Creating a useful storage space in our yard

If you've got a small unfinished cupboard under your stairs, you can throw stuff in there, but it's not the most organised of spaces to store things. And unfortunately, it may just end up being wasted space. Want to turn your cupboard under the stairs into a useful space the whole family can use? Check out these ideas.

Pull-Out Shelves

Rather than yielding to the formless space of an empty cupboard, consider installing shelves. However, rather than regular boring shelves lining the cupboard under the stairs, put in pull-out shelves. These shelves consist of a varying number of shelves -- the number gets higher as the space under the staircase gets higher.

When you pull out the shelves, one side is backed by wood to help keep everything in place, but the other side is open. This setup lets you easily access whatever you want to store there, and this design can work for anything from extra clothes to pantry items, dishes, blankets, kitchen appliances, and more.

Reading Nook

A contractor can help you remove the wall over your cupboard, open up the space, and turn your area under the stairs into a cozy reading corner. This little staircase nook consists of a bench with a padded cushion, a painted wall behind the bench to create a coordinated look, and a few drawers or shelves under the bench for book storage.

Home Office

Just as you can turn the dead area under a staircase into a reading nook, you can also turn it into a little home office or study area. To visualise this design, imagine that a contractor has opened up the cupboard under the stairs and finished the wall at the back of it.

Then, imagine shelves full of office supplies ensconced along the wall and a desk. Ideally, the desk should be at a right angle to the staircase so that half of it is tucked under the stairs and half it it juts out slightly. That gives you a bit of a view, but if you need to save the floorspace, you can easily turn the desk so it's fully under the stairs.

Cloak Area

Finally, a storage area for the coats, hats and shoes that may be cluttering up your entryway is another great idea to consider. In this idea, the cupboard under the stairs is turned into a series of small areas with hooks in each of them. The areas are walled off from each other so that every family member or guest has a separate spot to store his or her coats. Then, a small shelf under the coat can hold shoes, umbrellas, or accessories.