We can’t all be Harry Potter and get swept away from our glaring under-stair life clutter by a joyful wizard.
No, the rest of us are left to create and employ under-stairs storage ideas all on our own. Sometimes, that means covering up the clutter, and other times, it’s utilizing the space in innovative ways.
Whether you’re a homeowner and the under-stair nook storage solution is your latest renovation project for maximizing available space, or you’re a renter seeking non-permanent ways to use that extra space, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll tell you how to use the space under your stairs in ways that are functional but don’t clutter up your style.
1. Maximize Space With Pull-Out Drawers
The first of our modern under stairs ideas is to maximize unused space with custom pull-out discreet drawers featuring drawer slides for smooth operation. Storage bins and drawers with drawer slides are great for storing shoes and shoelaces, table linens, office supplies, candles, flashlights, and batteries – anything you want hidden in discreet drawers!
Custom-sized drawers come in all shapes, colors, and arrangement styles, which can help you utilize the unique angles of your particular stair cubby. If you own the house, you may be able to install built-in drawers right into the walls. If you’re looking for a more temporary solution, measure the area under the stairs and find an external unit with drawers that’ll fit well.
2. Conceal Clutter Behind Cabinet Doors
Installing custom storage cabinets with sliding doors or a concealed door in the under-stair nook is a great way to utilize the space for storing large or miscellaneous items in lockable storage while maintaining a clean and streamlined look. We suggest using these closed cabinets to store things you use less frequently since the doors might prevent fast access.
If you’re renting, you can utilize this under stair closet storage idea by fitting a free-standing storage cabinet made from recycled material into the nook. For a more permanent solution, homeowners can explore built-in storage cabinet options.
3. Display Pictures on Open Shelves
Add some personality to the extra space under your stairs by displaying your favorite photos, artwork, or decorative items on some stylish open shelving units with LED lights for accent lighting.
Here’s a quick pro-decorator-inspired under-stairs shelving idea: install wall-mounted shelving units at different heights with tiered customer height options, using contrast against a natural wood slat wall to create a sleek modern look, or set some free-floating adjustable shelves unit for endless customization options.
For homeowners, installing built-in bookshelves and shelving units into the wall can save even more space. Cute baskets and stylish storage bins made from recycled material are great ways to store extra goods without taking away from the art-and-photo display.
4. Build a Cozy Reading Nook
Here’s my personal favorite modern under stair storage idea: convert that unused under-stair nook into a peace-and-relaxation-focused magical nook reading retreat.
Install small built-in bookshelves or a slide-in-place shelves unit with LED lights and all your current favorite novels. Some people might consider a comfortable chair and an end table, while others might prefer an on-the-ground style cozy nook with throw pillows and bean bags. Regardless, a cozy reading nook with your favorite style of comfortable seating can convert that stair space into the perfect escape.
5. Organize Pantry Essentials Under the Stairs
Tired of stale snacks and multiple open bags of flour cluttering kitchen cabinets? Why not use that extra storage space under your stairs to create a convenient and organized pantry for all those miscellaneous kitchen essentials?
Install some shelving units, rolling pull-out drawers, and some joy-inspiring baskets to store all those extra dry food goods, bowls, plates, and kitchenware that doesn’t get much use.
6. Create a Mudroom for Entryway Organization
This next under stair closet storage idea is especially helpful if your under stair closet area is by an entrance: convert it to a mudroom!
Keep your entryway tidy and organized by creating a mini mudroom under your stairs using cube storage organizers and storage bins. Innovate a cube storage organizer cubby system for shoes and outdoor accessories in plastic clothes organizers, and install a few hooks for bags and jackets. If you’ve got the space, add a storage bench you can sit on while you slip into your shoes!
7. Tuck Away Laundry Appliances
Homeowners can take this spacious opportunity to get their washer and dryer out of the bathroom, basement, or kitchen by converting that under-stairs dead space into a hidden laundry area.
You’ll need water, power, gas, and ventilation, of course. Then, throw some doors, a divider, or a curtain up, and you’ve created the ideal spot for an out-of-sight laundry room. But why stop there? While your tools are out, install a built-in counter, and you’ll have a place to fold clothes and store laundry baskets and detergent!
8. Design a Home Office for Productivity
For work-at-homers interested in capitalizing off that space under the stairs, design ideas like carving out a dedicated workspace might be more your speed. That’s right – that underutilized space under the stairs is the perfect spot to fit a small desk. Not only will the home office increase productivity and inspire creativity, but it also establishes a cozy spot to store all your pens, pencils, envelopes, etc.
