Stairway to Storage Heaven.
Our old under-stair storage was a chaotic, hard-to-access mess and a frequent head injury waiting to happen. So we transformed it into a practical and stylish entry nook with drawers and cupboards for coats, shoes, bags and keys. It’s now toddler-friendly, clutter-free and beautifully lit with a Grid Connect-compatible smart downlight for added convenience at night. Just in time for new flooring!
Steps
Step 1
Proper preparation prevents poor performance!
Mark out your space with masking tape to ensure your planned approach works with your preferred products and available space.
Step 2
Enlist helpers to assist with demolition. Be careful here - you want to ensure you're not removing crucial supporting walls or beams. We confirmed our stair risers weren't supported in the space we wished to remove. Clean up once demolition is complete and remember: it always looks worse before it looks better!
This is how things looked post-demo:
Step 3
Build the timber framing base for your cabinets to sit upon (measure twice, cut once!). You'll secure the cabinets to this base for added security and rigidity. Place cabinets onto this base (install cabinet inners and doors at the end for ease of maneuverability). This step was a bit fussy and took a bit of finessing to ensure the cabinets were level and secure.
Pack out sides with timber for support and enclose the cabinets. At this point it's also important to remember to factor in the thickness of your cabinet doors and your wall material (in our case, Gyprock sheeting and moulding). We found that installing a door enabled us to better visualise the exact depth the cabinets needed to go before securing them to the frame.
At this point we also installed the plasterboard sheeting to the underside of the stairs to create the 'roof' where the Grid Connect downlight would later be installed.
Note: we had access on the right hand side through the old storage access door and used this to our advantage when installing the cabinets at the back. I'd recommend doing this if you can and sealing it up as a final step.
Step 4
At this point we inserted an MDF backing where we knew the Surround by Laminex decorative paneling would go. We also began finishing the sides with plasterboard pieces and made a custom rectangular insert above the large cabinet for decorative pieces to sit in and to help with the design aesthetic and angles.
Below we added the wooden benchtop with a mitered cut on the left to allow it to slide in seamlessly with the stair riser angle.
Plastering finished and moulding installed:
Benchtop panelling choices in-store at Bunnings:
We went with the option on the right as it had more character with the grain
Step 5
When our Surround by Laminex panelling arrived, we cut it to shape and installed it with Liquid Nails to the MDF backing. We also had to do this for the custom rectangular shelf in the top right so the backing matched.
The almost finished product is below:
Step 6
We then painted the walls and trim after everything had dried sufficiently, installed the cabinet doors with push to open mechanisms and then the fun part - styling!
All organised and ready for the new flooring to go in!
Pictured below is the enclosed under stair access door that we sealed up with new wall studs and Gyprock sheeting. Looks like there was never a door there! We then had a fireplace installed!
