Five Easy Ways to Maximize Usable Storage Under Stairs

Americans love things, but most of us have too many of them. That’s why American homes continue to grow , and that’s why about 10% of us spend money on do-it-yourself warehouses . Considering the average storage unit costs around $1,000 a year, it’s no wonder some of us are getting creative in finding more storage space in our homes.

One place that represents a lot of wasted space is under any staircase. Under it often remains a huge void, covered with drywall. Even though this space is open to the air, it is difficult to put it to good use because of the slope of the stairs at the top. Of course, if you’re resourceful and have the time to spare, you can create some really useful storage there , but if you’re not ready to turn it into a huge project, the good news is that there are less intensive options that don’t require carpentry skills.

Of course, you will have to open up the wall under the stairs and put in some effort to make this place look beautiful with decoration. But once that’s done, there are plenty of easy ways to put the space to good use.

Corner brackets for shelves

If your stairs rise high enough, one easy way to transform the space underneath is to install some corner shelf brackets . They attach to your ladder frame just like any other shelf bracket, but they can be adjusted so that the shelving is parallel to the floor regardless of the rise of your ladder. They instantly turn any sloping site into useful storage, and all you need is a level and a drill.

stackable cubes

One of the easiest ways to use the space under the stairs is to simply pick up ready-made storage designed for this place . Barring that, you can just take a bunch of stackable modular cubes for storage and place them under the stairs, starting with one under the lowest point and moving up as you go.

Cabinets

Some inexpensive kitchen cabinets can be inserted under stairs, covered with any surface (wood, laminate residue, tile) and immediately used to store anything. If you have a vertical space at the end of a flight of stairs, you can add one or two wall cabinets and create a breakfast bar. Alternatively, place a few stackable filing cabinets in there for extra office storage.

bike rack

Under your stairs is a great place to store a couple of bikes. All you need is some bike storage hooks . Load these little ones into the stringers of your stairs and just hang your bikes there when not in use. Of course, you can also use these hooks to hang anything – bags, clothes, tools, whatever you have nowhere to store.

Closet Organizers

If you want to turn the space under the stairs into a messy room or an extra walk-in closet, you can simply pick up a closet organizer system and fit it to the space. This is ideal if your stairs are near the front of the house because you can use the space as a walk-in closet and shoe storage where people can store their things when they enter.