Chester ThomasBespoke Furniture

Birmingham

Bespoke Under Stairs Storage in Birmingham

Storage drawn to the actual staircase in front of it, whichever period of Birmingham house it sits in.

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Bespoke Cabinetry for Birmingham homes

Birmingham's terraced and semi-detached Victorian and Edwardian houses tend to have a narrower, steeper staircase than a modern build, and the cupboard beneath it inherits every quirk of that original layout. A previous owner has often already boxed the space in with a flat door and a single shelf, wasting most of the depth at the tall end. We start again from a site survey of the actual stair string, so the new cabinetry follows the true pitch rather than a door cut square against a sloping soffit.

A rear extension or a knocked-through ground floor is common across the city's suburbs, and once the hallway opens into a new kitchen or living space, the cupboard under the stairs stops being hidden and starts being looked at every day. We design the run to suit that visibility, with door and drawer fronts proportioned to sit comfortably alongside the new opening rather than reading as a leftover from the old floor plan.

Where a Birmingham house has a chimney breast close to the stairs, or an alcove left by a former under-stairs cupboard door, we treat the two spaces as one design problem rather than two separate jobs. Matching panel lines and skirting details across both means the hallway does not end up with two visibly different pieces of joinery competing for attention in a small area.

In converted flats and apartments, particularly where a loft conversion has added a further flight above the existing stairs, the cavity underneath can be shallower than in a house, sometimes broken up by pipework or a meter cupboard that has to be worked around rather than hidden. We plan drawers and doors around those fixed obstructions instead of pretending they are not there, so the finished cabinetry still opens and closes properly.

Households increasingly want a defined space near the front door for a laptop bag, post and coats after working from home for part of the week, and a shallow drawer or open shelf built into the run can answer that without a separate piece of furniture. The cabinetry is made in our Derbyshire workshop from a site template and fitted by the same team that designed it.

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Working in Birmingham

Birmingham's mix of Victorian terraces, Edwardian semis and more recent loft conversions means no two staircases we survey in the city are quite the same shape. We measure each one on its own terms rather than assuming a standard cupboard will do the job.

Design considerations

Stair string profile
The staircase pitch is templated on site and carried through every door and drawer front in the run.
Loft-converted staircases
Where a further flight has been added above, the reduced cavity depth is measured before any layout is drawn.
Fixed services
Pipework, stopcocks and meter cupboards are located during the survey and designed around rather than covered over.
Open-plan sightlines
The run is proportioned with the new views from an extension or knocked-through living space in mind.
Runner capacity
Drawer runners are matched to what will realistically be carried, particularly toward the taller end of the cavity.
Out-of-true period walls
Variation in older wall lines is taken up in scribed panels rather than left as a gap.

What can be included

  • 01

    Surveyed stair rake

    Door and drawer top edges follow the true pitch of the staircase, taken from an on-site template.

  • 02

    Designed for open-plan visibility

    Panel proportions suited to a hallway now visible from a rear extension or knocked-through living space.

  • 03

    Chimney breast and alcove coordination

    Panel lines and skirting matched where under-stairs cabinetry sits near a chimney breast or existing alcove.

  • 04

    Worked around fixed pipework

    Drawers and doors planned to clear meter cupboards, stopcocks or pipe runs rather than ignoring them.

  • 05

    Heavy-duty drawer runners

    Runners rated to the loaded weight of shoes, files or household equipment.

  • 06

    Shallow entry drawer or shelf

    A defined space for post, keys or a laptop bag built into the run near the front door.

  • 07

    Angled end panels

    Cabinet ends cut to the triangular geometry of the cavity rather than boxed off square.

  • 08

    Scribed fit to period walls

    Cabinetry scribed to out-of-true walls common in older Birmingham houses.

We survey and measure at the property, then design around the room as it is actually built.

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Materials & finishes

Specifications are developed with you during the design stage and sampled before anything is built. Nothing here is a fixed range; we will say so where a material is the wrong choice for the room or the way it is used.

  • Painted or veneered cabinetry

    Matched to or deliberately set apart from adjoining hallway or period joinery.

  • Heavy-duty soft-close runners

    Specified to the loaded weight of each drawer along the run.

  • Scribed solid timber end panels

    Cut to the true stair angle and to any out-of-true wall behind it.

  • Push-to-open hardware

    Fitted where a handle-free hallway elevation is preferred.

  • Adjustable interior shelving

    Set to varying depths to suit the diminishing cavity toward the low end.

How the work is done

We survey the stair string, any nearby chimney breast or alcove, and fixed pipework before drawing the cabinetry, so the design answers the room as it actually is. Our approach from first visit to fitted installation is set out at the process page.

