Southwark · London
Dulwich Under-Stairs Storage
Under-stairs storage for your home in Dulwich: pull-out drawers, cupboards and coat storage under the stairs. We visit to measure and discuss the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- A hallway crowded with coats and shoes
- Cleaning things with no proper home
- Storage that does not match the hallway
Need under-stairs storage in Dulwich?
How we make under-stairs storage for Dulwich
Under-stairs storage isn’t only for houses. Maisonettes, split-level flats and homes with stairs down to a lower floor often have usable space beneath the steps. The parts we make in our workshop are sized to get through the doors and hallways on the way in. Wherever your home is in Dulwich, the process is the same. We make under-stairs cupboards from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and people most often get in touch about an old cupboard door that doesn’t suit the hall and space under the stairs that’s hard to use.
Ceilings and floors in homes built before 1919 are rarely level, and a large share of homes around Dulwich are that old. Each piece is scribed and levelled on site so it looks straight in a room that isn’t. Picture rails, skirting and cornices are worked around rather than removed.
If the job needs another trade, such as an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- Dulwich (SE22, SE21, SE23)
- Borough
- Southwark
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Materials and finish
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after fitting day
Painted fitted furniture is easy to look after. These habits help most:
- Think about how your household uses coats and shoes
- Clear the space before the design visit if you can
- Bring paint colours you like to the design visit
- Check whether your meters or fuse board are under the stairs
Heavy items are best kept in the lower drawers. It helps the runners and keeps the storage working well. We size the shelves for what you said you’d store, so stick to that and they’ll stay straight.
Do not store things in front of the meter or fuse board. You may need to reach them yourself in a hurry, so leave the path open. With its own door, the meter stays in reach without much effort.
Common questions about under-stairs storage
My home in Dulwich is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
At the design visit, we measure the way in along with the room itself. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. It helps to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Can you fit under-stairs storage to the uneven walls of an older house in Dulwich?
Yes, that’s normal in older houses: each piece is scribed to the wall and levelled at the base. Skirting, picture rails and cornices are met neatly or cut around. Fixings are chosen for the wall, whether solid brick or lath and plaster.
How is the furniture painted?
There are two choices: spray painting, done in the workshop for a smooth, even finish, or hand painting, which can be done on site. Your quote sets out which you’ve chosen.
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, but it’s useful to be around at the end.
Do I get to choose the colour?
You choose it, and we agree it with you before the furniture is finished. Spray and hand-painted finishes both use the colour you have chosen.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, we can arrange Saturdays. Just mention it when you contact us, and we will see what we can do.
Nearby places to Dulwich
Also in Dulwich
Flats, blocks and rented homes
Some blocks ask for notice before trades arrive, often through a building manager or concierge. If there is a lift, it may need booking, and its size matters when we plan the sections. Let us know about it when you contact us.
Leaseholders should check the lease before anything is fixed to the walls. Some leases need the building owner’s consent for alterations. We can’t give advice on leases.
Under-stairs storage for homes in Dulwich
Homes built before 1919 make up about 73% of the housing in the streets around Dulwich, with about 15% built between 1945 and 1972, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. The National Heritage List has 66 entries within half a mile of the centre of Dulwich. Older homes nearby may have original joinery, shutters or panelling worth keeping, and under-stairs cupboards can be designed to work around them. About 29% of households in the area around Dulwich live in flats in converted or shared houses, the 2021 Census shows. In a converted house, rooms can be odd shapes, with new partitions meeting old walls, and the way in often goes up shared stairs. A lease can require consent for alterations, so it is worth checking yours first.
If you live in a period home close to Christ's Chapel of God's Gift, under-stairs cupboards are scribed to walls and stair strings that are rarely straight. Near listed buildings like Bell House, under half a mile west of the centre of Dulwich, older homes may keep original joinery that under-stairs cupboards can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent.
Dulwich is about 1 mile north of East Dulwich, within the London Borough of Southwark. Our work covers every London borough and the City of London, Dulwich included. Dulwich is one of 21 places on our list for Southwark.
Every home in SE22, SE21 and SE23 is within our area for under-stairs storage, from the main roads to the quieter streets. If your home is on a street like Court Lane, Druce Road and Boxall Road, or close by, we can visit to measure up for under-stairs storage. The A2216 runs close to Dulwich; on busy main roads, unloading under-stairs cupboards takes a little planning. Nearby, we also make under-stairs storage in Dulwich Village (1 mile north-west), West Dulwich (1 mile south), Herne Hill (1 mile north-west), Sydenham Hill (1 mile south-east) and Forest Hill (1 mile east). Elsewhere in Southwark, we also cover Bermondsey (4 miles north), Elephant and Castle (4 miles north), Bankside (4 miles north), Southwark (4 miles north), St George's Fields (4 miles north) and Newington Butts (3 miles north).
Local landmarks in Dulwich
In Dulwich, that includes homes near Alleyn's School, The Crown and Greyhound pub and The Charter School and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is West Dulwich station, roughly 0.7 miles south-west. A little further out are Dulwich Community Hospital (0.9 miles north) and Horniman Museum and Gardens (0.8 miles south-east). Open spaces near Dulwich include Centre for Wildlife Gardening and Knight's Hill.
How fitting day works
When we arrive on fitting day, the first job is covering the floors and protecting the way in from the front door. Next, we carry in the sections built in our workshop, one at a time. How long fitting takes depends on the size of the space and the design, and your quote sets out the fitting days. In a period home, the furniture is fitted to walls that are not straight, so there’s some trimming and adjusting on site. We protect the floors and keep dust to a minimum. It is useful to let us know about parking at the design visit, as terraced streets are often busy.
- You tell us about the space under the stairs.
- At the design visit we measure and plan how you will 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.
- Treat the fresh paintwork gently while it cures; a hand-painted finish is easy to touch up later.
Before fitting day
- Arrange any electrical changes with your electrician ahead of time
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
How to get a quote
Pictures help us understand the room before we visit. Pictures of the whole wall, the corners and the ceiling line give us a good feel for the space. To send them over, drop us a line using the contact form, and we’ll suggest a time for a design visit.
Advice
Materials and finishes
Moisture-resistant MDF
Hallways see wet coats, shoes and umbrellas, so a moisture-resistant grade makes sense. It takes a spray-painted or hand-painted finish well, and stays stable once it’s fitted.
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. A set of drawers can step down to follow the line of the stairs.
What prompts under-stairs storage in Dulwich
Sometimes the reason is a meter reading or an engineer’s visit, and the struggle to reach the meter. Planned storage can leave a clear path to the meter or fuse board, and the rest of the space can still work hard.
Most of the enquiries we get are about things like these:
- A fuse board that’s hard to get to
- Needing a compact spot for a laptop
- A dark, wasted space under the stairs
- Coats and shoes piling up in the hall
Kingswood House, about 1.1 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. For a period home anywhere nearby, the triangle under an old staircase is often deeper than it looks.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- Real projects you can actually look at
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
- Whether you’ll get a written quote, not just a figure