Barnet · London
Under-stairs storage in High Barnet, Barnet
Pull-out drawers, cupboards and coat storage under the stairs, for homes in High Barnet. We make each piece in our workshop and fit it in your home, with a spray or hand-painted finish.
- Storage that does not match the hallway
- Open space under the stairs that collects clutter
- Cleaning things with no proper home
Under-stairs storage in High Barnet
Under-stairs storage in High Barnet: what you get
The space under a staircase is often the hardest-working spot in a house, and the least organised. Our under-stairs storage is planned around what you need to store, with pull-out drawers, cupboards or a combination of the two. In High Barnet, as everywhere we work, it begins with a visit to measure and plan. We make under-stairs cupboards from MDF made to resist moisture and birch plywood, then spray-painted or hand-painted, and people most often get in touch about a vacuum cleaner that has nowhere to go and stairs open to a room, with clutter on show.
Walls in houses from between the wars are typically straighter than in older ones, but seldom perfect. Much of the housing around High Barnet is interwar, semi-detached or detached, and every piece is still scribed where it meets the wall. Each piece is levelled on site, so doors, lids and drawers line up.
If the job needs another trade, like an electrician or a plumber, we will tell you, so it can be arranged before fitting day. Our quote covers the carpentry: the design, the materials and the finish.
- Where
- High Barnet (EN5)
- Borough
- Barnet
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Made
- Workshop-made, then fitted
- Boards and paint
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Fitting days
- Weekdays (Saturdays if arranged)
- Enquiries
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Making use of awkward spaces in High Barnet
About 42% of the homes in the streets around High Barnet went up before 1919, and about 25% between 1919 and 1939, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. It is a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. There are 42 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of High Barnet. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and under-stairs cupboards can be designed to work around them. Each London borough runs its own parking controls, and Barnet is no exception. If your street in High Barnet is in a controlled parking zone, a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed. We ask about parking during the design visit, so we can plan the day around it.
If you live near King George's Fields (Monken Hadley), under-stairs cupboards can be designed to hold outdoor kit, from walking boots to picnic things. If you live in a flat close to Hadley Wood station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room.
High Barnet is within the London Borough of Barnet, about 4 miles south of Finchley. We cover High Barnet as part of our work across Barnet, and the process is the same everywhere we work. We list High Barnet among 41 places we cover in Barnet.
Every address in EN5 is covered for under-stairs storage. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Byng Road, Park Road and Kings Road, whether you want under-stairs storage or another piece made for the room. High Barnet is near the A1081; on busy main roads, unloading under-stairs cupboards takes a little planning. If you are just outside High Barnet, we also cover Hadley (1 mile east), Arkley (1 mile south-west), Totteridge (1 mile south) and Rowley Green (2 miles west). Elsewhere in Barnet, we also cover Finchley (4 miles south), Burnt Oak (4 miles south-west), East Finchley (5 miles south), Hendon (5 miles south), Whetstone (3 miles south-east) and Edgware (4 miles south-west).
Landmarks near High Barnet
Around High Barnet, we cover homes near Queen Elizabeth's School, Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and The White Lion pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Hadley Wood station, about 1.6 miles north-east. Well-known places in the area include Barnet General Hospital (0.5 miles south-west) and Spires Shopping Centre (less than half a mile east). Not far away are Barnet Countryside Centre.
Why people ask for under-stairs storage in High Barnet
Sometimes the reason is a meter reading or an engineer’s visit, and the struggle to reach the meter. Good storage can keep these in clear reach behind their own door, while the rest of the space is put to proper use.
Most of the enquiries we get are about needs like these:
- An old cupboard door that doesn’t suit the hall
- An under-stairs cupboard full of clutter
- Needing a compact spot for a laptop
- A hallway crowded with coats and shoes
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, such as Church of St John the Baptist, 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.
Choosing a carpenter
- How parking will work on your street
- Are the boards named, like MDF or plywood?
- How the doors are hung and adjusted
- Whether the finish is set out in the quote
How it’s made
Hand-painted finish
Some people prefer a hand-painted finish for its softer look. It’s done on site, in the colour you choose. Touch-ups are simple if the paint is ever knocked.
Pull-out drawers
Drawers that pull out make the back of the space easy to use. Everything is in view when the drawer is open. Shoe drawers, a drawer for the vacuum and drawers for cleaning things are all possible.
How fitting works for under-stairs storage
You won’t need to do much on the day. Someone needs to let us in, and it is useful to have the room cleared beforehand, as agreed at the design visit. After that, it is 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. Loft stairs in an interwar house can be tight, with a low ceiling at the top, so any section going up there is sized for them. The main stairs in houses of that age are normally straighter. Each section is assembled and fixed in the room.
- You get in touch and let us know what’s under the stairs now, including any gas meter, electricity meter or fuse board.
- At the design visit we measure the space and plan the storage around the meters, so readers and engineers can still reach them.
- 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.
Before fitting day
- Empty the space we will be working in
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
How to get a quote
The quote is built from the design visit. We take full measurements, see how true the walls and floors are and work through the design together. Afterwards, we send a written quote, so you can take your time with it. To book one, get in touch through our contact form.
Related advice
Looking after your furniture
A little care keeps the finish looking good. These practical tips help:
- Mention any decorating plans so the work can be timed well
- Mention any parking rules on your street
- Look for meters, a fuse board or pipes before we visit
- Decide whether you’d like coats on hooks or on a rail
If you chose a hand-painted finish, small marks can be touched in. Keep a little of the paint, or a note of the colour, for later. A spray-painted finish is smooth and even, and small marks often clean off with a damp cloth.
Damp coats and shoes put moisture into a closed space. Let them dry before they go away, and air the cupboard if it feels damp.
Also near High Barnet
What else we make in High Barnet
Is bespoke worth it?
Standard drawer units are made in fixed sizes that rarely match the depth under the stairs. Drawers made for the space can run the full depth, so nothing is lost at the back. Each one is sized for what it will hold, from shoes to the vacuum cleaner. Doors, windows and radiators rarely leave a gap that matches a standard width, which leaves ready-made pieces sitting awkwardly. Fitted furniture is designed around them.
There is no price list, because every piece is designed for one room. We measure up, discuss the design and send a quote in writing, with the materials and finish set out. To start, use our contact form.
Why us?
- Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
- Saturdays by arrangement
- Moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Over 300 projects completed
Take a look at our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
Common questions about under-stairs storage
Do you make under-stairs storage for homes in High Barnet?
Yes. We cover all of Barnet and the rest of London, and High Barnet is part of that. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
Does a conservation area in or near High Barnet affect fitted furniture?
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 may need listed building consent from the council. The council’s planning or conservation team can tell you if in doubt.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need someone to let us in at the start of the day. It also helps to have someone around at the end, so we can go over the finished furniture together.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
It needs a little planning: leaving ventilation behind and inside helps stop condensation. We do not treat damp, so any damp should be sorted before fitting day.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
No. Any new wiring, sockets or lights need an electrician. We plan the furniture around where they’ll go.
What happens when you come to measure?
It’s a chance to measure properly and talk through what you’d like. We look at the walls, floors and anything the furniture has to work around, and the written quote comes afterwards.