Read our full process

Explore our work

Our published case studies show completed commissions in detail, from the brief through to installation.

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Bespoke Cabinetry in Birmingham — your questions answered

Design

Can under stairs storage be designed around a chimney breast nearby?
Where a chimney breast or existing alcove sits close to the stairs, we treat the hallway as one design rather than two separate pieces of joinery. Panel lines, skirting details and finish are coordinated across both, which avoids the space looking like two unrelated cupboards fitted at different times.
Will the cabinetry suit a hallway that has been opened into an extension?
Once a hallway is visible from a new kitchen or living space, the storage under the stairs is seen far more often than when it sat behind a closed door. We proportion the run with that new sightline in mind, so it reads as part of the wider open-plan design rather than a leftover from the original floor plan.
How do you handle a staircase with a loft conversion above it?
A further flight added above the original stairs often reduces the depth of the cavity beneath it, particularly if the landing structure changes. We survey the actual space that remains rather than assuming a standard cupboard depth, and design drawers or shelving to suit what is genuinely available.
Can a laptop bag or post drawer be built into the design?
A shallow drawer or open shelf near the front door can be included in the run for post, keys or a bag, alongside the main storage for coats and shoes. We size and position it once we know how the household actually uses the hallway each day.

Materials

What finish suits a Victorian or Edwardian hallway?
Painted or timber-veneered cabinetry can be matched to existing period skirting and architrave, or specified as a considered contrast where the hallway has already been modernised. We agree the finish once we understand how visible the run is from the rest of the house, and once we know what materials sit either side of it.
Why does runner specification matter for this kind of cupboard?
A drawer under the stairs can carry a genuine load, particularly toward the taller end of the cavity, so runners are rated to that weight rather than a light-duty standard. This keeps drawers gliding smoothly once they are loaded with shoes, files or household equipment.
Can the cabinetry work around existing pipework?
Meter cupboards, stopcocks and pipe runs are common in this part of a Birmingham house, and we locate them during the site survey so drawers and doors are planned to clear them. Working around fixed services properly at drawing stage avoids a unit that cannot fully open once fitted.

Installation

Is the staircase itself altered during installation?
The stairs are not structurally altered; cabinetry is built to sit against the existing stair string and surrounding walls. Installation is carried out by the same team that designed and made the unit, so any adjustment needed on site is made by people who understand the original design.
How do you deal with older, out-of-true walls?
Variation in wall line and level is measured during the survey and taken up behind the cabinetry with a scribed panel, rather than showing as a visible gap. Older Birmingham houses often have more of this variation than a newer build, so we always allow for it before manufacture.

Practical

How much can realistically fit under a terraced house staircase?
This depends on the height and depth of the cavity and how far it runs along the hallway, so we assess it case by case during the survey rather than quoting a fixed capacity. Dividing the run into zones for shoes, coats and other items generally makes better use of the space than one open cupboard.
Can cleaning equipment and coats be kept in separate sections?
A separate zone with its own door or drawer can be built in for cleaning equipment such as a vacuum, mop and cleaning products, kept well apart from coats and shoes so nothing gets marked or picks up an odour. This kind of division works best when it is agreed at drawing stage, once we know roughly what needs to be stored and how often each section is likely to be used, rather than added as an afterthought once the cabinetry has already been designed around a single open space.
What happens at the lowest, shallowest end of the cavity?
The shallow end near the floor is rarely deep enough for hanging or drawer storage but can still take flat items such as shoe trays, usually behind a smaller door sized to that section. We plan the layout so this part of the run still earns its keep rather than being sealed off.

Cost & quotations

What determines the cost of a project like this?
Cost depends on the internal layout, the mix of drawers and doors, finish, hardware, and the complexity of the stair geometry and any pipework to work around, rather than a single fixed figure. Get in touch through the contact page so we can discuss your staircase and what you need to store.
Does working around pipework add to the cost?
Designing drawers and doors around meter cupboards or pipe runs adds a degree of complexity compared with a clear, unobstructed cavity, which can affect the manufacturing time and therefore the cost. We factor this in once we have surveyed the space and can see exactly what needs to be worked around.

Chester Thomas

Do Chester Thomas design under stairs storage in Birmingham?
We design, manufacture and install under stairs storage for households across Birmingham and the wider Midlands from our Derbyshire workshop, rather than running a local branch. Every project begins with an on-site survey, since the stair pitch, wall lines and any fixed pipework vary from house to house.

Related bespoke services

Part of our wider work

Speak to us about your bespoke cabinetry in Birmingham on 07542 822456, email info@chesterthomas.com or send us the details.

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