City of London · London
Under-stairs storage in Bishopsgate, City of London
Under-stairs storage in Bishopsgate: pull-out drawers, cupboards and coat storage under the stairs. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Open space under the stairs that collects clutter
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
- An under-stairs cupboard full of clutter
Ask about under-stairs storage in Bishopsgate
Making use of awkward spaces in Bishopsgate
In the area around Bishopsgate, the largest groups of homes date from the years since 2000 (about 41%) and before 1919 (about 22%), going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. 37 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Bishopsgate. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Near central London, streets tend to be narrow and busy, so carrying the sections from the van to the door takes planning.
The wider area includes historic houses like Mansion House, about 0.4 miles south-west. If your own home is a period one, the space under the stairs may hold the meters or the fuse board, and the cupboards are planned around them. Living in a block of flats near London Liverpool Street station? Then each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room.
Bishopsgate is in the City of London, about 1 mile west of City of London. Bishopsgate is part of the area we cover. We cover places right across the City of London, from the busiest high streets to quiet residential roads.
We make under-stairs storage across E1, EC2A and EC1Y. Streets in the area include Bush Lane, Swan Lane and Love Lane, and homes on each of them are within our area for under-stairs storage. Bishopsgate is near the A3 and A10, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you contact us. We also cover Aldgate (1 mile south-east), Spitalfields (1 mile east), City of London (1 mile west), Tower Hill (1 mile south) and Whitechapel (1 mile east).
Near you in Bishopsgate
The streets we cover here include those near The Aldgate School, St Mary-at-Hill and Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Bishopsgate itself: London Liverpool Street station. Other landmarks nearby include Gabriel's Wharf (1.2 miles south-west) and London Bridge Hospital (0.7 miles south). Green spaces nearby include Tower Hill.
Under-stairs storage for homes in Bishopsgate
In some homes the stairs rise from the living room or kitchen, so the storage beneath them is on show. Here the doors, drawer fronts and finish matter as much as the storage behind them. We can make plain or panelled fronts, painted to sit with the walls or to stand out. The result should look like part of the house, not an afterthought. If your home has cleaning things with no proper home and a dark, wasted space under the stairs, that’s what under-stairs cupboards are for, made from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted.
A large number of homes around Bishopsgate date from 2000 onwards, and in London many homes of that age are flats in newer developments. Boilers, cylinders and consumer units often sit in a hall cupboard, and any new storage keeps their access and ventilation. Shallow cupboards suit narrow halls.
A written quote is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It sets out the under-stairs cupboard designed for your room, what it’s made from and how it is finished, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Where
- Bishopsgate (E1, EC2A, EC1Y)
- Borough
- City of London
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Bespoke or off-the-shelf?
A standard unit knows nothing about your meter or fuse board. Put in the wrong place, it can block the access meter readers and engineers need. Bespoke storage is planned around them from the start. Large off-the-shelf pieces can make a small room feel smaller, whereas fitted pieces painted to suit the walls sit back into the space.
We don’t publish set prices, because each job is designed for a single room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a written quote, with the materials and finish set out. To start, tell us about the room on our contact form.
What you get with us
- Scribed to uneven walls
- Spray painted or hand painted, in the colour you choose
- We work across all London boroughs
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
Read bespoke vs off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
What it costs
What it costs comes down to the materials and the time involved. That depends on:
- How many doors and drawers there are
- The internal fittings
- Parking near your home
- The overall size of the piece
We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. A larger piece means more material and more time, so size comes first. After that, the number of doors and drawers, the internal fittings and the finish all play a part.
What to send when you contact us
Here’s what helps us most when you contact us:
- How you want to use the space
- Whether it’s a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- A few pictures of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if you do not, that is fine, and we can work it out together. At the design visit, we measure up and talk the design through with you, and the written quote then sets it out. To start, message us from the contact page.
Is it time for under-stairs storage?
The most common reason is clutter. Under the stairs is easy to fill and hard to sort, with things pushed to the back and lost in the dark. Well-planned drawers and shelves give each thing a home, so you can find what you need without emptying the cupboard.
Under-stairs storage can help with:
- Needing a compact spot for a laptop
- Space under the stairs that’s hard to use
- An old cupboard door that does not suit the hall
- The low end of the space going to waste
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Guild Church of St Ethelburga the Virgin, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent.
Choosing a carpenter
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- How parking will work on your street
- Whether the quote says what the furniture is made from
- Whether they can show you real projects they’ve done
What we don’t do
Electrics, plumbing, gas, plastering and structural work aren’t part of what we do. Please bear these in mind too:
- Plastering and decorating around the new storage
- Changing where a meter sits, which is not carpentry
- Moving gas pipes under the stairs
Not sure whether your space suits under-stairs storage? You can use our contact form and we will tell you before you arrange a visit. How it works.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Pull-out drawers
- Spray-painted finish
Questions we’re often asked
Can you fit furniture in a home close to London Liverpool Street station?
Yes, homes across the City of London and the rest of London are within the area we cover. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit, and tell us about parking and access at the same time.
Will parking be an issue for fitting furniture in Bishopsgate?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. A van may need a visitor permit, a pay-and-display bay or a suspended bay, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit. The whole City of London is also inside the Congestion Charge zone, and the ULEZ covers every London borough.
What does an under-stairs cupboard cost?
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. Drawers usually involve more work than plain shelving, and the finish makes a difference too. We set it all out in a written quote.
Should I choose drawers or cupboards under the stairs?
It depends on the shape of the space and what you want to store. Pull-out drawers suit the low, deep end, as they bring the back within reach. At the tall end, a cupboard is often better for coats and the vacuum.
Is it possible to fit storage around a meter under the stairs?
Yes. The design keeps a clear way to the meter or fuse board, normally behind its own door. Meter readers and engineers need access, so we never box them in.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. You do not need to watch us work, though we like to go over the furniture with you at the end.
What happens on fitting day
Finishing comes last. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; if you chose hand painting, that can be done in the room once the furniture is fitted. Either way, the finish is the one set out in your quote. In a newer home, floors, walls and door frames are often freshly finished, so we protect the route before carrying anything in. Door frames and corners get covers too. The sections are assembled in the room.
- You tell us about the stairs and what you’d like to store, such as coats, shoes or the vacuum cleaner.
- At the design visit, the space is measured and any meters are noted, because they must stay accessible.
- We talk through drawers, cupboards and coat storage, and send a written quote.
- The storage is built in our workshop and painted in your colour. We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- The storage is fitted, scribed to the stairs and checked with you. The way to any meters is left clear.
Before fitting day
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
Arranging a design visit
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. A few pictures showing the walls, the corners and where the ceiling meets them give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, fill in our short enquiry form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.