Lewisham · London
Under-Stairs Storage in St Johns
Thinking about under-stairs storage in St Johns? It starts with a design visit to measure and talk through ideas, then a quote in writing, before anything is made.
- A tired under-stairs cupboard that stands out
- A low corner too deep to reach into
- Coats and shoes piling up in the hall
Under-stairs storage in St Johns
Under-stairs storage for homes in St Johns
About 36% of the homes in the streets around St Johns went up before 1919, and about 32% since 2000, 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. Part of St Johns is in the Brookmill Road Conservation Area, according to Historic England’s records. Planning controls in conservation areas are mainly concerned with the outside of buildings, so fitting furniture inside a house doesn’t normally need permission. The council can confirm if you’re not sure. About 20% of households in the area around St Johns live in flats in converted or shared houses, based on Census 2021. Conversions often leave rooms in unusual shapes, with partition walls, boxed-in pipes and chimney breasts in odd places, and the route in may go through a shared hall and stairs. A lease can require consent for alterations, so it’s worth checking yours first.
For families living near Ashmead Primary School, a place for each person’s coat and shoes stops the hallway filling up. Queen's House, about 1.1 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, the cupboard door under a period staircase can be kept or replaced to match the new storage. Near listed buildings like Church of the Ascension, about 0.6 miles east of the centre of St Johns, older homes may keep original joinery that under-stairs cupboards can be designed around. For a listed home, fixing into original features may need listed building consent.
St Johns is about 1 mile west of New Cross, part of the London Borough of Lewisham. Design visits and fitting in St Johns can be on a Saturday, by prior arrangement. St Johns is one of the places in Lewisham where we make under-stairs storage.
Here we cover the SE13, SE10 and SE8 postcode area for under-stairs storage. Our area takes in homes on streets such as Avon Road, Mill Lane and Clare Road, whether you want under-stairs storage or another piece made for the room. The A2210 and A2211 run close to St Johns; on busy main roads, unloading under-stairs cupboards takes a little planning. We also cover the places around St Johns: New Cross (1 mile west), Deptford (1 mile north), Lewisham (1 mile south-east), Telegraph Hill (1 mile west) and Ladywell (1 mile south). Elsewhere in Lewisham, we also cover Catford (2 miles south), Surrey Canal (2 miles north-west), Sydenham (3 miles south-west), Hither Green (2 miles south-east), Perry Vale (3 miles south) and Bell Green (3 miles south). As one of the bigger places in Lewisham, St Johns is covered for under-stairs storage and everything else we make.
Local landmarks in St Johns
The streets we cover here include those near Laban Centre, Wickham Arms and St. Paul's and the streets around them. There is a railway station in St Johns itself: St Johns station. A little further out are Miller General Hospital (a few minutes’ walk north) and Greenwich Castle (1.1 miles north-east). Not far away are Brookmill Road Local Nature Reserve.
Under-stairs storage in St Johns: what you get
Under-stairs cupboards often hold a gas meter, an electricity meter or the fuse board. They need to stay accessible, so readings and safety checks can still be made. Our designs keep a clear way to them, often behind their own door, so the space works hard without hiding anything that matters. At the design visit in St Johns, we note what’s there and design around it. Typical reasons to get in touch are nowhere to keep the vacuum and ironing board and a meter or fuse board buried behind clutter, and the answer is built in our workshop from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed.
Homes in an area like St Johns can come from many different periods, so the awkward spaces vary too: a bay, the space under the stairs, a hallway recess or the eaves of a converted loft. The furniture is made for the space as it is. Meters, fuse boards and boilers keep the access they need.
The quote names the materials: moisture-resistant MDF, birch plywood or both, depending on the design. The finish is stated too, whether that’s spray painting or hand painting.
