage suits large volumes of household items. Open shelving suits display and frequently used items. A TV arrangement only works if the recess and its equipment connections support it.

Two conditions limit this approach. If the recess is badly out of square or crowded with fixed features, a standard freestanding unit may not fit cleanly, and cabinetry built for that specific recess becomes the more realistic option. If the alcove sits beside a door, a walkway or a seating area, the depth and door style you can use depend as much on room traffic as on the recess itself.

What to measure before choosing an arrangement

Separate the facts you measure from the preferences you choose. Measurements tell you what physically fits. Preferences tell you which of the fitting options you actually want.

Measure the recess itself

• Width at the top, middle and bottom, because plaster and brickwork are rarely parallel. Take readings at the heights where you plan to put a cabinet top, shelves or a TV.
• Width at the front edge and toward the back wall, since a recess can be wider at one depth than the other.
• Depth on both the left and right sides, measured from the back wall to the front face of the chimney breast or projecting wall.
• Full height, from floor to ceiling, or to the underside of any molding.
• Baseboard height and how far it projects from the wall.
• Crown or cove molding at the ceiling, and whether you plan to keep it.
• Visible slopes or bumps in the floor and walls that could stop a unit from sitting flat or tight.

This mirrors the survey method WOW Interior Design describes for alcove cabinets: width at three heights, depth on both sides, height, baseboard and any wall or floor variation. A rigid box has to pass the narrowest point of the recess. The smallest width reading at a given height controls what fits there, not the average.

Map the fixed features

• Electrical outlets and light switches, with their height and distance from the side walls.
• Pipes, radiators or heating lines running through or beside the recess.
• Access panels, meters or shutoffs that must stay reachable.
• TV, internet and antenna cable entry points.
• Vents and air registers that must stay unobstructed.

WOW Interior Design's planning approach maps sockets, switches, pipes, access panels, TV cables and vents before layout decisions are made. A low cabinet can cover an outlet if it has a cutout or open back. A solid full-height unit can block an access panel you will need later.

Check the room around the alcove

• Door swings: room doors, closet doors and your planned cabinet doors. Note where each one sweeps.
• Walkways that pass in front of the recess, and how cabinet doors or drawers would open into them.
• Nearby seating, including where people sit to watch a TV.
• The route a finished unit must travel to reach the room: hallways, stair turns and doorways.

Glide & Slide's planning process covers delivery and installation access, retained baseboard and molding, door arrangement and equipment access before anything is made. That order prevents a correctly sized unit from being unable to reach the room, or from opening into a sofa.

Decide your preferences

• What will be stored: books, media equipment, games, files, cleaning supplies, display pieces.
• How often each group of items is used, and by whom.
• Whether you want things hidden behind doors or on view.
• Whether a TV belongs in the recess, on the chimney breast between the recesses, or elsewhere.
• Whether the two alcoves should look identical or simply coordinated.

A survey sheet you can copy

RECESS: ____ (e.g., L = left of chimney breast, R = right)

Width, front edge:   top ____   middle ____   bottom ____
Width, back wall:    top ____   middle ____   bottom ____
Width at planned cabinet-top height: ____
Width at planned shelf heights:      ____  ____  ____

Depth, left side:  ____      Depth, right side: ____
Height, floor to ceiling/molding: ____

Baseboard: height ____  projection ____  keep? Y/N
Crown/cove molding: depth ____  keep? Y/N
Floor/wall slope or bumps: ______________________

Outlets/switches (height, distance from side): ______
Pipes/radiator: _____________________________________
Access panels/shutoffs: _____________________________
TV/data/antenna cable entry: ________________________
Vents/registers: ____________________________________

Door swings and walkways in front: __________________
Delivery route pinch points: ________________________

Comparing cabinet, shelf and TV layouts

Judge each layout against the same criteria: what it stores, what the recess must provide, how it deals with fixed features and how it affects the room around it.

