Tower Hamlets · London
Under-Stairs Storage in Old Ford
For homes in Old Ford, we make under-stairs storage from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood. The finish is spray painted or hand painted, in a colour agreed with you.
- A sloping corner nobody can reach
- Coats and shoes piling up in the hall
- An under-stairs cupboard full of clutter
Under-stairs storage in Old Ford
Under-stairs storage in Old Ford
The space under a staircase is often the hardest-working spot in a house, and the least organised. We design under-stairs storage around the things you actually want to keep there, with pull-out drawers, cupboards or a combination of the two. For a home in Old Ford, it starts with a design visit to measure the space and talk it through. We make under-stairs cupboards from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, spray-painted or hand-painted, and people most often get in touch about a fuse board that’s hard to get to and no room for a small desk or a place to work.
Many homes around Old Ford have been built since 2000, and newer homes often have little built-in storage. Halls, landings and the space beneath the stairs are where fitted storage can help. Plasterboard stud walls are common, so fixings go into the studs or use fixings made for the board.
The quote comes in writing, so there’s time to read it properly and talk it over at home. It records the design, the materials and the finish we discussed.
- Location
- Old Ford (E3, E15, E9)
- Borough
- Tower Hamlets
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- A design visit: we measure and talk it through
- Where it’s made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Materials and finish
- Painted MDF and birch ply
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Enquiries
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
What prompts under-stairs storage in Old Ford
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:
- Nowhere to keep the vacuum and ironing board
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
- An old cupboard door that does not suit the hall
- Coats and shoes piling up in the hall
If your home is as old as some of the listed buildings nearby, like Church of St Mary Stratford Bow, original features like shutters, panelling and fireplaces are worth designing around. For a listed home, fixing into original features can require listed building consent.
Before you choose who makes it
- How they handle walls that aren’t straight
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Real projects you can actually look at
- Will other trades be needed, and who arranges them?
What affects the cost of under-stairs storage
There is no set price, because there’s no set room. The things that affect it are:
- The number of doors and drawers
- Parking and unloading on your street
- Spray painting or hand painting
- The internal fittings
No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because the size, the layout and the finish all vary. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. You’ll see the figure in your written quote, after the design visit.
Before the design visit
When you contact us, these help most:
- Any ideas or images you have saved
- Anything fixed to the wall that the furniture needs to work around
- How you want to use the space
- Rough measurements, even if they’re only to the nearest few centimetres
Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To get started, fill in our short enquiry form and let us know about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Before and after fitting day
None of this takes much effort. What we’d suggest:
- Make room so the whole space can be measured
- Plan decorating around the fitting
- Think about handles and how the fronts will look from the hall
- Find out what sits in the space now, from meters to pipes
Heavy items are best kept in the lower drawers. That keeps the drawers running smoothly and the load where the carcass is strongest. Shelves are made for the things you told us about at the design visit, so stick to that and they’ll stay straight.
Keep the way to the meter or fuse board clear. 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 Old Ford 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. Under-stairs cupboards are made at our workshop in sections sized to fit that route, then assembled in your flat. It helps to check any building rules and your lease before fitting day.
Will a conservation area stop me having under-stairs storage fitted in Old Ford?
Typically not: conservation area rules mainly cover the outside of buildings, and fitted furniture inside a house does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are different, as works inside that affect their character can require listed building consent from the council. If you are unsure, the council can confirm.
What happens during the design visit?
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, then send a quote in writing.
What if my walls and floors are out of level?
That is normal in older homes, and it is what scribing is for. Edges are scribed to the wall, and adjustable feet or a plinth bring the furniture up to level.
Can you add sockets inside the units?
No. Electrical work isn’t something we do; it’s a job for your electrician. We can allow for cable routes in the design.
Who chooses the colour?
You choose it. We agree the colour with you before anything is painted.
Storage in Old Ford homes: local notes
About 49% of the homes in the area around Old Ford went up since 2000, and about 16% between 1945 and 1972, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. It’s a good starting point, though every room is still measured, as two homes of the same age rarely match. There are 29 entries on the National Heritage List within half a mile of the centre of Old Ford. Original fireplaces, shutters and panelling are worth keeping where they survive, and the furniture can be designed around them rather than over them. Since the zone was extended to the outer boroughs in August 2023, the whole of London has been inside the ULEZ. It applies to the vans that deliver and fit furniture in Old Ford, as it does anywhere else in London. Parking and access are planned during the design visit.
If you live in a flat close to Hackney Wick station, each piece is planned so it can be carried up and joined together in the room. Sutton House, about 1.5 miles north-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the space under the stairs may hold the meters or the fuse board, and the cupboards are planned around them.
Old Ford is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, about 2 miles south-west of Whitechapel. Old Ford is part of the area we cover. Our work takes in places right across Tower Hamlets, large and small.
Postcode districts we cover here for under-stairs storage: E3, E15 and E9. Streets in the area include Bow Road, Wick Lane and Dace Road, and we cover homes on all of them for under-stairs storage. If you’re just outside Old Ford, we also cover Donnybrook Quarter (1 mile west), Fish Island (1 mile north), Bow (1 mile south-west), Hackney Wick (1 mile north) and Bromley (1 mile south). Other parts of Tower Hamlets we cover include Whitechapel (2 miles south-west), Spitalfields (3 miles south-west), Tower Hill (3 miles south-west), Bethnal Green (2 miles west), Shadwell (2 miles south-west) and Stepney (2 miles south-west).
Around Old Ford
Around Old Ford, we cover homes near Old Ford Primary - A Paradigm Academy and The Lea Tavern and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Hackney Wick station, roughly 0.6 miles north of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Westfield Stratford City (0.9 miles north-east) and St Clement's Hospital (0.7 miles south-west). Green spaces nearby include Old Ford Island.
What happens on fitting day
You are welcome to ask questions while we work. The design, materials and finish were settled before anything was made, so the day itself is about careful fitting and leaving the room tidy. How long the fitting takes depends on the shape of the space and the number of drawers and doors, and the fitting days are 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 protected throughout, as many newer homes have finished floors that mark easily, and dust is kept to a minimum.
- First we hear what’s under your stairs now and what you need, such as coats, shoes or the vacuum cleaner.
- We measure the space, the slope and the floor, and note any meters or fuse boards.
- We talk through drawers, cupboards and coat storage, and send a quote in writing.
- The storage is made at our workshop and painted in your colour.
- We fit it in your home and check every drawer and door with you.
How to prepare
- Point out meters, boilers and fuse boards near the furniture
- If you live in a block, book the lift and tell the building manager
- Let us know about parking near your home
Ask for a quote
If you already have something in mind, tell us; if not, we can work it out together at the visit. The design is talked through at the visit, once we’ve measured, and the written quote then sets it out. To start, drop us a line using the contact form.
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Other services in Old Ford
How it’s made
Spray-painted finish
A spray-painted finish works well on plain and panelled fronts. We do it in our workshop, where the finish can be kept even. Any paint colour agreed with you can be used.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is made in layers, which makes it strong and stable. It goes into the carcasses, the shelves and the drawer boxes, with the edge either shown or painted.