Islington · London
Under-Stairs Storage in Clerkenwell
Walls in older London homes are rarely straight, so we scribe the furniture to follow them. We make under-stairs storage for homes in Clerkenwell, each designed at a visit to your home.
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- Space under the stairs that’s hard to use
- The low end of the space going to waste
Under-stairs storage for your home in Clerkenwell
Practical tips
These points come up often when people plan under-stairs storage. They help before and after fitting:
- Think about handles and how the fronts will look from the hall
- Check whether your meters or fuse board are under the stairs
- Think about how your household uses coats and shoes
- Let us know about parking near your home
A soft, damp cloth is the best way to keep the fronts clean. Avoid scourers and harsh chemicals, and dry the surface after wiping. The edges of drawers and the areas around handles pick up marks first.
Keep the way to the meter or fuse board clear. You may need to reach them yourself in a hurry, so leave the path open. A dedicated door makes this easy to keep up.
Under-stairs storage for homes in Clerkenwell
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, with pull-out drawers, cupboards or a combination of the two. For a home in Clerkenwell, it starts with a design visit to measure the space and talk it through. If you’re living with a sloping corner nobody can reach and open space under the stairs that collects clutter, under-stairs cupboards made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed can solve it.
Walls in a block of flats can be concrete, brick, block or plasterboard, sometimes all in one flat. Since most households around Clerkenwell live in purpose-built flats, we check each wall at the design visit before choosing fixings. On a stud wall, heavier pieces stand on the floor and are tied back.
The quote comes in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It covers the design, materials and finish agreed at the visit.
- Place
- Clerkenwell (N1, EC1V, WC1X)
- Area
- Islington
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Making
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Boards and paint
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- When we fit
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Fitted storage in Clerkenwell
In the streets around Clerkenwell, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 32%) and the years since 2000 (about 28%), on the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax figures for 2025. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Entries on the National Heritage List near the centre of Clerkenwell include Priory Church of St John of Jerusalem (Grade I), under half a mile south, and The Charterhouse (Grade I), less than half a mile south-east. If your own home is listed, changes inside that alter its character, such as fixing into or removing original joinery, may need listed building consent. An early word with the council’s conservation officer is the best first step. A quarter or more of the homes in the area around Clerkenwell (about 26%) were built between 1945 and 1972, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. Post-war homes often have fewer nooks than older houses, so under-stairs cupboards add storage that was never built in, with fixings chosen for the wall.
If your children go to St Peter and St Paul RC Primary School or a school nearby, under-stairs cupboards can be planned around what a family needs to keep, from coats and bags to sports kit. The wider area includes historic houses such as Dr Johnson's House, about 0.8 miles south. For a period home anywhere nearby, the triangle under an old staircase is often deeper than it looks. Close to King Square Gardens? Living near green space often means muddy boots, bikes and outdoor kit, and under-stairs cupboards can give those things a place.
Clerkenwell is part of the London Borough of Islington, about 2 miles north of Highbury. Clerkenwell is part of the area we cover. Across Islington, we cover Clerkenwell and the places around it.
Every address in N1, EC1V and WC1X is within our area for under-stairs storage, from the main roads to the quieter streets. Whether you live on a street like Long Lane, City Road and Noel Road or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for under-stairs storage. Main roads around Clerkenwell include the A1 and A5201, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. Other places close to Clerkenwell include Farringdon (1 mile south), Angel (1 mile north), Smithfield (1 mile south), Holborn (1 mile south-west) and St Pancras (1 mile west). We also make under-stairs storage in nearby places like Highbury (2 miles north), Holloway (2 miles north), Mildmay (2 miles north-east), Upper Holloway (3 miles north-west), Nag's Head (2 miles north) and Lower Holloway (2 miles north). Clerkenwell is one of the larger places we cover in Islington.
Local landmarks in Clerkenwell
Around Clerkenwell, we cover homes near The Sekforde pub, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and Tech City College, among other places. There’s a railway station in Clerkenwell itself: Farringdon station. Well-known places in the area include Montfichet's Tower (0.9 miles south) and Finsbury Health Centre (a few minutes’ walk west). For a walk, there’s Barnsbury Wood and Ludgate Hill.
DIY, flat-pack or bespoke
Flat-pack and off-the-shelf furniture has its place. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it is quick to buy.
A confident DIYer can manage simple shelves or a standard wardrobe in a square room. It gets harder with sloping ceilings, out-of-level floors and lath-and-plaster walls, because scribing and the right fixings start to matter.
Questions we are often asked
Do you cover homes near Farringdon station?
Yes, homes across Islington and the rest of London are within the area we cover. To get started, you can message us from the contact page with a few details about the room, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can need listed building consent from the council. If you’re unsure, the council can confirm.
Which works best under the stairs, drawers or cupboards?
The answer depends on your stairs and what you will keep there. Drawers make the low end useful, because you pull the back of the space to you. Cupboards suit the tall end, for coats or a vacuum cleaner.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
Someone needs to let us in. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
Do you move sockets or add lighting?
No. Sockets, switches and lighting are for your electrician. We plan the furniture around where they’ll go.
Is it possible to match the colour of my hallway?
Yes. The storage is spray-painted or hand-painted in a colour agreed with you. You can match it to the walls, the banisters or the skirting, so it looks like part of the house.
What it is made from
Moisture-resistant MDF
MDF can be cut and shaped cleanly, which suits the angled panels under a staircase. We use a moisture-resistant grade, which stays stable and takes paint well. Most of what you see on the finished storage is MDF.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting suits flat, panelled and angled fronts alike. It’s carried out in the workshop for a smooth, even coat. The colour is your choice.
What affects the price in Clerkenwell
Several things affect the price:
- The number of doors and drawers
- Walls and floors that are out of level or out of square
- The overall size of the piece
- Whether you choose a spray or hand-painted finish
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. At the design visit, we work out what you need inside, then set it out in the quote.
What to send when you contact us
When you contact us, these help most:
- Anything in the way, like radiators, sockets, switches, a boiler or meters
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
- What kind of home it is, and which floor the room is on
- What the furniture needs to hold
Every quote follows a design visit. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, then send a quote in writing. Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. To arrange a visit, get in touch through our contact form.
Neighbourhoods near Clerkenwell
More for homes in Clerkenwell
From workshop to your room
There isn’t much for you to do on fitting day. Someone needs to let us in, and it helps to have the room cleared beforehand. After that, it’s over to us: the floors are covered, the sections come in and the fitting begins. How long the fitting takes depends on how much storage you want under the stairs, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. In a block of flats, the stairs, landings, lift and doors matter as much as the room: under-stairs cupboards are made in sections sized for each of them. Mansion block lifts can be small, and some blocks have no lift at all, which the design allows for.
- To begin, get in touch through our contact form; a brief note on the space and what it holds now is plenty.
- We visit to measure the slope and the floor, and agree a design that keeps any meter or fuse board accessible.
- You receive a quote in writing for the storage.
- The storage is built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with access to the meters planned in.
- We fit it in your home, scribed to the stairs and the walls, with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
Preparing the room
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Empty the space we’ll be working in
Getting a quote
If you know what you want, say so; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we have measured, and the written quote that follows sets it out. To start, fill in our short enquiry form.