Lewisham · London
Under-Stairs Storage in Forest Hill
Pull-out drawers, cupboards and coat storage under the stairs, designed for your room in Forest Hill. After a design visit and a written quote, it is made in our workshop and fitted in your home.
- Space under the stairs that’s hard to use
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- A low corner too deep to reach into
Under-stairs storage in Forest Hill
How we make under-stairs storage for Forest Hill
Each under-stairs cupboard is made at our workshop, using moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. Birch plywood is strong and holds screws well, which suits drawer boxes that carry weight, while MDF takes paint well for the doors and fronts. Once painted, by spray or by hand, it is brought to your home in Forest Hill and fitted. If you’re living with a sloping corner nobody can reach and a meter or fuse board buried behind clutter, that is what under-stairs cupboards are for, made from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
With a large share of homes around Forest Hill built before 1919, the space under the stairs in a terraced house often holds the gas meter, the electricity meter or the fuse board. Those have to stay reachable, so any storage is designed around them. Sash and bay windows are common in houses of that age too, and good places for seating with storage below.
Our quotes are written in plain words. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, all taken from the design visit.
- Location
- Forest Hill (SE23, SE22, SE26)
- Borough
- Lewisham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- When we fit
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
How it’s made
Doors and drawer fronts
A door for the meter or fuse board can match the rest of the fronts. It opens fully so the meter stays easy to read. Around it, the other fronts can be drawers, doors or a mix.
Spray-painted finish
Spray painting gives the fronts a very even surface. We apply it in our workshop, and the paint needs time to cure fully once it is fitted.
Is bespoke worth it?
Standard storage is built for a level floor and a square space, but the space under a staircase rarely offers either. Boxed units normally leave awkward gaps under the slope and dead space behind. Bespoke storage is designed and cut to the shape of your stairs. It is a bigger investment than a flat-pack unit, and the return is in the space it uses. Ready-made units stop well short of a tall period ceiling, and that space collects dust instead of storage. Built-in pieces can run to the cornice or the picture rail.
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the 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.
Why us?
- Work across the whole of London
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- We visit, measure and discuss the design before we quote
- A spray or hand-painted finish
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf and how to compare quotes.
Practical tips
Because fitted furniture stays put, a little upkeep goes a long way. A few pointers help:
- Plan decorating around the fitting
- Empty the cupboard so we can measure every corner
- Think about what you will keep in each drawer
- Check whether your meters or fuse board are under the stairs
Once the fitting is done, the storage is ready to use. New paintwork takes time to cure fully, so go easy on it to begin with. Avoid sticky tape, heavy knocks and harsh cleaners while it hardens.
Keep sharp or very heavy items away from the painted fronts. Store tools in a box or bag, not loose against the doors. Minor chips can be touched up with the matching colour.
Also near Forest Hill
More for homes in Forest Hill
Fitting day, step by step
In older rooms, the furniture usually has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it sits neatly against the room. How long fitting takes depends on how much storage you want under the stairs, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. Scribing is done on site, which means some cutting in the room or close by, so a clear area to work in near the room helps. Dust is kept down and cleared up as we go. Where the finish is hand-painted, it can be done after the pieces are in.
- It starts when you get in touch with some details about the space, and whether the meters or fuse board are in there.
- We visit to measure the space and go through the design with you, keeping the meters and fuse board easy to reach.
- A quote in writing follows, with the design, finish and fitting days set out.
- We make every part in our workshop, shaped to the angle of your stairs.
- We fit it in your home, scribed to the stairs and the walls.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Take down pictures, mirrors and shelves from the wall
- Leave a clear route from the front door to the room
Ask for a quote
We quote once we have seen the room. We measure the space, check the walls and floors and discuss what you’d like, and the written quote comes after. We quote each job for the room it’s going into, after the design visit. To book a design visit, fill in our short enquiry form.
Related advice
Fitted storage in Forest Hill
Homes built before 1919 make up about 57% of the housing in the area around Forest Hill, with about 17% built between 1945 and 1972, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. That matters for under-stairs cupboards, as the build era decides whether a wall is solid brick, lath and plaster, block or plasterboard. 7 conservation areas have at least part of their area within a mile of the centre of Forest Hill. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. The share of homes built before 1919 around Forest Hill, about 57%, is well above the figure for Lewisham as a whole, about 36%, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). So older-house details are more likely to come into the design of under-stairs cupboards.
If you live in a flat close to Honor Oak Park station, check any building rules on lifts and working hours early, and the sections will be sized for the way in. If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Fairlawn School, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. If your own home is listed, check with the council before fixing into original features. Kingswood House, about 1.6 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.
Forest Hill is about 2 miles north-east of New Cross, part of the London Borough of Lewisham. We design and make under-stairs storage for homes in Forest Hill, as part of our work in every London borough. In Lewisham, Forest Hill is one of the places we cover, and the borough has 22 places on our list.
We work across SE23, SE22 and SE26 for under-stairs storage. You’ll find streets here such as Ewart Road, London Road and Rojack Road, and we cover homes on all of them for under-stairs storage. Other places close to Forest Hill include Honor Oak (1 mile north), Perry Vale (1 mile south-east), Brockley (1 mile north-east), Crofton Park (1 mile north-east) and Dulwich (1 mile west). Across the rest of Lewisham, our area takes in New Cross (2 miles north-east), St Johns (2 miles north-east), Deptford (3 miles north-east), Catford (2 miles east), Lewisham (2 miles north-east) and Surrey Canal (3 miles north).
Near you in Forest Hill
The streets we cover here include those near Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich and Capitol Cinema pub, among other places. The closest station to Forest Hill is Honor Oak Park station, about 0.5 miles north-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Dulwich Community Hospital (1.5 miles north-west) and Horniman Museum and Gardens (0.5 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include One Tree Hill.
Questions from Forest Hill
Do you make under-stairs storage for homes in Forest Hill?
Yes, Forest Hill is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Lewisham and the rest of London. The first step is a design visit, where we measure and discuss the design, and then we send a quote.
Can you fit furniture in a home close to Honor Oak Park station?
Yes, homes across Lewisham 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.
Do you do the electrics?
No. Any new wiring, sockets or lights need an electrician. We’ll design around them.
Do pictures help?
Yes, they help. Pictures of the whole wall or room, including the floor and ceiling, give us a good idea of the space. You can send them when you drop us a line using the contact form.
What if the wall is cold or damp?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so ventilation behind and inside the furniture helps to avoid condensation. If there’s damp, it should be sorted before anything is fitted.
What does an under-stairs cupboard cost?
Your quote is written for your room once we’ve visited and measured. The mix of drawers, doors and shelves, and the finish you choose, all play a part. Everything is set out in a quote in writing after the visit.
Could you do it yourself?
Where bespoke earns its keep is in rooms that aren’t square. Older London rooms tend to have leaning walls, sloping floors and alcoves of different widths, which leaves standard units with gaps at the sides and top.
Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it is easy to buy.