Alcove Ideas: 6 Ways to Style Your Space
Words by Emma Hughes
July 03, 2025
|
6m
When you’re styling your home, alcoves can be a stumbling block. While finding the right design for the rest of your room may be easy, the awkward angles and corners of an alcove are harder to decorate and work into your ideas. With a creative enough approach, however, you can turn an alcove into a beautiful statement piece, or a unique storage solution to declutter your room.
Whether you’re looking for tips on how to decorate alcoves to suit your interior design, or alcove shelving ideas to put your possessions on display, our guide has six smart ways for transforming these tricky spaces to fit your design ideas.
1. Turn your alcove into a stylish storage space
The most common way to incorporate an alcove into your design is to turn it into a fitted storage area. This means you can keep your room uncluttered without using furniture that will take up space in the rest of your room. Adding fitted cabinetry to your alcove can help to give your room a modern, minimalist look, while open shelving can help to show off your favourite possessions and items of décor.
There are countless shelving solutions that can be worked into your home no matter what room your alcove is located in. For kitchens, you can put your countertops beneath your alcove and fill it with storage for your pots, pans, crockery, and more. If you’re looking for chimney breast alcove ideas to declutter a living room, try positioning your TV next to an alcove and turning your wall into a media centre. This will give you space to store DVDs, TV boxes, games consoles, and more.
2. Transform your bedroom alcove into a dressing table
Dressing tables are a useful way to store all your cosmetics and accessories, but in smaller rooms, they can take up valuable space. Styling your alcove into a dressing table area is the perfect bedroom storage hack for keeping your room uncluttered while still making the most of every inch of your floor space.
If your alcove extends to the floor, try adding a table that fits between its edges, and using shelving in higher-up areas to keep your essentials out of the way. Finish the look by adding a small mirror to help you get ready. Whether you’re heading on a night out, or sorting your morning routine for a busy day ahead, a dressing table area can help you look your best, and is one of our top ideas for alcoves in bedrooms.
3. Give your living room a cosy reading corner
Living rooms are one of the most common places you’ll find an alcove in your home, as the added corners from features like fireplaces or windows can create nooks and crannies around the edges of your room. You can use these to your advantage by adding some extra furniture to turn the unused corners of your room into a comfy seating area for reading, coffee breaks, and more.
Styling a reading corner in your home is as easy as adding an accent chair and a side table to your room, but by turning your alcove into a bookshelf, you can really bring your space to life. This adds convenient storage for all your favourite books but also allows for plenty of alcove décor ideas, such as potted plants and accent lighting. To really embrace the comfy feel of a reading nook, you can even add soft furnishings to your seating to snuggle up for a relaxing night in.
There are plenty of living room storage ideas you can use to make the most of a unique living room layout, so don’t be afraid to play around with your space and see how you can incorporate smart storage into your room.
4. Give your room a gallery wall
An eye-catching alcove is the perfect way to make a statement with your room’s décor, so why not use it to show off your favourite art? Try arranging photos, wall art, and other decorations in your alcove to create a stunning gallery wall. Paired with an attention-grabbing shade of wallpaper, you can turn your alcove from an awkward nook into a stylish centrepiece for your space.
If a gallery wall isn’t to your tastes, you can still get creative with your wall décor using an alcove by creating a statement wall. Choose a pattern, texture, or colour of wallpaper that will stand out from the rest of your room’s design, and decorate the inside of your alcove using it. Not only does this vary your room’s palette, but it will also avert your guests’ eyes as they enter your room, helping you put emphasis on a particular area of décor that you want to stand out.
5. Get creative with your alcove’s lighting
One of the biggest issues with styling an alcove in your room is lighting. Because of the awkward corners they add to your room’s layout, it can be hard for natural light to reach your alcove at certain times of the day. Nobody wants their intricate décor being covered by shade, so consider some textured accent lighting to really show off your design.
Wall lights are always a reliable addition for turning an alcove into a unique focal point, but some more subtle and creative lighting ideas can help your space to stand out. Consider using LED strips around the edges of your alcove to highlight its unique shape, or hide them at the back or bottom of your open shelving to show your decorations in a new light.
For a calming ambience, smaller sources of light, such as candles and fairy lights, can also add a touch of personality to your alcove’s layout. Try a variety of light sources if possible, to see what works best for your room.
6. Finding the right colour palette
Decorating an alcove is the perfect chance to experiment with your room’s palette. It’s no secret that the right balance of shades in a room can change its ambience, and alcoves are an easy way to sneak an accent colour or complementary shade into your design for a splash of character. Here are some colour choices that work particularly well for alcove décor:
Warm neutrals
Bright, airy neutrals can be worked into almost any room’s design without causing any issue, but adding a slight warm hue will also make your walls easier on the eyes when compared to a pure white shade. If you’re turning your alcove into shelving, consider using an off-white shade like cream or eggshell to add some subtle depth to your palette.Bold accent shades
Choosing a vibrant colour that stands out from the rest of your design can create a unique focal point for your room, but it’s important to avoid clashing colours that can look garish. If your room has a bright neutral palette, your alcove is a great opportunity to break up the monotony. Sage green and dusky pink are always reliable pairings, but for an especially bold shade to complement neutral walls, try a striking orange or light blue.If your room uses more of a dark palette, your alcove can use warmer shades to lean into the moody ambience. For black and grey designs, colours like red and purple can give your design an elegant touch, while metallic accents such as gold or silver can also raise the prestige of your room.
Dark blues
Navy blue is a versatile shade that can be styled into a range of designs. When used as a main shade, it gives your room a calming but understated feel. As an accent shade, it can provide a great backdrop to brighter shades and neutrals, balancing them with a more nuanced shade than an overwhelming black or dark grey.When styling your alcove with a darker shade, you may want to consider your lighting, as you don’t want your space to be too shadowy. However, with the right balance of light, navy can help add plenty of extra depth to your design and help the rest of your palette pop.
You should now have all the inspiration you need to embrace your room’s alcove and give it the love it deserves. For more guides on using the overlooked parts of your home, you can read our ideas for ways to use your spare room, or check out the rest of our blog for all the style tips you need to design the home of your dreams.