- Where
- St Johns (SE13, SE10, SE8)
- Area
- Lewisham
- Cost
- Quoted for your room
- To begin
- We visit, measure, then quote
- Where it’s made
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Made from
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Fitting days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Our contact form
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Where other trades come in
We are carpenters, so some jobs belong to other trades. It is useful to know these before you plan the job:
- Changing where a meter sits, which is not carpentry
- Gas pipework, which needs a Gas Safe registered engineer
- Altering or cutting into the stairs
Not sure whether your space suits under-stairs storage? You can get in touch through our contact form and we will tell you before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
Boards, parts and finishes
- Birch plywood
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Pull-out drawers
- Hand-painted finish
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Spray-painted finish
What else we make in St Johns
Could you do it yourself?
Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there’s typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Fitted furniture is made to the room’s measurements, so it can use the full height and width.
Flat-pack and off-the-shelf furniture has its place. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it is quick to buy.
What happens on fitting day
In older rooms, the furniture typically has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. On fitting day, we cut and scribe the furniture around these details, so it sits neatly against the room. 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. Before fitting day, we check the route in as well as the room, so the furniture comes in sections sized for the route. We cover floors and doorways on the way in.
- First we hear what’s under your stairs now and what you need, such as coats, shoes or the vacuum cleaner.
- At the design visit, the space is measured and any meters are noted.
- The design is agreed and a written quote follows.
- Every part is built in our workshop, ready for a spray-painted or hand-painted finish.
- The storage is fitted, scribed to the stairs and checked with you.
Before fitting day
- Clear the walls of pictures and shelves
- Check the building’s rules for trades and lift bookings
- Clear the hallway and stairs so the sections can come through
How to get a quote
Rough measurements are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To get started, use our contact form with some details about the room. You receive a written quote after the visit.
Related advice
Why bespoke in St Johns?
Standard storage is built for a level floor and a square space, but the space under a staircase rarely offers either. A ready-made unit tends to leave gaps at the slope and wasted space at the back. Bespoke storage is designed and cut to the shape of your stairs. It costs more than something off the shelf, and what you gain is the space a standard unit can’t reach. Standard units come with shelves and rails where the maker put them, which may not suit what you need to store. Fitted furniture is laid out inside around your things.
Every piece is quoted for your room after the design visit. The price depends mainly on the size of the piece, how many doors and drawers it has and what goes inside.
Why us?
- Finished by spray or by hand
- Over 300 projects completed
- Made in moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood
- Made for your room, not a standard size
See our comparison of bespoke and off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
Questions we are often asked
Do you cover homes near St Johns station?
Yes. We cover all of Lewisham and the rest of London. You can tell us about the room on our contact form to arrange a design visit, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Can parking be tricky on fitting day in St Johns?
It can be, as controlled parking zones cover much of inner London. A van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges, often with notice. Let us know what parking is near you during the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Which works best under the stairs, drawers or cupboards?
Many designs use both. Deep pull-out drawers suit the shallow end under the bottom steps, while a cupboard at the tall end takes coats, the vacuum or an ironing board. We talk it through at the measuring visit.
Can under-stairs storage work around the fuse board?
Yes. The design keeps a clear way to the meter or fuse board, normally behind its own door. Meter readers and engineers need access, so we never box them in.
Can the under-stairs storage be painted to match the hall?
Yes. We paint the storage in the colour you choose, by spray or by hand. It can match the walls, the stairs or the woodwork, so it sits quietly in the hall.
Can you come on a Saturday?
Yes, Saturdays are possible by arrangement. Let us know when you first get in touch.
What it costs
The price for your room depends on:
- The number of doors and drawers
- What goes inside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers
- The finish: spray painted or hand painted
- Access to the room, such as stairs, lifts and narrow halls
Awkward rooms take more time: walls that lean, floors that slope and sloping ceilings all mean more scribing and cutting. That is reflected in the quote, written once we have measured up.
Helping us understand the room
To give us a picture of the room, it is useful to include:
- A few photos of the space, taken from the doorway and from each corner
- Approximate measurements of the space
- Examples of the look you’re after
- Your postcode and the borough
We quote once we have seen the room. At the visit, we measure, look at the walls and floors and discuss the design with you, then send a written quote. The price comes in a written quote, worked out from the measurements and the design you choose. To book a design visit, drop us a line using the contact form.