Lambeth · London
Waterloo Under-Stairs Storage
Under-stairs storage in Waterloo: pull-out drawers, cupboards and coat storage under the stairs. We visit to measure and talk through the design, make the furniture in our workshop and fit it.
- Space under the stairs that’s hard to use
- A fuse board that’s hard to get to
- A staircase with untidy space beneath it
Ask about under-stairs storage in Waterloo
Under-stairs storage in Waterloo: what you get
Not every staircase is in a house. Maisonettes, split-level flats and homes with stairs down to a lower floor often have usable space beneath the steps. We measure the space and the route in, so the sections made in our workshop fit through the front door and along the hall. Wherever your home is in Waterloo, the process is the same. Most enquiries start with the low end of the space going to waste and a staircase with untidy space beneath it; the furniture is made from moisture-resistant MDF and strong birch plywood, with a painted finish.
A large number of homes around Waterloo date from 2000 onwards, and newer homes often have little built-in storage. Fitted storage can turn a hallway recess, a landing or the space under the stairs into somewhere useful. Walls in newer homes are often plasterboard on timber or metal studs, so the fixings are chosen for that.
A quote in writing is the clearest record of what we’ve agreed. It sets out the under-stairs cupboard designed for your room, its materials and its finish, and it’s what the workshop builds to.
- Location
- Waterloo (SE1, SE11, WC2N)
- Borough
- Lambeth
- Price
- Quoted for your room
- How it starts
- Design visit, then a quote in writing
- Making
- In our workshop, then fitted in your home
- Boards and paint
- MDF and birch plywood, painted
- Working days
- Monday to Friday; Saturdays by arrangement
- Contact
- The contact form
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
FAQs: under-stairs storage in Waterloo
I live near London Waterloo station. Is that in your area?
Yes, homes across Lambeth 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, and let us know about parking and access at the same time.
Can you make under-stairs storage for a home in Waterloo?
Yes, Waterloo is within the area we cover, which takes in all of Lambeth and the rest of London. We start with a design visit to measure the room and talk through what you need, followed by a quote.
Is an outside wall a problem for fitted furniture?
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 happens when you come to measure?
We take full measurements, look at the walls and floors and work through the design together. Access and parking are worth talking about too.
Could the space under my stairs take a desk?
Often, yes, where the space opens onto a room and there’s enough height at one end. A built-in desk with shelves above and drawers below can work well. Any socket or light there is for your electrician, and we plan around it.
Which works best under the stairs, drawers or cupboards?
The answer depends on your stairs and what you will keep there. Pull-out drawers suit the low, deep end, as they bring the back within reach. Cupboards suit the tall end, for coats or a vacuum cleaner.
How it’s made
Doors and drawer fronts
Doors and drawer fronts are made from moisture-resistant MDF and painted to your colour. Their edges are cut to follow the angle of the stairs, so the gaps stay even all the way along.
Pull-out drawers
Pull-out drawers bring the deep, low end of the space within reach. Each one is sized for what it will hold. Many designs use a run of drawers stepping down with the stairs.
Storage in Waterloo homes: local notes
About 43% of the homes in the streets around Waterloo went up since 2000, and about 18% before 1919, going by the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax figures. We take that into account at the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Near the centre of Waterloo, Historic England’s list includes Royal Festival Hall (Grade I), less than half a mile north-west, and Old Vic Theatre (Grade II*), under half a mile north-east. Listing covers the inside of a building as well as the outside, so works that affect a listed home’s character, like removing original joinery, can need listed building consent. It is worth speaking to the council’s conservation officer before the design is final. About 80% of households in the streets around Waterloo live in purpose-built flats, in the ONS Census 2021 figures. In a block, each section is sized to get up the stairs or into the lift and through the door. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.
Benjamin Franklin House, about 0.7 miles north-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area. If your own home is a period one, under-stairs cupboards are scribed to walls and stair strings that are rarely straight. If you live in a period home close to Christ Church, the space under the stairs may hold the meters or the fuse board, and the cupboards are planned around them. Living in a block of flats near London Waterloo station? Then the lift, the stair turns and the front door all set the largest piece that can come in.
