Where people start
- One cupboard door into a black hole full of the hoover and a broken lamp.
- Coats, shoes and school bags on the hall floor every single morning.
- The back of the void is unreachable without crawling.
- The meter or the consumer unit is under there and has to stay accessible.
Where they end up
- Drawers on runners that pull the back of the void out to you.
- Doors cut to the exact angle of the stairs, not stopped square below them.
- A bench with hooks above it, so the hall has somewhere for coats and shoes.
- Meters and stopcocks behind a removable panel rather than sealed in.
How the job runs
Step by step, and nothing owed until step three.
- 01
Measuring the rake
Every staircase is a slightly different angle and the string is rarely straight along its whole length. That angle is templated rather than assumed, because a door cut to the wrong rake shows immediately.
- 02
Dividing the void
Tall end, middle, low end. Each wants a different thing: full-height hanging or a cupboard at the tall end, drawers in the middle, shallow pull-outs for shoes at the low end.
- 03
Making and fitting
Carcasses and fronts made to the template, then fitted, scribed to the skirting and finished. Runners for the deep drawers are rated for the weight, because a drawer full of tools is heavy.
What we work with
- Painted MDF, oak veneer and laminate fronts
- Heavy-duty full-extension drawer runners
- Push-to-open and handleless fronts for narrow halls
- Integrated benches, coat hooks and shoe racks
- Removable access panels for meters and stopcocks
The guarantee
12 months on the joinery, the fitting and the runners.
Insurance
Fully covered by public liability insurance.
Divide the triangle into three
The tall end. Full height. Coats, the hoover, a full-length cupboard, or a bar.
The middle. Deep drawers on full-extension runners. This is where the storage actually is, and where a door instead of a drawer wastes it.
The low end. Too short to stand anything in, ideal for shallow shoe pull-outs.
Treating the whole void as one cupboard is what makes it useless. Treating it as three different problems is what makes it the most useful metre in the house.
Common questions
Asked often enough to answer here.
How much does under-stairs storage cost?
A run of drawers and angled cupboards typically runs £900 to £2,500 depending on width, the finish and how many drawers there are. Adding a bench and hooks is usually a few hundred more.
Drawers or cupboards?
Drawers, wherever the width allows it. A cupboard under stairs means kneeling and reaching into the dark. A drawer brings the back of the void out to you standing up, and that is the entire point.
The gas meter is under our stairs. Is that a problem?
No, but it changes the design. Meters, stopcocks and consumer units all need to stay reachable, so they get a removable panel or a dedicated door rather than being built over.
Can you fit a downstairs loo under there instead?
We do not do the plumbing side, but Arshdeep will tell you honestly on the visit whether the space and the drainage make it realistic before you spend money finding out.
Will it stick out into the hallway?
It should not. The fronts sit in line with the stair string and the skirting runs across the bottom, so it reads as part of the staircase rather than a unit pushed against it. Handleless fronts help in a narrow hall.
Can you match the paint to our hall?
Yes. Supply it primed for your decorator, or we finish it in your colour. Matching the hall makes it disappear, which is usually what you want.
The next step