Barking and Dagenham · London
Under-Stairs Storage in Barking Riverside
In Barking Riverside, we design under-stairs storage around the room you actually have. Your under-stairs cupboard is designed at a visit to your home and made at our workshop.
- Coats and shoes piling up in the hall
- An under-stairs cupboard full of clutter
- Wanting a quiet corner for paperwork
Need under-stairs storage in Barking Riverside?
Questions we’re often asked
Can you make under-stairs storage for a home in Barking Riverside?
Yes. Barking Riverside is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Barking and Dagenham and London. You can message us from the contact page to arrange a design visit.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Barking Riverside?
It depends on the street, as many London boroughs run controlled parking zones. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. It helps to let us know about parking at the measuring visit.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
Which works best under the stairs, drawers or cupboards?
Often a mix works best. Deep pull-out drawers suit the shallow end under the bottom steps, while a cupboard at the tall end takes coats, the vacuum or an ironing board. We will suggest a layout when we visit.
Should I send photos?
Yes, they help. A few pictures of the room, from floor to ceiling, tell us a lot, particularly with rough sizes. To send them, get in touch through our contact form.
Is it possible to fit storage around a meter under the stairs?
Yes. Meters and fuse boards often sit under the stairs, and they need to stay accessible. We note them during the design visit and plan the drawers and doors around them. We do not move meters, so the storage works around their current position.
How we make under-stairs storage for Barking Riverside
Under the stairs is where so much ends up, from coats and shoes to the vacuum cleaner. We design under-stairs storage around the things you actually want to keep there, whether that’s pull-out drawers, a run of cupboards or a mix of both. In Barking Riverside, as everywhere we work, it begins with a visit to measure and plan. Typical reasons to get in touch are cleaning things with no proper home and a dark, wasted space under the stairs, and the answer is made at our workshop from birch plywood and moisture-resistant MDF with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Newer homes tend to have finished floors that scratch easily, so they’re protected while storage is fitted. Around Barking Riverside, many homes date from 2000 onwards, and stud walls there take fixings chosen for the board. The storage can sit on its own plinth or be scribed over the skirting.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we have agreed. It sets out the under-stairs cupboard designed for your room, what it is made from and how it’s finished, and it is what the workshop builds to.
- Where
- Barking Riverside (IG11, RM9)
- Area
- Barking and Dagenham
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Where it’s made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Neighbourhoods near Barking Riverside
More for homes in Barking Riverside
Fitted storage in Barking Riverside
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Barking Riverside were built between 1945 and 1972 (about 56%) and since 2000 (about 37%), based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. Each London borough runs its own parking controls, and Barking and Dagenham is no exception. If your street in Barking Riverside is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay through the council may be needed. We ask about parking at the measuring visit, and we’ll plan around it. About 50% of households around Barking Riverside live in purpose-built flats, well above the figure for Barking and Dagenham as a whole, about 28%, the 2021 Census shows. That puts the stairs, lifts and doors on the route in at the centre of the plan.
Close to Mayesbrook Park? Living near green space often means muddy boots, bikes and outdoor kit, and under-stairs cupboards can give those things a place. The wider area includes historic houses like Eastbury Manor House, about 1 mile north-west. If your own home is a period one, the triangle under an old staircase is often deeper than it looks.
Barking Riverside is within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, about 1 mile north-west of Barking. We design and make under-stairs storage for homes in Barking Riverside and across Barking and Dagenham, as part of our work in every London borough. Across Barking and Dagenham, we cover Barking Riverside.
Here we cover the IG11 and RM9 postcode area for under-stairs storage. Streets in the area include Minter Road, Thames Road and Hugget Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for under-stairs storage. Neighbouring places we cover for under-stairs storage include Thames View Estate (1 mile north-west), Castle Green (1 mile north-east), Dagenham Dock (1 mile east), Thamesmead (1 mile south-east) and Dagenham Green (2 miles east). Elsewhere in Barking and Dagenham, we also cover Dagenham (2 miles north-east), Becontree (2 miles north-east), Becontree Heath (3 miles north-east) and Chadwell Heath (4 miles north).
Near you in Barking Riverside
The streets we cover here include those near Riverside School. There is a railway station in Barking Riverside itself: Barking Riverside station. Other landmarks nearby include East End Women's Museum (1.8 miles north-west) and Gallions Reach Shopping Park (1.7 miles south-west). Open spaces near Barking Riverside include Ripple Nature Reserve.
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
The real difference is in the fit: edges scribed to the wall, a level base on a sloping floor and a neat line where the furniture meets the ceiling. In an older room, standard units rarely manage that.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. Sloping ceilings, uneven floors and lath-and-plaster walls make it harder, where scribing and fixings that suit the wall are important.
Caring for painted furniture
The finish lasts best with a little care. These practical tips help:
- Count the coats and pairs of shoes in daily use
- Empty the cupboard so we can measure every corner
- Find out what sits in the space now, from meters to pipes
- Make a list of what you want to store before the design visit
If the hallway is being decorated afterwards, ask your decorator to protect the fronts. Tape on fresh paint can pull it off, so keep it away from the doors and drawers. If anything isn’t right, drop us a line using the contact form and we will talk it through.
Keep the doors and drawers closed when the space is not in use. Overfilled drawers put strain on the runners, so it pays to sort them now and then. Deal with any wet shoes or umbrellas before they mark the base.
Do you need under-stairs storage in Barking Riverside?
After a hallway is redecorated, an old, tired cupboard under the stairs can stand out. Storage made for the space and painted to suit the hall finishes the job. If decorating is planned, it is worth mentioning at the design visit so the work can be timed sensibly.
We’re often asked to help with:
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- A sloping corner nobody can reach
- Open space under the stairs that collects clutter
- A hallway crowded with coats and shoes
If you live in a flat close to Barking Riverside station, the route in is measured not just the room, and the sections are sized to fit it.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- Which parts of the job need an electrician or a plumber
- Is it spray painted or hand painted?
- Are the boards named, such as MDF or plywood?
What happens on fitting day
Getting everything level comes first. Where the floor slopes, we bring the furniture up to level on adjustable feet or a plinth, which keeps the lines straight. Only then is it fixed to the wall, with fixings chosen to suit brick, lath and plaster or plasterboard. Fitting day starts by covering floors and setting out the sections. Each piece is levelled and fixed to suit plasterboard or block. Hand-painted finishes can be completed once the furniture is in.
- To begin, send us a few details through our contact form; a brief note on the space and what it holds now is plenty.
- At the design visit we measure the space and plan the storage around the meters, so readers and engineers can still reach them.
- You receive a written quote for the storage.
- We make it in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with a door or panel left where the meters need access.
- The storage is fitted and set level, and the meter access is checked with you.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Keep pets in another room while we work
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
Starting with a design visit
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. Because every room is different, the quote comes after the design visit, when we have measured up and talked through the design. For a quote, message us from the contact page.
Related advice
What we do not do
We make and fit furniture, and we don’t do electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering or structural work. There are a few other points to bear in mind:
- Gas pipework, which needs a Gas Safe engineer
- Moving a gas or electricity meter, which is arranged through your energy supplier
- Plastering and decorating around the new storage
If in doubt, you can drop us a line using the contact form and describe the room before you arrange a visit. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Pull-out drawers
- Hand-painted finish