Tower Hamlets · London

Under-Stairs Storage in Tower Hamlets

From one end of Tower Hamlets to the other, we can design, make and fit under-stairs storage. We visit, measure and talk it through before we quote.

Planning under-stairs storage in Tower Hamlets?

Arrange a design visit

Under-stairs storage in every part of Tower Hamlets

Every piece is designed after a visit to your home. Every neighbourhood has its own page, listed below. To get started, use the contact form.

Largest neighbourhoods

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Postcodes in Tower Hamlets

How we make under-stairs storage for Tower Hamlets

Under-stairs storage is not only for houses. Maisonettes, split-level flats and homes with stairs down to a lower floor often have usable space beneath the steps. The parts we make in our workshop are sized to get through the doors and hallways on the way in. The same careful process applies to any home in Tower Hamlets. Most enquiries start with a dark, wasted space under the stairs and no room for a small desk or a place to work, and the answer is made in our workshop from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood, finished by spray or by hand.

In older rooms, the furniture normally has to meet skirting, picture rails, cornice or coving. We cut and scribe the furniture around them on site, so it looks as though it was always there. The time the fitting takes depends on the size of the space and the design, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote.

You get in touch with some details and, if you like, a sketch. It helps to say whether the meters are under there.
We visit to measure and talk about how you’ll use the space.
A written quote follows, with the fitting days agreed. Take your time to look through it.
We make the drawers, doors and carcasses in our workshop.
The storage is fitted and set level, ready for the first coats and shoes, with the finish sprayed beforehand or painted by hand on site.

What affects the price in Tower Hamlets

No two rooms cost the same to furnish, because size, layout and finish change from job to job. A spray finish and a hand-painted finish involve different work, and that shows in the price. You will see the figure in your written quote, after the design visit.

What you get with us

A spray or hand-painted finish
Fitted tight to walls that are not straight
300+ projects completed
Built from moisture-resistant MDF and birch plywood

How to get a quote

Rough sizes are fine at the start. We measure everything properly during the design visit, along with the walls, floor and ceiling. To get started, send us a few details through our contact form with some details about the room. The written quote follows the visit.

Landmarks near Whitechapel

Our area takes in the homes around Finsbury Circus, Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives and The White Hart pub. Other local landmarks include St Mary-at-Hill (0.8 miles south-west), Canon Barnett Primary School (less than half a mile west), Makers Academy (a few minutes’ walk west) and St Mary Matfelon (under half a mile east). For rail, the closest station is Whitechapel station, roughly 0.5 miles north-east. Nearby you will also find Gilbert and George Centre (within half a mile north) and Surrey Quays Shopping Centre (1.7 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Tower Hill and Lavender Pond.

Schools near Whitechapel include London Enterprise Academy (under half a mile south-east)

Tricky spaces in homes across Tower Hamlets

From Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Tower Hill to the quieter streets, homes across Tower Hamlets have tricky spaces worth using. It could be beneath the stairs, in a window bay, in a hallway or in the eaves. Under-stairs cupboards are designed for the space as it is.

About 45% of the homes in Tower Hamlets went up since 2000, and about 20% between 1973 and 1999, in the VOA’s 2025 council tax stock figures. Each era brings its own kind of wall, ceiling height and floor, so it shapes the design from the first measurement. About 45% of homes in Tower Hamlets were built since 2000, according to Valuation Office Agency council tax figures (2025). Homes built since 2000 rarely have much storage, and they tend to have stud walls, so under-stairs cupboards are designed with fixings to suit. Purpose-built flats are home to about 81% of households in Tower Hamlets, going by Census 2021 figures from the ONS. For a flat, under-stairs cupboards are made in sections sized for the stairs, the lift and the doors. Many blocks have rules on lift booking and working hours, so check with the managing agent before fitting day.

Much of London is covered by controlled parking zones run by the boroughs, so a van may need a visitor’s permit, a paid parking bay or a bay suspension, which the council arranges. It helps to tell us about parking at the measuring visit.

Whitechapel: For an older house near St Mary Matfelon, pull-out drawers can reach right to the back of a deep under-stairs space. The wider area includes historic houses such as Mansion House, about 0.9 miles west. For a period home anywhere nearby, the triangle under an old staircase is often deeper than it looks.

Flats, leases and landlords

For a rented home, access for the design visit and fitting day has to be agreed with the tenants, at times that suit them. A letting agent can arrange this on a landlord’s behalf, and the written quote can go to whoever needs it.

If your building is on a red route or a busy main road, getting the furniture from the van to the door needs planning. Red routes are run by TfL and have strict stopping rules, so let us know about it at the measuring visit.

What we don’t do

It helps to know what’s outside our work before you plan:

New sockets, lights or wiring, which are for your electrician
Making good the walls and ceiling, which is for a plasterer or decorator
Moving a gas or electricity meter, which is arranged through your energy supplier

Flat-pack or bespoke?

Off-the-shelf cupboards come in fixed sizes, so there is typically a gap left over at the top or at one end. Furniture we make is built to the room’s own sizes, so it can use the full height and width.

Off-the-shelf furniture can be a sensible choice. If the walls are straight and the space suits standard sizes, it often does the job, and it is easy to buy.

Caring for painted furniture

Fitted furniture is part of the room, so it’s worth looking after. A few pointers help:

Note the things that need a home under the stairs
Think about how your household uses coats and shoes
Mention any parking rules on your street
Find out what sits in the space now, from meters to pipes

When you load the drawers, put the heaviest things low and towards the front. It helps the runners and keeps the storage working well. Shelves are made for the things you told us about at the measuring visit, so it’s worth keeping to that plan.

Keep sharp or very heavy items away from the painted fronts. Put tools in a case so they do not knock the paint. Minor chips can be touched up with the matching colour.

Do you need under-stairs storage?

The low end of the space is normally the problem. You can’t stand up in it, and you can’t reach the back without kneeling. Drawers that slide out on runners turn that tricky corner into useful storage.

A few of the things people ask us to solve include:

Space under the stairs that is hard to use
Storage that doesn’t match the hallway
A vacuum cleaner that has nowhere to go
A staircase with untidy space beneath it

Your questions about under-stairs storage in Tower Hamlets

Can the fitting be on a Saturday?

Yes, by arrangement. Let us know when you contact us if a Saturday suits you best.

Should I send photos?

Yes. Pictures help us understand the room before the design visit, along with rough sizes. Show anything the furniture has to work around, such as radiators or sockets.

Does fitted furniture need planning permission?

Not normally. Conservation area controls are largely about how buildings look from outside, and furniture inside a house does not normally need it. Listed buildings are different: check with the council’s conservation officer first.

How long does it take to fit under-stairs storage?

How long the fitting takes depends on the shape of the space and the number of drawers and doors, and the fitting days are agreed in your quote. Drawers, doors and carcasses are all made in the workshop before we arrive. If you’d like the fitting on a Saturday, that can be arranged.

Could the space under my stairs take a desk?

That depends on the shape of your stairs and the room beside them. At the design visit we’ll say whether a desk makes sense there. Where it works, it makes a neat spot for a laptop and paperwork.

Do you make the furniture yourselves?

It is made in our workshop. After that, we fit it in your home.

Can you build storage around a gas meter or fuse board?

Yes. It’s common to find a meter or fuse board under the stairs, and access has to be kept. We note them at the measuring visit and plan the drawers and doors around them. Moving a meter is not our work, so we design for where it is now.