If you’re renting the house, your mini home office can be as simple as a desk with built-in storage and an office chair. But if permanent structures are allowed, why not utilize the wall space for floating shelving units with LED lights and built-in bookshelves plus discreet drawers to free your above-desk area for the task at hand?
9. Craft a Playful Kids’ Zone
If that compact under-stair nook and triangular shape space isn’t too cramped, convert it into a fun and functional play area for your kids! Add colorful cube storage organizers, a chalkboard wall, some floor mats, and comfy seating to create a full-fledged kid’s zone in your own home.
If you’ve got the square footage, throw in a storage bench and line the walls with discreet drawers, cube storage organizers, and built-in bookshelves for legos, art supplies, and some of your children’s favorite books. A kids’ play zone also makes convenient storage for all the toys that clutter their bedrooms.
10. Store a Fine Wine Collection in a Custom Wine Cellar
If you’ve got a small space under the stairs, design ideas for a wine cellar or hidden wine room that help you display your stylish collection of wine in a wine display are a great way to hit guests with a classy surprise. Take the chance to show off all those fancy bottles of wine you’ve collected as gifts and souvenirs, and to display those majestic wine glasses you keep stored in the kitchen.
The first step to your fresh new under-stair wine cellar storage is custom racks with a wine display, stylish LED lights, and a surface made from travertine slabs to pour glasses of wine for your guests. Once you’ve figured out the wine display and wine glass arrangement in your wine cellar, you can add luxuries like climate control and maybe even a glass concealed door or sliding doors display-case-style entrance to your hidden wine room.
11. Mix Drinks at Your Under-Stair Bar
If wine isn’t your thing, but you like the clever wine cellar idea described above, how about converting that awkward space into one of those trendy home bars? You can keep your under stairs bar a hidden space by installing lockable storage cabinet doors with sliding doors or display your fine liquors, mixers, and cocktail glasses for your guests to see like you’re the star of a Coppola film.
Start with a countertop surface made from travertine slabs or recycled material to make your drinks on and shelving units or storage cabinets with LED lights to store your favorite spirits and glassware. A mini fridge with freezer space for some cold beers, mixers, and ice makes an under-stairs bar even more convenient – if you can install a sink and drain for a full wet bar, we’ll be really impressed.
12. Pamper Your Pet With a Cozy Bed
That’s right; our furry friends dig the idea of a cozy nook under the stairs as much as we do. Another of our favorite under stair ideas in living rooms is to pamper your pet with their own private retreat.
Build a custom dog house with cozy bedding made from recycled material and their favorite toys stored in cube storage organizers.
Or, for cat lovers, you can arrange a series of cat towers into a jungle gym for your floofs to fly up and down and sleep on. And it doesn’t just have to be for the fluffy critters; an aquarium or terrarium space for fish or reptiles is another creative solution.
Built-in storage cabinets with concealed doors, or shelved baskets and storage bins made from recycled material are a great place to store food, toys, and treats. Plus, keeping their food and water bowls in their pet play area frees up space in the rest of the house.
13. Stash Valuables in a Secret Compartment
Keep your valuables safe and secure by concocting a hidden lockable storage compartment behind a concealed door under your stairs. If you’re wondering how to hide storage items under stairs to keep your valuables out of sight, and you own the home, try installing a hidden safe with lockable storage behind a concealed door in the wall.
More temporary solutions include a false back that functions as a door to a hidden space, a bookshelf with fake books that are actually lock boxes, or a drawer or closed storage bin with a false bottom. Even a safe inside a vault inside the area under your stairs protected by a locking door is a great way to keep your valuables out of sight and secure.
14. Tidy up Toys in Colorful Bins
Your stair space might not be large enough for a playroom, but you can still declutter your living space by converting it into a toy storage room.
First, employ colorful storage bins and cube storage organizers to keep your children’s toys organized and tucked away when not in use. Then, stash these colorful bins into a cute and cozy arrangement under the stairs.
Label each bin to make it easy for kids to find the toy they’re looking for and to demonstrate the value of putting things back where they belong as soon as you’re done!
15. Spark Creativity at a Dedicated Craft Station
Maybe you already have a WFH office and need a creative space to help enforce those work-art boundaries. In that case, encourage that creativity by converting your under stairs storage space into a dedicated craft station.
Throw a comfortable chair and your favorite crafting table in there, and add some storage bins, shelving units with LED lights, or discreet drawers with drawer slides for the art supplies, materials, and tools of your medium of choice. If you need power, an extension cord or power strip can help. You’ll want to ensure you have proper lighting, creative designs and decorations, and inspirational research materials incorporated into your new mini art studio.
