Camden · London
Under-stairs storage in Holborn, Camden
Under-stairs storage in Holborn: 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.
- The low end of the space going to waste
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- Nowhere to put coats, shoes and bags
Need under-stairs storage in Holborn?
Under-stairs storage in Holborn: what you get
No two staircases are quite the same. The soffit slopes, the stringer sets its own line, and floors are often a little out of level. Each under-stairs cupboard we make follows those lines, so the fronts sit neatly against the stairs. It is the part of the job a boxed unit simply cannot manage. We make under-stairs cupboards from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and the usual reasons to get in touch are a fuse board that’s hard to get to and needing a compact spot for a laptop.
In a block, the lift, the corridors and the door to the flat set the size of each section. Around Holborn, most households are in purpose-built flats, so the sections for under-stairs cupboards are planned at the design visit. Common parts are protected while the pieces come in.
Our quotes are written in plain words. You’ll see what will be made, the boards used and the finish, taken from what we agreed at the visit.
- Location
- Holborn (WC1X, WC1N, EC1R)
- Area
- Camden
- Cost
- 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
- Fitting days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by prior arrangement
- Enquiries
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Caring for painted furniture
A little care keeps the finish looking good, whether it was spray painted or hand painted. These practical tips help:
- Look for meters, a fuse board or pipes before we visit
- Think about what you will keep in each drawer
- Mention any decorating plans so the work can be timed well
- Clear the space before the design visit if you can
When you load the drawers, put the heaviest things low and towards the front. It helps the runners and keeps the storage working well. Shelves are made for the things you told us about during the design visit, 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.
When you need someone else
As carpenters, we leave some work to other trades. These are worth knowing before you plan:
- Moving gas pipes under the stairs
- Reshaping or rebuilding the staircase
- Changing where a meter sits, which isn’t carpentry
If in doubt, you can use our contact form and describe the room. How a job runs, step by step.
Materials and parts
- Pull-out drawers
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Spray-painted finish
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
Places near Holborn
More for homes in Holborn
Do you need under-stairs storage in Holborn?
Others are looking for a small place to work. If the space opens onto a room, a compact desk with shelves above can sit beneath the stairs. It will not replace a full home office, but it suits paperwork and a laptop.
These come up often when people first get in touch:
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
- The low end of the space going to waste
- A meter or fuse board buried behind clutter
- An old cupboard door that does not suit the hall
If your children go to St Alban's Church of England Primary School or a school nearby, deep drawers suit the bulky things families collect, from scooters to swimming kit.
Before you choose who makes it
- Have they measured the stairs, lift and doorways?
- How the furniture will be finished, and where
- How they handle walls that are not straight
- Will they visit to measure before quoting?
What happens on fitting day
With the carcasses fixed and level, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, then checked again. How long the fitting takes depends on the shape of the space and the number of drawers and doors, and your quote sets out the fitting days. With little room to spare in a flat, pieces come in as they’re needed. Floors are covered and dust is kept down. Fixings are chosen for each wall, solid or plasterboard.
- You let us know about the stairs and what you’d like to store.
- We measure the space, the slope and the floor, and note any meters or fuse boards, because they must stay accessible.
- We talk through drawers, cupboards and coat storage, and send a written quote, with the finish set out.
- Every part is made at our workshop, ready for a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
- We fit it in your home and check every drawer and door with you. The way to any meters is left clear.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Move furniture and belongings away from the wall
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
How to get a quote
To get a quote for under-stairs storage in Holborn, tell us about the room on our contact form. Let us know the room and the rough idea. We’ll arrange a design visit, then send a written quote.
Read more
Bespoke under-stairs storage or ready-made?
Off-the-shelf storage isn’t designed around a meter or a fuse board. Fitted in front of one, it can make access awkward for readings and safety checks. Bespoke storage is planned around them from the start. Flats tend to have walls interrupted by doors, radiators and sockets, so off-the-shelf widths rarely fill the gaps. Built-in pieces are sized for each stretch of wall.
Because every job is different, the cost is set out in a written quote after the visit. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
What you get with us
- Work across the whole of London
- Designed for the room you have
- Saturday work by prior arrangement
- Edges scribed to follow your walls
Read how bespoke compares with ready-made and what a quote should include.
FAQs: under-stairs storage in Holborn
Do I need permission for fitted furniture in a conservation area?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. If your home is listed, works inside 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.
My home in Holborn is a flat. How do you get the furniture in?
We measure the route in not just the room: the stairs, landings, lift and doors. The furniture is made in sections that fit the stairs and lift, and put together in the room. If your building has rules on lift booking or working hours, or your lease needs consent for alterations, it is worth checking those early.
How long does the fitting take?
It depends on the size of the space and the design, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. We plan it once we’ve measured the room.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
No. Electrical work is not something we do; it’s a job for your electrician. We can plan cable routes into the design, and any new sockets are best done before fitting day.
Do you work on Saturdays?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Just mention it when you get in touch, and we’ll see what we can do.
Does someone need to be home during the fitting?
We need access, so someone has to let us in. After that, you don’t need to stay in the room.
Making use of tricky spaces in Holborn
The biggest shares of homes in the neighbourhood around Holborn were built before 1919 (about 44%) and since 2000 (about 20%), in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. We take that into account during the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Holborn is partly covered by the Bloomsbury Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Being in a conservation area mainly affects changes to the outside of a building, and fitted furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need planning permission. The council can confirm if you’re not sure. Red routes, run by TfL, have strict rules on stopping and loading. Where a home in Holborn is on or beside a main road, it is useful to mention that at the measuring visit. We can then plan where the van will stop.
Close to Lincoln's Inn Fields? Under-stairs cupboards can be designed to hold outdoor kit, from walking boots to picnic things. The wider area includes historic houses such as Dr Johnson's House, about 0.4 miles south-east. If your own home is a period one, under-stairs cupboards are scribed to walls and stair strings that are rarely straight.
Holborn is part of the London Borough of Camden, about 1 mile north-west of St Pancras. Anywhere in Holborn, the process is the same: we visit and measure, send a quote in writing, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it. We list Holborn among 28 places we cover in Camden.
Design visits and fitting in WC1X, WC1N and EC1R work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Our area takes in homes on streets like Shoe Lane, Drury Lane and New Square, whether you want under-stairs storage or another piece made for the room. Main roads around Holborn include the A4 and A40, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. If you are just outside Holborn, we also cover Farringdon (1 mile east), St Pancras (1 mile north-west), Clare Market (1 mile south), Smithfield (1 mile east) and Temple Bar (1 mile south). Other parts of Camden we cover include Hampstead (4 miles north-west), West Hampstead (4 miles north-west), Agar Town (2 miles north-west), Kentish Town (2 miles north-west), Greenhill (4 miles north-west) and Chalk Farm (2 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Holborn
Our area takes in the homes around City Academy, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and The Yorkshire Grey pub and the streets around them. Holborn has its own railway station: Farringdon station. Nearby you will also find Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (within half a mile west) and Montfichet's Tower (0.7 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Barnsbury Wood and Ludgate Hill.