Waterloo is about 2 miles south of Stockwell, within the London Borough of Lambeth. From period terraces to newer flats in Waterloo, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Our work takes in places right across Lambeth.
Here we cover the SE1, SE11 and WC2N postcode area for under-stairs storage. Whether you live on a street such as York Road, Spur Road and Bear Lane or on one nearby, we can arrange a design visit for under-stairs storage. Main roads around Waterloo include the A301 and A302, and we plan where the van can stop before fitting day. We also cover the places around Waterloo: South Bank (1 mile north-west), Bankside (1 mile north-east), Adelphi (1 mile north-west), Temple (1 mile north) and Charing Cross (1 mile north-west). Other parts of Lambeth we cover include Stockwell (2 miles south), Streatham (5 miles south), West Norwood (5 miles south), North Brixton (2 miles south), Little Portugal (2 miles south) and Clapham (3 miles south-west).
Near you in Waterloo
In Waterloo, that includes homes near The Duke of Sussex pub, Lambeth Palace Library and Oasis Academy South Bank and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Waterloo itself: London Waterloo station. Nearby you’ll also find General Lying-In Hospital (close by, under half a mile west) and Gabriel's Wharf (0.5 miles north). Green spaces nearby include St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
Is bespoke worth it?
Standard drawer units are made in fixed sizes that rarely match the depth under the stairs. Bespoke drawers are made to the depth you have, so the back of the space is used too. Each one is sized for what it will hold, from shoes to the vacuum cleaner. Separate ready-made pieces can make an open-plan room feel unplanned, whereas fitted furniture can define each part of the room.
What goes inside matters as much as the outside: rails, shelves, drawers and dividers all add work. We will talk through what you need inside at the measuring visit, then set it out in the quote.
What you get with us
- Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
- 300+ projects completed
- Workshop-made and fitted by us
- Saturday visits and fitting by prior arrangement
See bespoke vs off-the-shelf or what a quote should include.
Looking after your furniture
None of this takes much effort. Here’s what we suggest:
- Let us know about anything bulky that needs to fit
- Look for meters, a fuse board or pipes before we visit
- Make room so the whole space can be measured
- Mention any decorating plans so the work can be timed well
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.
Closing drawers fully helps keep the runners and fronts in good order. A quick sort every so often stops drawers getting too heavy. Wipe up any spills, particularly near the floor, before they dry.
Honest limits
We’d rather be clear about where our work stops:
- Reshaping or rebuilding the staircase
- Changing where a meter sits, which isn’t carpentry
- Making good the walls and ceiling, which is for a plasterer or decorator
If you are not sure what’s possible in your room, you can message us from the contact page and we will give you a straight answer before you arrange a visit. Our process from visit to fitting.
What goes into it
- Pull-out drawers
- Spray-painted finish
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Hand-painted finish
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Birch plywood
From workshop to your room
Once the main sections are fixed in place, any doors go on and any drawers or lids are fitted. Each one is adjusted until the gaps are even and it closes cleanly, and then we check it all again. How long the fitting takes depends on how much storage you want under the stairs, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. On the day, floors are covered first and the sections brought in. Each piece is levelled and fixed to suit plasterboard or block. Any hand painting can be finished on site.
- First you let us know about the stairs and what you’d like to store beneath them, 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.
- You receive a quote in writing for the storage we have discussed.
- The drawers, doors and carcasses are built in our workshop.
- The storage is fitted in your home and checked, drawer by drawer. Any meters stay easy to reach.
Getting ready for fitting day
- Book any lift and let the concierge or building manager know
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Clear the area where the furniture is going
How to get a quote
You don’t need exact measurements to get started. Everything is measured properly when we visit, including how level the floor and ceiling are. To arrange it, use our contact form and tell us about the room. The written quote follows the visit.