Layout	Best for	Recess conditions that favor it	Watch for
Low closed cabinet with shelves above	Mixed living-room storage: hidden clutter below, books or display above	Outlets or cables low on the wall that a cabinet can hide; enough depth for a useful cabinet	Cabinet doors opening into a walkway; shelf heights clashing with outlets or switches
Open shelving only	Books, display and items used often	Shallow recesses; uneven walls where boxed units fit poorly	Dust and visual clutter; cables and outlets left on view
Drawers (low)	Small items, media accessories, documents	Rooms where swinging doors would collide with seating or traffic	Drawers need clear space in front to pull out
Full-height storage	Large volumes of household items	Consistent dimensions top to bottom; no access panels or vents to block	Feels heavy in a small room; harder delivery and installation; crown molding conflicts
TV in or beside the recess	A media wall around the chimney breast	Cable entry already near the recess; recess suits the screen and viewing position	Equipment access, ventilation for devices and the viewing angle from seating

Low cabinet plus shelves

This split works for many living rooms because it matches how things get used. Items that look untidy go behind doors at the bottom. Books and display pieces go above, where they are easy to see and reach. The cabinet top also gives a surface at a natural height. Set shelf positions from your measurement sheet so shelves do not cross switches, and plan cutouts or an open back where the cabinet covers outlets or cables.

Open shelving

Open shelves are the most forgiving choice when walls are uneven, because each shelf can be fitted to the width at its own height rather than relying on one rigid box. They also suit shallow recesses where a cabinet would be too narrow inside to be useful. The tradeoff is that everything stays on view, so they work best for collections you are happy to see. For DIY alcove shelves, the multi-height width readings matter most: cut each shelf to the width measured at its position, not to one measurement taken at mid-height. How shelves are fixed depends on your wall construction and the fixing hardware instructions, so confirm both before deciding on shelf depth and expected load.

Drawers versus doors

WOW Interior Design compares low closed cabinets, open shelving, drawers and full-height storage according to contents. Drawers make small, scattered items easier to find. Doors suit bulkier things. Room traffic matters too. A hinged door sweeps sideways into the room, while a drawer pulls straight out. Check which motion your walkway or seating can tolerate.

Full-height storage

Floor-to-ceiling alcove cupboards hold the most and give the cleanest look, but they ask the most of the recess. Height readings, molding at the ceiling and wall variation all have to be resolved, and a tall unit is the hardest to carry through a narrow hall or up a turning staircase. Before committing, confirm that no access panel, shutoff or vent sits behind where the unit would go.

Alcove TV unit layouts

A TV in an alcove depends on equipment more than on furniture. Note where the TV, internet and antenna cables enter the room, where the outlets are, and how you will reach devices for setup and maintenance. A low cabinet is a natural base for media devices, provided cables can pass through and the devices have room to breathe. Also check the viewing position. A screen tucked into a side recess may sit at an awkward angle to the main seating, which is why many layouts put the TV on the chimney breast and use the alcoves on either side for storage.

Freestanding furniture or units made for the recess

Glide & Slide compares freestanding furniture with cabinetry built for the specific recess. Freestanding units are easier to move and replace, but standard sizes leave gaps in a recess that is out of square or does not match catalog widths. They may also sit forward of the wall if you keep the baseboard. Cabinetry made for the recess can be shaped around trim, uneven walls and services. If your survey shows large differences between readings, or several fixed features to work around, that is the condition that favors made-to-fit units.

Planning two alcoves that are not the same size

Recesses on either side of a chimney breast often look like a matched pair but measure differently. North West Fitted Furniture measures paired recesses separately at three heights. Its design approach aligns shelf heights, door lines and finishes across both sides while letting cabinet dimensions differ. It can even give each side a different function. In practice, the pair reads as symmetrical from across the room even though the units are not identical.

Illustrative example: suppose the left recess measures 102, 101 and 100 cm wide at top, middle and bottom, and the right recess measures 96, 95 and 95 cm. Record each side's constraints on its own sheet. You might then plan matching shelf levels and a matching cabinet-top line on both sides, with each cabinet sized to its own recess. The wider left side could hold media equipment beneath the TV position, and the right side could hold books. These readings describe the recess. They do not set the final build size, because fitting allowances depend on the unit, the material and the installer or manufacturer.

Putting it together

• Measure each recess separately at the heights where storage will go, front and back, and on both depth sides.
• Record trim, outlets, switches, pipes, access panels, cables and vents on the same sheet.
• Note door swings, walkways, seating and the delivery route.
• List what you will store and how often you use it.
• Sketch two or three layouts, such as a low cabinet plus shelves, full-height storage and an optional TV arrangement. Lay door openings, room paths and equipment access over each.
• Choose freestanding or made-to-fit based on how irregular the recess is and how many fixed features you must work around.
• For paired alcoves, align shelf and door lines across both sides rather than forcing identical units.