16. Organize Cleaning Supplies in a Slide-Out Caddy
If your particular under-stair area has limited space, consider utilizing it to store your cleaning supplies. You could organize your cleaning supplies into a slide-out caddy under the stairs for easy access, keeping your cleaning essentials nice and neatly in one place.
Another clever solution is to keep a wheel-equipped cart stocked with your cleaning supplies in the area under the stairs. That way, you can wheel the cart into the room you’re cleaning and wheel it back under the stairs when you’re done. Install a stylish curtain to keep the cleaning cart out of sight.
17. Organize Sports Equipment for Easy Access
Convert the area under the stairs into a sports gear wall by installing wall-mounted hooks and shelves to organize your bicycle, bike supplies, balls, and sports gear all in one place.
External wire shelving units made from recycled material are a great way to store protective and outdoor gear if you’re renting. That said, a built-in gear wall with an integrated system of hooks and shelving units takes less space if you’ve got the resources and permission to employ a more permanent solution.
18. Designate a Drop Zone for Keys and Mail
Throw an aesthetic table or desk under your stairs to establish a convenient drop zone for keys, mail, and other essentials right by the entryway. Not only does a designated drop zone ensure you’re never looking for documents and envelopes, but it also keeps your countertops and coffee clear and clutter-free.
Add some eye-pleasing stands for your umbrellas, a tray on top of the table for sunglasses, keys, letter openers, wallets, maybe a few pens, and a calendar for keeping payments organized. While you’re at it, why not add a phone charging station?
19. Find Your Zen in a Meditation Corner
Another of our favorite under stairs decoration ideas is building a meditation station in your under-stair nook as a peaceful meditation station or magical nook. Toss a comfy sitting cushion, a few throw pillows, a prayer rug, and maybe even a yoga mat. Now, you’ve got yourself a peaceful retreat under the stairs for meditation, relaxation, and stretching!
Enhance the tranquil vibes with your favorite calming decor, soft LED lights, scented candles, and Bluetooth speaker tuned to your favorite meditation playlist. Add a comfortable cushion, calming decor, and soft lighting to create a serene atmosphere. Keep your secret retreat space hidden with a pull-back curtain – twinkling lights can add a little extra magic.
20. Show Off Your Green Thumb
Why not start an indoor garden in that awkward space under the stairs? The options are endless! You can set up shelving units with LED lights and line the shelves with potted plants. Or install a plant grid set-up directly onto the floor and have a literal indoor garden.
Use any extra shelf space for watering cans and bags of soil and nutrients. You can even hang a few grow lights and foster a plant collection that wouldn’t normally thrive indoors!
21. Showcase Collectibles in a Display Case
Whether it’s your own artwork, collectible art acquired over the years, or your kid’s clay projects and Lego art, a collectible display case in the triangular shape under-stair nook is a great use of your staircase storage space. Use open cube storage organizers, gallery LED lights, or arrange shelving units in an innovative pattern.
Or, you can add display tables and glass doors. And it doesn’t just have to be art. Maybe it’s time to take those old wrestler figurines, comic books, action figures out of storage. Open up that crate full of bean-stuffed plush toys you swore were worth something back in the 90s, put them on display, and celebrate your hobbies!
22. Store Linens in a Hidden Drawer
Employ an under stair closet storage system with discreet drawers, plastic clothes organizers, and sliding doors to keep all those extra linens organized and out of sight. You can declutter your bathroom, bedroom, or laundry room closet by staging extra linens in a hidden room under the stairs.
Built-in custom-sized discreet drawers with drawer slides are a great option for homeowners, as they allow you to maximize the uniquely triangular shape space.Ready Or, you can line the under stair storage space with shelves stuffed with folded linens and put a door or curtain system on the outside to keep it secret.
23. Slide Out Shoes From a Convenient Rack
If there isn’t ample storage space for a full-fledged mudroom, there may still be plenty of space to convert the area under the stairs into a shoe storage room. Install a slide-out shoe rack with drawer slides that allows you to organize all your shoes onto the pull-out rack in an attractive array and then tuck it all away behind sliding doors.
A shoe rack paints an inviting picture for your guests while prompting them to take their shoes off as they enter. And tucking the shoe rack into your under stairs storage nook keeps your home’s entrance nice and tidy.
24. Sort Laundry With Built-in Hampers
If you own the home you’re living in or rent but have permission to do some customs remodeling jobs, built-in hampers are a creative use for that under-the-stairs storage space. Hampers keep dirty clothes out of sight, and slipping those hampers into the under stair space frees your bedroom from dirty clothes.
You can employ an under-stair closet storage system for your hampers that allows you to sort your dirty clothes, one for darks – one for lights, one for towels, one for socks, etc. – to streamline your washing process. Paint the walls with fun colors or add wallpaper or artwork so the space looks cozy, organized and less like a Goodwill donation bin.
