Flick through an Ikea catalogue and you might assume that smart storage solutions are a new idea. In fact they have been a mainstay of British domestic design for centuries.

In Georgian and Victorian times, a lot of storage, including linen presses on landings and dwarf cupboards in alcoves either side of a fireplace, was built in. At least one alcove in nearly every room would have had a cupboard constructed into it. Then post-war modernisers ripped them out, and we had to buy flatpack bookshelves instead.

Building the storage back in again is a growing business and there are a number of bespoke cabinet-makers to choose from. In general, it takes about four to six weeks from the time you place your order to completion. Most will come round initially to quote and take measurements and make up the basic carcasses in workshops off site, reducing the time needed for installation in your own home.

“These linen presses, cupboards and bookcases were as much a part of the finishing process as skirtings, window frames and shutters,” says Ray Wheeler of Wheeler & Company, which makes replicas including early 19th-century-style alcove dwarf cupboards, linen-press wardrobes and alcove bookcases with cupboards below. The firm makes its cupboards from Baltic pine, finished ready to paint. Prices for a two-door dwarf cupboard with alcove bookcase above are from £2,190, or £2,089 for a four-panel-door linen press. Expect to pay about £400 on top of this for painting. Wheeler & Company works only within the M25.

Richard Cullinan Joinery makes traditional cupboards designed specifically to a customer’s requirements. Expect to pay about £3,500 for a pair of alcove bookcases, with two-door dwarf cupboards below, primed and ready to paint.

Hearns Specialised Joinery uses traditional mortise and tenon joints, with veneered blockboard carcasses, or tulipwood which they paint in situ. For an unpainted hardwood finish, it charges about £1,500 for an alcove bookcase with two-door dwarf cupboard below. The same thing in polished oak will cost about £6,000 for a pair. Hearns mainly works in the southwest of the capital, although it can work from drawings which local builders will then fit.

Davenport Cabinetworks, based in Nottingham, specialises in fitted furniture. Library alcove furniture, with hidden storage below, adjustable shelving, period cornice and skirting detail, will cost about £3,200 per side, in light-coloured English oak or a specialist painted finish. Trevor Toms Cabinet-makers, in Dorset, sticks to traditional methods, using tulipwood for painted finishes and oak, ash or elm for veneers. Unpainted alcove bookcases, with a two-door dwarf cupboard below, would be about £900 each, with fitting about £400, and painting another £400.

Woodchester Kitchens & Interiors will look at existing mouldings in the house, and sometimes make cutters to match the decoration on new fitted furniture. It sticks to tulipwood and old-fashioned mortise and tenon joints and constructs the cabinets in its Gloucestershire workshops, including painted finishes, then fit and touch up on site. For the standard fitted bookcase with two-drawer cupboard below, expect to pay from £1,450-£1,975 per alcove, fully finished.

The London Alcove Company is less authentic, but cheaper. It works mainly in MDF, adding solid timber frames and mouldings to basic carcasses, and specialises in wardrobes, radiator covers and alcove units, built according to measurements taken on site. Unless you live in southwest London, initial quotes cost £200, with £100 deducted on orders taken. The price is about half that of more traditional cabinetry: about £1,000 per alcove, for a fitted bookcase and two-door dwarf cupboards, including painting.

Jali is the DIY alternative. It sells separate units in bare MDF, which you order direct, in three styles (classic, contemporary and ethnic), with options on door grille designs, number of shelves and spacing. Travis Perkins and other large hardware stores sell Jali products.

Prices for two-door cupboards start from £84, and bookshelves from £56. Each order is bespoke, which means it is made to measure before being sent out to you. But remember, this type of cabinetry is only as good as the person who measured, fitted and painted it — which would be you, then.

Shelf life

Davenport Cabinetworks, 0115 970 5051, www.davcab.co.uk

Hearns Specialised Joinery, 020 8977 0032, www.hearnsjoinery.co.uk

Jali, 01227 831 710, www.jali.co.uk

The London Alcove Co, 020 8874 7026, www.londonalcove.com

Richard Cullinan Joinery, 020 8871 0029, www.rcjoinery.co.uk

Travis Perkins, 01604 752 424, www.travisperkins.co.uk

Trevor Toms Cabinet-makers, 01747 852 137

Wheeler & Company, 020 7254 2254

Woodchester Kitchens & Interiors, 01453 886 411, www.woodchesterkitchens.co.uk

Explore Property

• Buying & Selling

• New Homes

• Overseas

• Interiors

• Investment

• Gardens

• Cool In Your Code

• Specials

• First-time buyer

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers