Staircase Ideas
The best storage is both practical and beautiful, and in the case of stairs there’s a strong argument to be made in favour of exposing the risers in some way – as the tops of the doors do in this project. Notice here how the fridge just slips beautifully in to the left there as well, with handy cupboards above.
Storage It’s the modern person’s bete noire: where do we put all this stuff? Answer: under the stairs! Only, you could do it in such an elegant way as this, with a variety of drawers (rather than one big cupboard) pulling out to provide some particularly nicely rationalised storage. The timber interiors are a beautiful touch, and the tall cupboard at the right is a smart move for such necessities as ironing boards.
Reading nook Closely related to the library is the reading nook – this one’s in the front hall, so it could also act as a handy place to stop and put on your shoes before going out, though my fear is that this would get used to pile up coats. I’m intrigued by the very low door at ground level too. Is that where the vacuum cleaner goes?
In this case, the designers opted for a hybrid library-storage option, the cabintery and shelving wrapping around a perfectly articulated set of risers, offset by an elegantly spare handrail. It’s particularly skilful: there is light and air, and the colours from the books add vibrancy to an otherwise all-white scheme.
Of course, you could go all out and build an actual library in under the stairs. The placement of the staircase here creates a three-sided room that is ideal for these beautifully wrought wooden bookcases, as well as an easy chair on which to read. It’s the perfect use for a space that would otherwise be white, empty and a little blank – and the books will help absorb a bit of noise as well. Thank goodness for cabinetry.
Library The thing about books on shelves is that they fill up spaces and allow the air around them to move. They’re both storage and decoration, but they don’t close a space in. So building spaces under the stairs for books is an ideal solution – there’s a hint of what’s behind, rather than a solid piece of wall, and this makes things seem airy and deeper than they probably are.
Create a playroom for the kids Think ‘room under the stairs for the children’ and the wrong connotations come up (Harry Potter being one of the first to come to mind). But as this house in Sydney shows, you can quite happily make a place for sitting and playing that feels like a retreat from the rest of the world – the beauty of this space, of course, is that you could quite happily sit here with a book and a cup of coffee and hide from the children instead…
Study There is of course the old put-the-office-under-the-stairs treatment – though in this case it extends to more than shoving a desk in the corner and hoping for the best. Surrounding this built-in study under the stairs are a series of built-in cupboards: the desk buts into the cabinetry, and the space features a handy sliding timber door to close it off once you’ve finished working.
Under-stair areas are notoriously difficult to utilise effectively due to their awkward shape. Built-in cupboards are your best bet to scavenge every scrap of storage. Here, custom-made cabinets follow the line of the stairs, while a large, glazed wine “cellar” has the star spot beneath the landing.
Extra storage We could all do with additional storage around the house … the more the better, right? That’s why this cabinet makes for a great idea. Also, the unit sports the same colour combination as the stairs – wood and white paint – making sure it does not stand out and make the area look too bulky and busy.
Make music There’s just enough room in this playful house to slip in a piano, the instrument that has a habit of creating equally awkward spaces in houses. This is a genius solution, which ensures the piano is right there in the living room – crucial to promoting regular practise.
Q