Making the Most of Under Stairs Storage

By Navigating Party Wall Agreements with Neighbours
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29 Jun 2026

Making the Most of Under Stairs Storage

Start with the shape of the space

Mews houses are charming, compact and rarely generous with storage. The staircase is usually the one place in the hallway that has any real depth to give, and in most mews properties it is hiding a hollow triangle that has never been properly used. Before you think about doors and handles, spend twenty minutes understanding what that triangle will actually accommodate.

Measure the height from the floor to the underside of the stairs at 300mm intervals, starting at the newel post and working back. As a rough guide, anything under 900mm is best given over to drawers, shoe pull-outs or a low bench. Between 900mm and 1,500mm you have room for shelves, short hanging for jackets and shirts, or a small desk. Above 1,500mm you can hang a full-length coat without it pooling on the floor. Mark those zones on the wall in pencil — the layout then designs itself.

Sort out the services before anything is boxed in

Almost every understairs void in a mews house contains something you will need to reach one day. A stopcock, a gas meter, an electric meter, a consumer unit, a boiler, alarm wiring, or the pipework for a downstairs cloakroom. Boxing these in without a plan is the single most common regret.

Meters need ventilation as well as access. Build a louvred or slatted door, or a lift-off front panel rather than a sealed cupboard door.
Boilers need the clearances set out in the manufacturer's instructions, often 200mm above and to the sides. Cutting that fine will void the warranty and can fail a service inspection.
Leave a 50mm service void at the back of any joinery so pipework and cables are not trapped against a rigid panel.
Get the gas and electrical work checked by a qualified engineer before the joiner arrives, not after.

Cupboards, drawers and a proper boot bench

In a narrow mews hallway, what you reach for daily should be nearest the front door. That usually means coats, shoes, keys, post and the dog lead — not the Christmas decorations. A combination of tall cupboards and low drawers works far harder than a single cupboard with one shelf.

A useful arrangement is a tall cupboard at the deep end for hanging, with a double rail if the space allows, then a run of low drawers in the shallow section. Drawers of 250–300mm depth, fitted with soft-close runners, will take two pairs of adult shoes side by side. Deeper 600mm drawers swallow boots and wellies. Above them, a bench seat at 450mm high gives you somewhere to sit and pull shoes on, with the space underneath given over to open shoe storage or baskets.

In a hallway under a metre wide, protruding knobs and handles are a hazard. Push-to-open latches, routed finger pulls or slim bar handles flush to the door face all keep the run clean and reduce the chance of catching a sleeve as you pass.

Squeezing in a small desk

The lowest, darkest corner of the void is often the ideal spot for a compact desk, precisely because it is awkward for anything else. You can work with a depth of 500mm and a width of 600–900mm, which is enough for a laptop, a lamp and a couple of trays of paperwork.

Position the desk under the tallest section if the stairs allow, so you have headroom when seated.
Allow 600mm of clear knee space and check you can push the chair in without fouling the stair string.
Fit a shallow shelf above at 400–450mm above the worktop with a slim LED strip underneath for task lighting.
If the hallway must stay clear, a fold-down flap on a piano hinge gives you a desk that disappears.

Paint the back panel and the underside of the stairs in the same colour as the walls. A dark recess feels like a cupboard; a light, lit recess feels like a room.

Materials and finishes that survive a hallway

This joinery takes more punishment than anything else in the house. Painted moisture-resistant MDF is the most economical route and gives a crisp, seamless finish once filled and sprayed. Birch ply finished with a hard-wax oil is harder wearing and looks warmer, particularly in a period mews where painted panelling might feel too modern.

Take the floor finish into the recess rather than stopping it at the cupboard line — tiles or luxury vinyl in the entry zone cope with wet shoes far better than timber. A dark kickboard hides scuff marks. And paint the carcass, shelves and interior in the same colour as the doors unless you want a deliberate contrast, because a single recessive colour makes a tight hallway feel wider.

Getting it made and fitted

Understairs voids are almost never square, so ready-made units rarely sit cleanly and always leave an awkward filler panel. A local joiner will template the space, measure at three points across each opening, and scribe the panels to the wall. Expect to pay somewhere between £1,200 and £3,000 for a bespoke run, depending on size, drawer quantities and finish — considerably less than the value it adds to a mews house where every square foot counts.

Decide the floor finish and decoration sequence before fitting, since skirting and flooring usually need to run in first. Ask for adjustable shelving in at least one cupboard, and specify soft-close throughout. Do that, and the space under your stairs stops being a void and starts being the most useful metre and a half in the house.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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