25. File Documents in a Hidden Cabinet
That under stair storage space is a great place to fit a file cabinet or two. Take advantage of the unique shape of your under stairs space by using single-drawer file cabinets and stacking them vertically, following the slope of the cubby ceiling.
Or you can install built-in locking cabinets into the wall that do the same job, providing you use drawers shaped and equipped for stashing folders of documents. Keeping your important documents organized and secure in a hidden filing cabinet under the stairs maximizes space and keeps your home office clutter-free.
26. Stack Games on Labeled Shelves
Free up the space in your study, bedroom, or living room by turning that area under your stairs into a board game room! If it’s a smaller space, open natural wood slat wall shelving units with LED lights give your board game room a classic and refined feel. These wood shelves can serve as a means of displaying your steller board game collection.
But if that under stairs cupboard area is large enough for a table, you can actually turn it into a game room where you can play board games with the fam. If you’ve got the space, we suggest organizing those rustic wood shelves at varying heights to add some fun fluidity to the game room’s vibe.
27. Tuck Away Decorations in Bins
Ready to spare yourself those monthly attic trips or free up some space in your garage, storage unit, or basement?
One of our most pragmatic under stairs organization ideas is to organize seasonal decorations in color-coded storage bins made from recycled material and cube storage organizers under the stairs, protecting them from harm and keeping them hidden in lockable storage during the off-seasons.
You can use closed storage cabinets with sliding doors or concealed doors to store irrelevant seasonal decorations, and open shelving units can keep delicate items like guest wine glasses and fine china visible but out of the way.
28. Conceal an Ironing Station
Wouldn’t it be great if you could iron your clothes and watch TV at the same time? Another one of our under stairs ideas can help you do just that. 86 that bulky ironing corner from your bedroom by converting that inviting space under the stairs into a discreet and convenient ironing station.
If your ironing board takes up a significant chunk of that limited space, consider mounting a legless ironing board on top of a storage cubby to help. The cubby can use old sewing supplies and extra fabric without taking up extra space.
29. Incorporate a Pull-Out Recycling Center
The last of our space under stairs design ideas aims to make your home-recycling system easier and more streamlined using an integrated system of cube storage organizers made from recycled material by converting the triangular shape space to a convenient under-the-stairs pull-out recycling center.
Regardless of which of the following setups you go with, we suggest some cabinet doors or a curtain to keep your DIY recycling center out of view. You could keep it simple and line the space with various storage bins and cube storage organizers color-coded for different types of recycled materials. Or, keep a utility cart in there to hold all the bins. Then, when recycling day comes around, you just wheel your whole cart out to the street!
Whether you choose built-in bookshelves, discreet drawers with drawer slides, cube storage organizers made from recycled material, or a hidden wine room with wine displays, the key to success is maximizing available space in your unique triangular shape under-stair nook. Add finishing touches like LED lights, a natural wood slat wall, or elegant travertine slabs to create a magical nook that perfectly fits your needs and home style.
How SpareFoot Can Help Maximize Your Storage Space
Hopefully, you found at least one of our under stair storage ideas offers the inspirational solutions you were looking for when asking how to use the space under your stairs. With a little bit of time and money and a whole lot of ingenuity, these creative solutions can help you convert the often-overlooked area under your stairs into a much-needed storage closet.
That said, not every under stairs area is created equally in terms of height, shape, depth, and wall stud support.
Furthermore, even if one of our pro-inspired under stairs storage solutions frees up some space for you, you still have to choose just one option for our massive list!
For example, let’s say you liberate some bedroom or living room space by moving your desk into the area under the stairs. A home office is a great space-saving solution, but what can you do with your out-of-season sports gear and holiday decorations if your desk claims the spot first?
SpareFoot is here to help. Just punch your zip code into our handy SpareFoot storage unit locator tool, and we’ll provide the largest online storage unit marketplace available to find the most affordable options in your neighborhood.
Is price the biggest factor? How about distance? Do you want a storage unit closer to work, home, or the gym? Our search tool isolates what’s most important to you by filtering your storage unit search results based on hyper-specific search parameters. Enter your zip code now, and we’ll even help you narrow it down to storage facilities that offer a month of free storage!
Michael Ta’Nous
Michael Ta’Nous is a full-time writer who works and lives with his wife in Taos, New Mexico. “Mikey” spent his early twenties living either out of a van as a touring musician or out of a backpack on motorcycle trips writing from cafes–these rigorous adventure years polished him into a master packer. In addition to managing storage units full of catering supplies and outdoor gear professionally, Michael has used storage units as a band rehearsal space and a motorcycle garage.
