Looking to do something with the space under your stairs? Throw up a few boards of wood to make under stair shelves. It's an easy, hour long job, so don't start getting nervous on me now.
I live in a 180 year old house. As anyone who owns an old house knows, this means 3 things: really curious plumbing, foundation holes large enough for a circus clown to get through and no storage space.
When you don't have any closet space it means you have to find places to put everything normal people would put in a cupboard or closet. Things like my cookie making supplies, extra garbage bags, wreaths made entirely of actual bones and other perfectly normal stuff. You can learn how to make your own bone wreath here, I know you want to.
We all have those things in our houses. I'm sure you do too. The cobweb that's been there since 1982 that you never noticed until your mother-in-law helpfully pointed it out. My stairs are one of those things. They're horrific but they've been this way since I moved in (they've probably been this way since 1840) and for some reason I just accepted that this is how they always had to be.
One sad little shelf on the left as you go down the stairs, chipping paint and crooked stairs, three of which have indoor outdoor carpet stapled to them. I have no idea why, only 3 stairs were carpeted but I'm guessing whoever had this house before me had a really intricate and interesting way of going down stairs. Like hop, hop, hop, JUMP. Something like that.
A few years ago I finally got sick of wrestling my food colouring away from the centipedes so I cleaned up the area leading down to my basement and created some storage under the stairs by adding in shelves.
Job number one was removing everything that was shoved around the stairs. I obviously didn't need to clean the area because as you can see even though it was messy I had always done a fantastic job of maintaining the cleanliness of my staircase.
I wiped and Windexed and washed the staircase for an hour. For overkill you understand. And then I painted and vacuumed the rubble walls of Chez Centipede because it was either that or try to book an exorcism.
Once the area was prepped, I could build the shelves.
Building Under Stairs Storage
To build some quick shelves under your stairs you just need some brackets or pieces of 1x2 to support the shelves and any wood that's as wide as your staircase.
Basic flat boards that are 12" wide will work well, but you can use multiple boards. Three 4" wide boards or two 6" wide boards for example.
In my case I had a junky piece of ½" plywood to use for both the shelves and the supports.
- Measure the width of your stairs and cut your wood ¼" shorter to account for wonky walls. Paint them if you're feeling ambitious.
- Screw 12" long strips of wood or standard shelf brackets into the wall under the stairs.
- Place your shelf on top of the supports. Screw or glue the shelves in place.
Done.
Build Extra Storage Space into Your Basement Stairs.
Throw a few boards up under your basement stairs and gain extra storage space in just an hour.
Materials
- 12" wide boards (or the equivalent)*
- Shelf brackets or 1" x 12" strips of wood for support
- Screws
Tools
- saw
- drill
Instructions
- Cut the 12" wide wood to the width of your staircase.
- Screw brackets or strips of wood into wall to support the shelves, allowing enough room to set the shelf on top.
- Rest shelves on top of supports and screw in to secure.
Notes
* If you don't have a 12" board you can use three 4" boards or two 6" boards to get 12" of width.
My stairs still look like a bit of a nightmare but it's way better than it was and I have extra storage.
When I was done with the shelving I also did something crazy. I carpeted EACH AND EVERY STAIR. I know. Extravagant.
The stairs are still wonky and there's nothing I can do about that. They feel safer now and cleaner.
Plus now instead of being creeped out every time I have to go into the basement I kind of like it. I'm greeted by smiling jars of jam, chili sauce, peaches and tomatoes beneath the stairs. The pickled beets don't really smile. They're moody.
There are some people who will be able to take this very idea and apply it to their own home. For the rest of you, let this be a reminder that sometimes awful things can be fixed fairly quickly. Sometimes you don't even notice the awful things so maybe take a day to actually look for them in your house. You know. Before your mother-in-law does.
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Ev Wilcox
My house was built in 1806. The basement stairs were a re-do somewhere in time, so they are not like yours, plus, they are not against the wall. But boy, this house has lots of "oldisms". The basement walls really need repointed. They are made of hand placed rocks. And the floor has different heights, as previous (many) owners prob hand dug them through the years. I often wonder what it would be like to live in a newer house. Sigh.... Your stairs re-so is great!
Lynne from Design The Life You Want To Live
You crack me up. The skull wreath. Nuff said. hahahahahaahha.
Jody
My dad lives in a crazy old house and I get creeped out every time I have to go into the badement. Your before stairs are just like his with the exception of the bone wreath. He has old bones too but he's still using his.
Karen
LOLOL! ~ karen
Jody
Found my original comment and nothing has really changed--stairs remain creepy and my dad is still using his old bones.
jaine gayer
UGH, centipedes. I had to sleep in a hotel one night because one was running up my bedroom wall and it was too fast for me to smash. I just knew it was going to crawl on me while I was sleeping.
Oh yes and I love the stairs.! Nice job!
Ann
Am I odd cause I would actually love to have stairs? We live in a 1 story, 15 year old house. With a huge attic that we do store things in. But it has the typical pull down stairs which at age 61 are not my favorite things to navigate. I want so badly to have a real carpenter come in and build a real set of stairs going up to the attic. And at the same time turn the stairs into more storage space. But that is not on my summer to-do list. Which by the way has tripled since I posted it here. And only 2 things have gotten partially done. But it is still helping, as is a daily to-do list. So again, I am thanking you from the bottom of my heart for pushing me into even making the said list.
