There shall never be a bigger challenge than designing a solution for a closet under a staircase. But if you know me, you know all too well this lady is up for the fight. #bringit Ok though, seriously – I may have had a moment or two during the design process. Ha! There were a few moments I felt a pit in my stomach…doubted whether or not a solution could be accomplished. But what an after! One of my proudest projects to-date and now look forward to facing more under stairs closets in my career.
Simply Done: The Ultimate Under Stairs Closet
This adorable mom of three has a unique closet under her staircase…
Sorry about the image quality – not the best lighting here.
Before
This closet is a few feet in from the front door. The closet door is positioned on an angle and, as seen in the following images, there’s a narrow walk in space, a short back wall, and you can actually turn to the right going under the stars for even more storage.
With the variety of odd angles, it was tough to get in to really photograph. What she was dreaming of was storage for the shoes and backpacks (not coats because there is a coat closet around the corner) as well as a place to store linens, craft items, gift wrap, luggage and other household items she didn’t want in the garage.
After
To make it all come together, we opted for an Elfa shelving system from Container Store. This hit our budget point as Elfa was on sale (and is now as I write this post).
In order to make the closet easier to walk into, I removed the bottom of 2 overhead shelves and installed 12″ depth shelves on a portion of the wall along the right…
And along the back wall is 16″ depth shelving, creating plenty of storage…
There’s ample shoe storage, all within reach for the kids…
And it’s beyond easy to find everything she needs…
We added a couple rows of hooks to the side of the shelving for the backpacks to hang…
Organization!
While she was out running errands, I managed to find quite a few empty bins and baskets in the garage to re-purpose. The space turned out beautifully!…
And everything is labeled.
( bin )
Side x side shot for your pleasure…or mine!…
What a transformation! All I did was make use of the plentiful wall space to create a custom solution for little money. We made the most of every square inch. I couldn’t get to the back corner to show you the luggage storage, but here’s a quick shot of what you see making that right turn…
She had a free-standing shelf I re-purposed along that wall…but you can see above the sewing machine (top right) where the ceiling starts to slope down. The luggage is tucked away back there.
If you have a closet under your stairs with odd angles, Elfa is a great way to customize a solution! Everything is cut to fit your needs, which made this project turn out beautifully for her.
If you’d like to shop this project, you can find everything listed here…
Happy organizing!
This looks great! I have an under-the-stairs closet too. This has inspired me.
Also, I’m interested in the bin that holds the ribbon. When I click on the image you have in the “shopping” area, I’m sent to Pinterest, as if I want to pin the item, not to a source to buy it. How do I get to the source??
Hi Carol!
Thank you for the sweet comment! It’s the Smart Store Collection from Container Store – Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/2kQuxlX
Hope that helps!
Sam
Hi, love what you did. Wondering if you have the width of the closet. Would like to compare to a closet / crawl space that I would like to do something similar with.
Width, as in the walk in space? If so, I’m not sure I have that measurement. The back wall is about 5 feet wide so maybe the walk in area is 3′ wide??
Where is your beautiful white desk from??!!
My office desk?
Hi! Stumbled here thanks to a google search — curious how tall these shelves are, I have a short understair closet and trying to figure out if I can cut the ELFA standards to the height I need. Thanks!!
Hi!
This closet was designed and installed a long time ago so I don’t have those measurements anymore. But you can DEF cut the standards to any length. I promise! I’ve installed dozens of odd shaped closets like this since and Elfa works every time!
Sam