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Our new under the stairs storage area is just what we needed to keep all our board games accessible, organized, and easy-to-find.
Storage space is always at a premium in old houses like ours. They just didn’t have the same amount of stuff back when our house was built as we do now. I think there’s definitely a lesson in there somewhere about the joy and simplicity of living with less, but in our modern age, that’s just not always possible to the same extent. While we haven’t done anything drastic, like converting an entire bedroom to closet space, we’ve been slowly adding storage in the form of built-in cabinets and bookshelves around our home wherever we can. Our latest storage addition is this little under-the-stairs storage cabinet for our board games and puzzles. We actually first started working on this right after Christmas when the clutter and inspiration were still fresh, but I only recently finished it up, and it has been just exactly what we needed in this part of our home.
More practical storage for your home: 14 Inspiring and Inventive Mudroom Ideas
The Under-the-Stairs Area Before
This little cubby under the stairs has always been accessible, at least since we moved into this home, but whether or not it was actually useable is up for debate. As far as storage solutions go, it wasn’t the most functional. We had tried storing games here in the past, but we discovered that this part of our home wasn’t very well-sealed, and it didn’t look the cleanest. There also wasn’t any shelving to put things on, so it was kind of a black hole. There was an incident one time where a mouse came in and ate its way through a game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos that made us a little nervous about using this space on a regular basis.
This year, immediately after Christmas, we were inspired by the sudden need for more storage, so we ripped everything out of this section under the stairs and started fresh, sealing things up, insulating it properly, and creating a clean, blank slate.
Updating and Rebuilding Under the Stairs
While most of the surfaces under the stairs were a bit icky and not really well put-together, there was still a bit of old-house charm that we really wanted to preserve. We kept an original shiplap wall on one side, and we left the underside of the stairs as they were as well. We finished off the remaining walls of the space with fresh new shiplap, which has that amazing lumber-aisle scent to it.
The previous “door” to access the old cubby hole was almost comical. It was just a thin piece of fiberboard that someone had quickly thrown on there at one point. Chris had added a few strips of wood to reinforce it and keep it from completely falling apart a few years ago, but it needed to go. We rebuilt a new, larger custom door and added decorative gate hinges, which I think are the perfect little detail, while also being sturdy enough to withstand constant use.
Decorating inspiration for old houses: How to Successfully Paint Old Wall Paneling
The Finished Storage Space
Pictured above: Chandelier | Plates | Vintage Horse Print | Lamp | Small Urn | Large Urn
Wall color: Benjamin Moore Simply White | Dresser paint color: Benjamin Moore Onyx
We built in a small shelving unit with adjustable shelves to hold our games, and also added risers to the perimeter of the cabinet as an organizer for larger games or storage bins.
We can hold our ever-growing board game and puzzle collection here quite comfortably, and it’s fun that they’re kept right in the middle of the house, in the hallway near the dining room and living room. You’d almost never know they were there, and it’s nice to have them so close at hand while also being out of sight in their semi-hidden compartment.
More room ideas from this space: Our Timeless Farmhouse Dining Room Update
The finished cabinet is clean and elegant, and looks great under our old staircase, which I love so much. I especially like the new gate hinge hardware, which is a nice detail that feels right for our old house. One more convenient built-in storage solution is complete for our little house that so desperately needs all the home storage it can get.
More storage ideas from this room: Easy DIY Plate Rack
Do you use your under-the-stairs area to store anything in your home?
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.