Karen
Ha! Well that's what happens with lists. They grow, they shrink, they evolve. Like thighs. As long as you have a list it'll help though. ~ karen!
Zoe
Oh and I wanted to add we have a great shelf around the corner from our basement stairs. My husband uses it for his beer. We may need to work on a more useful use for it ! As always I am inspired.
Zoe
Love it. ! We actually keep our potatoes on our side shelf after I read one of your posts about dark and cold = potato happy place. I may have to investigate the carpet situation. It would make it less of a bumpy ride should one fall down them as my husband did a while back. Interesting interesting !!!
mimiindublin
Great job Karen! I thought the seed potatoes were bags of coffee beans! Should have known!
Julia (mumo3kids)
I like your cake stand.
Auntiepatch
OMG! Death of a quailsman?!?! You kill me!
sia
So, what happens when you reach over for a jar of peaches and a centipede happily strolls up your arm signing Frank Sinatra?
(Cuz surely, Karen Bertelsen's centipedes are far from ordinary...)
Karen
LOL. Yeah. I'm a bit concerned about that. I'm not gonna lie. ~ karen!
Erika
We also live in an ancient house (172 years old) in Michigan, not far from Sarnia, and we have field stone basement walls as you do and probably have the same issues with everything that comes with that. What you did here looks wonderful but, speaking from experience, I would advise against storing anything in paper, cardboard, or cloth. Any dishes or cookware should be bagged in plastic or stored in plastic totes. The mice will find it and poop, chew, or nest, and what the mice don't touch the spiders will have at it and just make it nasty. Of course, if you've figured out a way to keep the vermin at bay, I'd love to hear about it!
Jacquie
I thought you said you lived not far from Narnia. I was very jealous for a moment there until my brain kicked in.
Pam'a
I hate it when my brain kicks in like that. :P
brenda
OMGosh - and for some of us it's a visit down memory lane to a place I once called home … those crevices that you vacuumed out - I did that every 6 months to no avail - so unfair - once should have been IT! … but, truth be told, all the spiders kind of make the rubble wall what it is (and should be) … don't be as OCD'd as I was every 15 years or so seems reasonable … spiders are good and so are centipedes … and so is your new stairs storage BTW
Stephbo
I'm having a serious trip down memory lane. The steps to my grandma's basement were exactly like yours, and they always creeped the hell out of me. I'm not sure how old her house was exactly, but I've seen pix of it from the late 1800's. She did her under-stair storage all the way down in the basement underneath the basement steps and across the basement from the creepy sump pump hole. Good times.
Kathy Hartzell
17 years it took ya, eh? 31 years here, and my stairs still look like your before shots. Only I have a railing and everything is painted battleship gray, as it was when we bought the house. I have built two new kitchens in it, but the stairs still look like, well, chaos.
As for the bugs in the vacuum canister....saturate some cotton balls with orange oil and suck 'em up. Betcha the critters will expire....it works for fleas in a vac.
Karen
I'm still amazed when I look at the new version of my stairs. I can fit so much more and yet it looks 10x more organized and neater. I wonder what the hell else is a disaster in this house I'm not noticing. ~ karen!
Carswell
It's been 17 years in my house - mine isn't as old as yours but my basement stairwell is every bit as icky as yours and the clutter in mine mirrors your first pic in a most striking manner as do the precarious stairs. I won't even get into the low ceiling in the basement where the myriad cobwebs lurk just barely above the top of my head.
A paint job. Some shelving. A new home for some of those things that just don't have a home. Oh, the possibilities make my heart sing.
Karen - you made my day.
Edith
Nice job Karen! Do the best with what you got...and you did!
Karen
Yeah, it just took a while, lol. Thanks Edith! ~ karen!
Laura Bee
Holy Shit! This is perfect! I need to put the vintage things I have on Etsy safely away from the cats & my daughter. (as stated on my ToDo list) I have been trying to figure out where to put the shelves. Lady, you always know just what I need. And to top it off - I can put more shelves under the basement stairs. They are in my sewing room in a closet built under the stairs.
I now love you a little more than I did before.
Karen
I *did* see that on your to-do list, lol. O.K. it needs to be done by this weekend. ~ karen!
Sarah
I'm sad that the "festive salesman bones wreath" didn't make the final cut.
Sarah
I mean, it was so . . . festive.
Karen
I'm waiting until I have enough to make an entire wall of them. Ya know. For impact. ~ karen!
Jessie
Ha!!
Karen
Here you go Jessie. Read this. ;) https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/photo-in-blog-comments/ ~ karen!
whitequeen96
Brilliant, as always! Looks beautiful, and very inspiring!
BTW, those stairs are still kind of scary; are they really as steep as they look?
And can you easily reach the stuff on your new top shelf without falling down them?
Karen
Yes and yes. :) ~ karen
mia pratt
What a wonderfully clever place to store all that stuff you need to keep cool anyway<:} Well done!
Karen
Thanks! I'm thrilled with it Mia! I can't believe how many years I just went up and down those stairs without ever thinking to fix it, lol. We really can be blind to things right in front of us. ~ karen!
Marla
How do you reach the things on the top of that storage?
Karen
I'm not sure how but I can reach everything. I just have to adjust which step I'm standing on. ~ karen!