Newham · London
Under-stairs storage in Custom House, Newham
We make under-stairs storage in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood for homes in Custom House. Each piece is finished by spray or by hand, in the colour you choose.
- Needing a compact spot for a laptop
- Space under the stairs that is hard to use
- An old cupboard door that does not suit the hall
Under-stairs storage for your home in Custom House
Why bespoke in Custom House?
Flat-pack furniture is designed to be easy to carry home and quick to assemble. Bespoke storage is designed for one space and built to suit it, with birch plywood drawer boxes that hold screws well and carry weight. Which suits you depends on how much you want from the space. In a newer flat, big flat-pack units can be hard to get into the lift or through the door, while fitted furniture comes in sections sized for the route. It’s then assembled and fixed in the room.
Every room is priced on its own, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. The figure comes in your written quote after the design visit.
Why us?
- Designed for the room you have
- We visit, measure and talk through the design before we quote
- Built in our workshop and fitted in your home
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
Read our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and what to look for in a quote.
How we make under-stairs storage for Custom House
In many terraced houses, the gas meter, electricity meter or fuse board sits under the stairs. They need to stay accessible, so readings and safety checks can still be made. We plan the storage around them, usually with a door that leaves them in clear reach, so you gain storage without losing access. At the design visit in Custom House, we note what’s there and design around it. If your home has a fuse board that’s hard to get to and storage that doesn’t match the hallway, that is what under-stairs cupboards are for, made 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 we cover them while we work. Many homes around Custom House were built since 2000, and their plasterboard walls need fixings into the studs or made 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’ve agreed. It sets out the under-stairs cupboard designed for your room, what it is made from and how it’s finished, and the workshop works from it.
- Where
- Custom House (E16, E13)
- Borough
- Newham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: under-stairs storage in Custom House
Do you make under-stairs storage for homes in Custom House?
Yes. Custom House is one of the places we work, along with the rest of Newham and London. To get started, you can get in touch through our contact form with some details.
Is parking a problem for fitting in Custom House?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit.
Should I choose drawers or cupboards under the stairs?
Many designs use both. Drawers make the most of the low, deep end of the space, while a cupboard at the tall end takes coats, the vacuum or an ironing board. We talk it through at the measuring visit.
Is it possible to have a desk built under the stairs?
In many homes it is possible, if the space is open to a room and tall enough at one end. We can build a desk with shelves and drawers to suit the space. New sockets or lights are for your electrician, and we leave a route for the cables.
What if my walls and floors are out of level?
Uneven walls are normal in older London homes, and the furniture is made to deal with them. We scribe the edges to follow the wall and set the furniture level on adjustable feet or a plinth.
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. At the design visit we measure around them and leave a clear way in. We do not move meters, so the storage works around their current position.
From workshop to your room
Finishing comes last. If the furniture was spray painted in the workshop, we fill the fixing holes and touch up on site; hand painting, if that is what you chose, can be done in place once everything is fitted. The finish is always the one agreed in your quote. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on studs, so fixings go into the studs or use fixings made for the board. Floors are covered while we work, and dust is kept to a minimum.
- You let us know about the space under the stairs.
- At the design visit we measure and plan how you’ll use the space.
- A quote in writing follows.
- We make the drawers and cupboards in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood.
- We fit it in your home with a spray-painted or hand-painted finish, and run through each drawer and door with you.
- New paint needs time to cure fully, so open and close things gently at first.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
Starting with a design visit
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To get started, fill in our short enquiry form and tell us about the room. The written quote follows the visit.
Read more
Nearby places to Custom House
More for homes in Custom House
Flats, leases and landlords
If you live in a flat, getting the furniture in is planned from the start. We measure the stairs, landings, lift and doorways as well as the room, so the furniture can be made in sections that fit through.
In conversions and newer blocks, many internal walls are timber or metal stud with plasterboard. We choose fixings to suit the wall, after checking the walls during the design visit.
The problems under-stairs storage solve
Most people get in touch because the space has become a dumping ground. Under the stairs is easy to fill and hard to sort, with things pushed to the back and lost in the dark. Purpose-made drawers and shelves give everything its own place, and you no longer need to empty the cupboard to reach one thing.
If you recognise any of these, it is worth talking to us:
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- A staircase with untidy space beneath it
- Nowhere to keep the vacuum and ironing board
- A dark, wasted space under the stairs
For an older house near St Matthew's Church, under-stairs cupboards are scribed to walls and stair strings that are rarely straight.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- How parking will work on your street
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- Whether the quote follows a visit to your home
Under-stairs storage for homes in Custom House
About 64% of the homes in the streets around Custom House went up since 2000, and about 16% between 1973 and 1999, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Knowing roughly when a home was built helps, because walls and fixings change from one era to the next. There are 5 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Custom House. You can check whether a particular building is listed on Historic England’s list. Strict stopping rules apply on red routes, which TfL runs. Where a home in Custom House is on or beside a main road, it’s useful to mention that at the measuring visit. We can then plan where the van will stop.
For a flat near Custom House station, under-stairs cupboards are made in sections sized for the stairs, landings and lift, so measuring the route matters as much as measuring the room. Queen's House, about 2.3 miles south-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, pull-out drawers can reach right to the back of a deep under-stairs space.
Custom House is within the London Borough of Newham, about 1 mile north of Plaistow. We cover Custom House as part of our work across Newham. Our work takes in places right across Newham.
Here we cover the E16 and E13 postcode area for under-stairs storage. Streets in the area include Tree Road, Ethel Road and Booth Road, and homes on each of them are within our area for under-stairs storage. The A1020 runs close to Custom House, so if your home is on a main road, mention it when you get in touch. If you are just outside Custom House, we also cover West Silvertown (1 mile south-west), Silvertown (1 mile south), Canning Town (1 mile north), Royal Docks (1 mile east) and Limmo Peninsula (1 mile west). We also make under-stairs storage in nearby places such as Stratford (3 miles north-west), Forest Gate (3 miles north), East Ham (2 miles north-east), Upton Park (2 miles north), Maryland (3 miles north-west) and Upton (2 miles north).
Around Custom House
The streets we cover here include those near Royal Docks Academy, The Connaught Tavern and The Royal Docks Community School and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Custom House itself: Custom House station. Nearby you will also find Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital (0.5 miles north-east) and Charlton Athletic Museum (1.5 miles south). Not far away are Gilbert's Pit.
Materials and finishes
Hand-painted finish
Hand painting gives a slightly softer look than spraying. It can be applied on site, in a colour agreed with you. Touch-ups are simple if the paint is ever knocked.
Pull-out drawers
Deep drawers on runners let you use the low end of the space without crawling in. Each one is sized for what it will hold. Many designs use a run of drawers stepping down with the stairs.