Most houses have a wasted triangular space underneath the staircase, which can be valuable especially if you’re lacking storage elsewhere in your home. Here’s a few ideas for making the most of of this space.

Coat storage

Usually your staircase is near to your front door or hallway, meaning it’s nearby to where you’d be dropping off coats and shoes. So it makes sense to store coats here - which you can achieve if you have a lot of room to play with or only a small bit. A simple door with a coat-rack inside works, or something fancier like a pull out coat-rack is a good use of space.

Desk area

If you’ve not got the space for an office in your home, or if you only need a desk for occasional use, this is a simple but effective way of using up the space underneath the stairs. You’d probably want to keep it uncluttered and it wouldn’t be appropriate for everyday working from home, but it’s a nice way to add a little functional area.

A reading nook

If you’re a big reader, adding some shelves underneath the stairs is a simple but effective way of using up this space. If you have enough space, adding an armchair or even a built-in bench creates a little reading nook area.

Open shelving

If you don’t need to maximise enclosed storage underneath the stairs, having an open shelving space (or a mixture of closed and open storage) is a nice way of creating an aesthetic feature of this otherwise dead space.

Downstairs toilet

Probably the most complicated to install, especially if you need to move plumbing, but adding a downstairs toilet is a valuable way of making use of underneath the stairs.

A home bar or wine display

Whether you have a priceless collection of vintage wines, or just fancy a G&T in the evening… a bar is a creative way of using this space. A bar probably makes the most sense if your staircase is close to or in your living room. Plumbing it to add a sink is obviously a fancy way of implementing this, but simply some cupboards and shelves can be just as effective.

Bench seating

If you have a narrow hallway, sometimes it’s hard to find the space to sit down and put shoes on and you often end up doing this on the stairs. Another creative way of using the space underneath the stairs is to create a bench - add some drawers underneath to maximise storage.

Shoe storage

Finally - if your staircase is close to the front door where you kick shoes off, having some space underneath the stairs to store shoes is a great way of keeping your hallway looking tidy.

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