Merton · London
Under-Stairs Storage in West Barnes
Under-stairs storage for your home in West Barnes: 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.
- A fuse board that is hard to get to
- An under-stairs cupboard full of clutter
- An old cupboard door that doesn’t suit the hall
Under-stairs storage in West Barnes
About our under-stairs storage in West Barnes
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. That is something a standard unit cannot do, in West Barnes or anywhere else. We make under-stairs cupboards from birch ply and moisture-resistant MDF, painted by hand or sprayed, and people most often get in touch about no room for a small desk or a place to work and a dark, wasted space under the stairs.
Walls in houses from between the wars are typically straighter than in older ones, but seldom perfect. Much of the housing around West Barnes is interwar, semi-detached or detached, so we still scribe every piece to the wall. Each piece is levelled on site, so doors, lids and drawers line up.
The furniture is made at our workshop after you’ve had the quote and decided to go ahead. The quote sets out the agreed design, materials and finish, so every detail can be checked first.
- Location
- West Barnes (KT3, SW20)
- Area
- Merton
- Prices
- Quoted for your room
- First step
- Design visit, then a written quote
- Where it is made
- Made in our workshop and fitted on site
- Made from
- MDF and plywood, painted to order
- Working days
- Weekdays; Saturdays on request
- Get in touch
- Send us a message
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
West Barnes homes and under-stairs storage
Homes built between 1919 and 1939 make up about 46% of the housing in the area around West Barnes, with about 25% built before 1919, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). We take that into account at the design visit, since older and newer walls take different fixings. Within a mile of the centre of West Barnes, 5 conservation areas are recorded by Historic England. Historic England says England has around 10,000, and the controls mainly cover the outside of buildings. More than a third of the homes in the area around West Barnes (about 46%) date from between 1919 and 1939, based on the Valuation Office Agency’s 2025 council tax data. In many interwar houses the space under the stairs holds the meters or the fuse board, which must stay accessible.
For an older house near Holy Cross, the triangle under an old staircase is often deeper than it looks. Southside House, about 1.1 miles north, 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.
West Barnes is in the London Borough of Merton, about 2 miles north-east of Wimbledon. Whether your home in West Barnes is a terraced house, a flat or a newer build, we measure the room as it is and design around it. Our Merton coverage includes West Barnes, along with the rest of the borough.
In KT3 and SW20, the process is the same as anywhere else in London. We cover homes on streets such as Queens Road, Blakes Lane and Egmont Road, for under-stairs storage and any of our other fitted furniture. Neighbouring places we cover for under-stairs storage include Raynes Park (1 mile north-east), Motspur Park (1 mile north-west), Bushey Mead (1 mile north-east), Cannon Hill (1 mile east) and New Malden (1 mile west). Other parts of Merton we cover include Wimbledon (2 miles north-east), Colliers Wood (3 miles north-east), Eastfields (4 miles east), South Wimbledon (2 miles north-east), Merton Abbey (3 miles east) and Merton Park (2 miles north-east).
Landmarks near West Barnes
Our area takes in the homes around Ursuline Preparatory School, The Fountain pub and Raynes Park High School and the streets around them. There is a railway station in West Barnes itself: Motspur Park station. A little further out are Wimbledon Museum (1.9 miles north-east) and Atkinson Morley Hospital (1.2 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Derwent Floodwash.
FAQs: under-stairs storage in West Barnes
I live near Motspur Park station. Is that in your area?
Yes. We cover all of Merton and the rest of London. You can send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
Is parking a problem for fitting in West Barnes?
It can be, depending on whether your street is in a controlled parking zone. Depending on the street, a visitor permit, a paid bay or a bay suspension through the council may be needed, and suspensions often need notice. Let us know what parking is near you at the design visit, and we’ll plan around it.
Can you fit furniture on an external wall?
External walls can be colder and damper than internal ones, so we allow for ventilation behind and inside the furniture to avoid condensation. Any damp needs sorting by the right specialist before fitting.
Do I need to be in when you fit?
We need someone to let us in. It’s good to have someone there at the end to look over the work with us.
Can under-stairs storage work around the fuse board?
Yes. It is common to find a meter or fuse board under the stairs, and access has to be kept. At the design visit we measure around them and leave a clear way in. We don’t move meters, so the storage works around their current position.
How is under-stairs storage priced?
Prices are quoted for your room, once we’ve measured and talked through the design. The size of the space, the number of drawers and doors, and the finish all shape the price. For a quote, send us a few details through our contact form to arrange a design visit.
What under-stairs storage cannot fix
We design, make and fit the furniture. That means:
- Relocating meters, which your energy supplier deals with
- Gas pipework, which needs an engineer on the Gas Safe Register
- Electrical work under the stairs, which your electrician carries out
Not sure whether your space suits under-stairs storage? You can message us from the contact page and we’ll tell you. How a job runs, step by step.
What it is made from
- Coat hooks and shoe shelves
- Birch plywood
- Hand-painted finish
- Pull-out drawers
- Moisture-resistant MDF
- Spray-painted finish
The problems under-stairs storage solve
Most people get in touch because the space has become a dumping ground. Under the stairs is easy to fill and hard to sort, with things pushed to the back and lost in the dark. Well-planned drawers and shelves give each thing a home, so you can find what you need without emptying the cupboard.
Typical reasons people contact us include:
- A hallway crowded with coats and shoes
- A vacuum cleaner that has nowhere to go
- An old cupboard door that doesn’t suit the hall
- No room for a small desk or a place to work
If you live near Beverley Park, under-stairs cupboards can be designed to hold outdoor kit, from walking boots to picnic things.
Before you hire any carpenter
- Where they’ll park and unload
- Will the quote be in writing?
- Will the doors close with even gaps?
- Real projects you can actually look at
What it is made from
Moisture-resistant MDF
Because it cuts cleanly, MDF is ideal for the angled panels that follow the stairs. We use a moisture-resistant grade, which stays stable and takes paint well. It’s the main material for the parts you see.
Plinths and scribe strips
In older houses, walls and floors are seldom straight. Scribe strips and a plinth take up the difference. That keeps the lines neat all round.
How fitting works for under-stairs storage
If anything comes up on the day, just ask. Most of the decisions were made during the design visit and set out in your quote, so the day itself is about careful fitting and leaving everything tidy. The time the fitting takes depends on how much storage you want under the stairs, and we confirm the fitting days in your quote. A front path or side gate can make the carry from the van simpler. We measure the path, any steps and the front door as part of the route. Floors, stairs and doorways are protected on the way in.
- To begin, drop us a line using the contact form; a brief note on the space and what it holds now is plenty.
- At the design visit we measure the space and plan the storage around the meters, so readers and engineers can still reach them.
- A written quote follows, setting out the design, materials and finish.
- The storage is built in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, with access to the meters planned in.
- The storage is fitted and set level, and the meter access is checked with you.
How to prepare
- Let us know where the boiler and meters are
- Take anything hanging off the wall we’re fitting to
- Move anything in the hall or on the stairs out of the way
How to get a quote
To make a start, drop us a line using the contact form and tell us a little about the room and roughly what you’d like. We then arrange a design visit to measure and discuss the design, and send you a written quote afterwards.
Related advice
Flat-pack or bespoke?
Shop-bought shelves can sag over a long span. Span, depth and the weight on it decide whether a shelf sags, so a long run needs a thicker shelf, a stiffening lip or a support. We design shelves with that in mind.
Bespoke work comes into its own in rooms that are not square. In period homes, walls lean, floors slope and the alcoves on each side are often different widths.