Bespoke Carpentry · across London

Under-stairs storage in London

Pull-out drawers, cupboards, coat and shoe storage or a small desk under your stairs, with access kept to meters and the fuse board.

Shoes, coats and bags in a narrow hallway
Getting at the back of a deep cupboard
Keeping meters and the fuse board accessible

Arrange a design visit

Thinking about under-stairs storage? Arrange a design visit.

Arrange a design visit

About our under-stairs storage

The space under the stairs is often one deep, dark cupboard where things go to be forgotten. Built-in under-stairs storage turns it into something you can use every day. Pull-out drawers bring the back of the space to you; cupboards with shelves hold household things; hooks and shoe shelves sort the hallway; and a small desk can fit where the ceiling is high enough. In many terraced houses this space also holds the gas meter, electricity meter or fuse board, which must stay accessible for meter readers and engineers. At the design visit we measure the stairs, see what’s already there and plan around it. The storage is made in our workshop and fitted to follow the slope of the stairs.

Why made for your room

The triangle under a staircase is an awkward shape that standard furniture can’t use. Storage made for it follows the slope, uses the low end with drawers and the high end with a cupboard, and keeps meters and fuse boards easy to reach.

What we make

Shoes, coats and bags in a narrow hallway
Getting at the back of a deep cupboard
Keeping meters and the fuse board accessible
Space for a vacuum cleaner and household things
A small desk or shelves under the stairs

Illustration of pull-out drawers and cupboards built under a staircase.

Materials and finishes

Birch plywood
Moisture-resistant MDF
Spray-painted finish
Hand-painted finish
Pull-out drawers
Coat hooks and shoe shelves

We work in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. MDF is stable and takes paint well; birch plywood is strong and holds screws well, so it suits long shelves, carcasses and drawer boxes. Finishes are spray painted in our workshop for a smooth, even surface, or hand painted, which is easy to touch up later. The colour is agreed with you.

How it works

You get in touch and tell us what’s under the stairs now and what you want to store.
At the design visit we measure the space and the slope, and note any meters, fuse board or pipes.
We send a written quote with the design, materials and finish.
The drawers and cupboards are made in our workshop.
We fit them under the stairs, with access kept to meters and the fuse board.

Before the design visit

Before the design visit, clear the space if you can so we can see the walls, floor and any meters or pipes. Think about what you want to keep there: coats, shoes, a vacuum cleaner, household things or a small desk.

Things to know

Meters and fuse boards

Gas meters, electricity meters and fuse boards must stay accessible. We plan a door or removable panel in front of them, and we don’t move them: that’s for your energy supplier or an electrician.

Drawers or cupboards

Deep pull-out drawers suit the low end of the slope, where a cupboard is hard to reach into. A cupboard with a full-height door suits the tall end, for coats or a vacuum cleaner.

Open or closed stairs

Under an open staircase the storage may be seen from both sides, so the back is finished too. Tell us at the design visit if your stairs are open.

Bespoke or off-the-shelf under-stairs storage?

Off-the-shelf furniture suits some rooms well. Where the room has awkward sizes, uneven walls or a lot to store, furniture made for the space usually works better. Here’s how the two compare.

	Made for your room	Off-the-shelf
Size	Made for your room, to the ceiling and wall to wall	Set widths and heights, with gaps or fillers
Uneven walls	Scribed to follow the wall and set level	Gaps where the wall bows or the floor slopes
Awkward spaces	Alcoves, slopes, bays and stairs used fully	Standard boxes that leave space unused
Inside layout	Planned around what you store	A set choice of rails and shelves
Finish	Spray or hand painted in a colour agreed with you	The colours in the range
Getting it in	Made in sections sized for your stairs and doors	Flat-pack boxes you or a fitter assemble

What affects your quote

Every job is quoted for your room after the design visit, so we don’t publish prices. These are the things that shape the quote:

The size of the piece and how much of the wall or room it fills
How many doors and drawers there are, and what goes inside
The materials: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both
The finish: spray painted in our workshop or hand painted
The room itself: uneven walls, sloping ceilings, cornices, skirting and picture rails
Access: stairs, lifts, parking and getting the sections into the room

Read how it works for the whole process.

What your quote includes

After the design visit we send a written quote. It sets out:

What we’ll make, with the layout and sizes agreed at the design visit
The materials and the finish, including the paint colour
What goes inside: shelves, hanging, drawers and any special fittings
Fitting in your home
What isn’t included, such as electrics, plumbing, gas or decorating, which are for other trades
How and when the work will be done, and the payment terms

See what a fitted furniture quote should include.

Looking after your under-stairs storage

Paint needs time to cure fully after it’s applied, so treat new paintwork gently at first: avoid knocks, wipe spills promptly and don’t stand heavy or damp things on new surfaces. Clean with a soft, damp cloth and a mild cleaner rather than anything abrasive. Hand-painted finishes are easy to touch up if they get marked, and hinged doors can be adjusted at the hinge if they drift out of line as a house moves with the seasons.

Read looking after painted fitted furniture.

300+ projectsCompleted in London homes

Design visit firstWe measure, then quote

Workshop-madeThen fitted in your home

MDF and birch plywoodMoisture-resistant MDF

Painted finishesSpray or hand-painted

All of London32 boroughs and the City

Under-stairs storage: common questions

Can you build storage around the gas meter?

Yes. The meter stays where it is, and we plan a door or removable panel so meter readers and engineers can get to it.

Are pull-out drawers better than a cupboard?

For the low, deep end of the space, usually yes: drawers bring the contents to you. The tall end often works better as a cupboard.

Can I have coat and shoe storage under the stairs?

Yes. Hooks, shoe shelves and a bench or drawer are a good way to clear a narrow hallway.

Can a desk fit under the stairs?

Where there’s enough height, a small desk with shelves can fit. We’ll check the headroom at the design visit.

Do you move the fuse board?

No. Moving a fuse board or meter is for an electrician or your energy supplier. We build the storage around it.

Can you match the storage to the rest of the hallway?

Yes. The doors and colour are agreed with you, so the storage can suit the skirting, doors and paintwork around it.

Which parts of London do you cover?

We work across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. See areas we cover.

Do you work on Saturdays?

Saturdays are available by arrangement. Let us know at the design visit if a Saturday suits you better.

Advice

Other things we make

We fit under-stairs storage across London

We work in homes in all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Choose your borough:

All areas we cover

Page updated 27 October 2026