Need more storage? If you have a 2-story house, then you’re in luck! Here are some clever ways to use that wasted space under the stairs.
I am lucky enough to live in a 2-story house. I love the layout, but one of the coolest design ideas is that the builder created a large walk-in closet under the main staircase. The best part? It has a full-size door that opens into our garage. Our attic is rather small and hot (being in Florida), so this is where we store all of our holiday decorations. A perfect use for that wasted space under the stairs. As I mentioned in an earlier post about attic storage, attics in Florida are NOT good places to store your Christmas candles. Trust me on this one…
How we use the wasted space under the stairs at my house.
Over the years we have purchased storage bins for the different holidays. Orange bin with black lid for Halloween decorations and costumes, red and green bins for Christmas, and then clear ones for “Spring” (Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter), and another clear one for the rest (patriotic decorations and Thanksgiving). We store those in the shorter space in the back. We have several artificial Christmas trees and those get stored in the front. I also have a box where I keep all of my banners in the front. It’s much easier to dig through 1 small box at the front for a banner than to have to get to several boxes in the back of the space. (One to put the old banner away and one to get a new banner out.)
Here is what it looks like when you first open the door.
I moved out the large Christmas tree box so you can see some of the bins stacked behind.
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We also hung 4 planter hangers up at the top to hang up wreaths to keep them up and out of the way. Lately, though, I have acquired or made several more wreaths, so I need to add another hanger (or two).
This under the stairs space has been great to store all of our decorations in one place.
But, what if your staircase isn’t situated like mine? Here are other clever ideas to use that wasted space under the stairs.
Add drawers to create lots of storage.
Create a new closet space.
Look at this fabulous pantry!
Make a bar.
Open it up to make a very functional office or crafting space.
(I would also add some peg board to the wall for even more hanging storage)
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How about a cozy dog house?
Or a fantabulous play space for the kids.
Turn it into your library (My favorite, of course!)
Or better yet, a cozy reading nook.
I don’t think I’d ever leave this space. 🙂
But it could be as simple as just adding a lot of cushions on the floor.
Teens would love this!
But of course, THIS one would be the ultimate! 😉
A Harry Potter cupboard under the stairs (This was created by a librarian, no less!)
Here’s a link to purchase the HP poster.
Can you believe how many clever ways there are to use that wasted space under the stairs? So many possibilities!
Do you have a staircase in your house? How would you use that wasted space? Let me know!
~ Pam
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