Merton · London
Under-stairs storage in Copse Hill, Merton
Thinking about under-stairs storage in Copse Hill? We start with a design visit and a written quote, before anything is made.
- Space under the stairs that is hard to use
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
- The low end of the space going to waste
Under-stairs storage for your home in Copse Hill
About our under-stairs storage in Copse Hill
Where the space under the stairs opens onto a room, a compact desk can fit beneath it. A built-in desk with shelving and drawers can turn the space into a quiet corner for paperwork. Any new socket or light there is for your electrician, and we leave room and a route for the cable. It is worth talking through at the design visit in Copse Hill. Typical reasons to get in touch are stairs open to a room, with clutter on show and nowhere to put coats, shoes and bags; the furniture is made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Around Copse Hill, with interwar houses or semis making up much of the housing, the hallway may be wider than in a Victorian terrace, with room for a cupboard by the door. Bay windows suit seating with drawers or lift-up lids, with a grille where there’s a radiator underneath. Under-stairs cupboards are measured and made for the house you have.
After the design visit, we send you a quote in writing. It describes the design we discussed, the materials and the finish.
- Place
- Copse Hill (SW20, SW19)
- Borough
- Merton
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it is made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- When we fit
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Contact
- Our contact form
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Is it time for under-stairs storage?
In a smaller home, every bit of space counts. A well-designed under-stairs cupboard can take the coats, shoes, cleaning things and bags that would otherwise crowd the hall. It often eases the load on every other cupboard too.
We are often asked to help with:
- A hallway crowded with coats and shoes
- The low end of the space going to waste
- A fuse board that’s hard to get to
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
Southside House, about 0.2 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, under-stairs cupboards are scribed to walls and stair strings that are rarely straight.
Choosing a carpenter
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
- Can you see real work of theirs?
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
How fitting day works
Period rooms often have skirting boards, picture rails, cornices or coving for the furniture to meet. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details. How long fitting takes depends on the shape of the space and the number of drawers and doors, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. Some interwar and suburban streets have driveways, which can make unloading easier, so it’s worth mentioning during the design visit. Otherwise, a visitor permit or a nearby bay helps. Floors and doorways are protected while the pieces come in.
- It starts when you contact us with a few details about the space, and whether the meters or fuse board are in there.
- We visit to measure the space and talk through the design with you, keeping the meters and fuse board easy to reach.
- You receive a quote in writing for the storage we have discussed, for you to read through.
- We make every part in our workshop, shaped to the angle of your stairs. We use moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit it in your home, scribed to the stairs and the walls. Any meters stay easy to reach.
Before fitting day
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Let us know if your street is in a controlled parking zone
- Have your electrician move any sockets or switches beforehand
Getting a quote
Getting a quote starts with a few details: the room, rough measurements and some photos if you have them. To send them, send us a few details through our contact form. After that, we arrange a visit to measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote.
Advice
Under-stairs storage in Copse Hill: local notes
In the area around Copse Hill, the largest groups of homes date from before 1919 (about 34%) and between 1919 and 1939 (about 33%), according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). That matters for under-stairs cupboards, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. Part of Copse Hill is in the Wimbledon West Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Your council can advise if you’re unsure. Around a third of the homes in the area around Copse Hill (about 33%) date from between 1919 and 1939, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. In many interwar houses the space under the stairs holds the meters or the fuse board, which must stay accessible.
For families living near Hollymount School, a place for each person’s coat and shoes stops the hallway filling up. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Southside House, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent.
Copse Hill is in the London Borough of Merton, about 1 mile north-east of Wimbledon. Design visits and fitting in Copse Hill can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. Our Merton coverage includes Copse Hill, along with the rest of the borough.
Every address in SW20 and SW19 is covered for under-stairs storage. Whether you live on a street such as Camp Road, Almer Road and Mckay Road or on one nearby, we can visit to measure up for under-stairs storage. Neighbouring places we cover for under-stairs storage include Crooked Billet (1 mile north-east), Bushey Mead (1 mile south-east), Motspur Park (1 mile south-west), Wimbledon (1 mile north-east) and Raynes Park (1 mile south). Elsewhere in Merton, we also cover Colliers Wood (3 miles east), Morden (2 miles south-east), Eastfields (3 miles east), South Wimbledon (2 miles east), Merton Abbey (2 miles east) and Mitcham (4 miles east).
Landmarks near Copse Hill
Our area takes in the homes around Ursuline Preparatory School, Crooked Billet pub and The Norwegian School in London, among other places. The closest station to Copse Hill is Raynes Park station, about 0.6 miles south of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Atkinson Morley Hospital (within half a mile west) and Wimbledon Museum (0.8 miles north-east). Not far away are Henman Hill and Fishpond Wood and Beverley Meads.
Also near Copse Hill
What else we make in Copse Hill
Questions from Copse Hill
Will a conservation area stop me having under-stairs storage fitted in Copse Hill?
Not normally. Conservation area controls are mostly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, internal works that affect its character can require listed building consent, so check with the council first. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in Copse Hill?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. 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. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
Are drawers or cupboards better under the stairs?
It depends on the shape of the space and what you want to store. 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.
Is the furniture made to order?
We make it in our workshop, to the sizes taken during the design visit. Then we bring it to your home and fit it.
Do I need to be at home on fitting day?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. After that, you do not need to stay in the room.
What do you do at the measuring visit?
We measure the space and discuss the design, materials and finish. We also check the walls and floors and note radiators, sockets and other things in the way, and the written quote comes afterwards.
How we price under-stairs storage
Every room is different, so every job is quoted on its own. This is what makes the difference:
- Where a van can park, like a permit bay or a bay suspension
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Stairs, lifts and the route to the room
- The width and height of the space
Getting to the room affects the job as well. Narrow halls, tight stairs or a small lift may mean the furniture is made in more sections, and that is part of the price. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose.
Before the design visit
You do not need exact measurements or a plan. It’s enough to send:
- Examples of the look you are after
- Whether it is a house or a flat, and if there are stairs or a lift
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling
Rough measurements are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, drop us a line using the contact form. You receive a quote in writing after the visit.
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths.
It is worth being honest about cost: off-the-shelf furniture usually costs less up front. Bespoke makes more sense where the room is awkward, the space is valuable or you want the furniture to look built in.
Before and after fitting day
The finish lasts best with a little care, whether it was spray painted or hand painted. Here are our suggestions:
- Let us know about parking near your home
- Mention any decorating plans so the work can be timed well
- Bring paint colours you like to the design visit
- Find out what sits in the space now, from meters to pipes
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’ll talk it through.
Wet coats and shoes can mark paint and leave damp in a closed cupboard. Let them dry before they go away, and air the cupboard if it feels damp.