Alcove and understairs storage: designing the awkward spaces

Nearly every Victorian and Edwardian room has a chimney breast with an alcove either side. Left empty they collect a bookcase that does not fit; built properly they give a room storage, display and symmetry in one move.

Depth is dictated by the breast, usually 250 to 500 millimetres. That suits books, files, glassware, games and audio equipment. It does not suit deep boxes, so plan the contents before deciding on cupboards versus shelves.

The most useful alcove arrangement is closed cupboards to about 900 millimetres or to picture-rail height, with open adjustable shelves above. The closed section hides the untidy, the open section keeps the room feeling light.

Set the shelf spacing to what you own. Paperbacks need about 220 millimetres, hardbacks 300, and art books more; make at least the lower shelves adjustable so a tall item does not force everything to be rearranged.

The hallmark of good alcove joinery is that you cannot see where the joinery stops and the wall starts. The carcass is built square and slightly undersized, then scribe fillets are cut to the actual wall line, which may taper by twenty millimetres from top to bottom.

Continue the room's skirting profile across the plinth and, where relevant, run the picture rail or cornice detail into the joinery. Matching mouldings costs very little and is what makes new work look original.

A single door into an understairs void produces an unreachable cave. Divide the space into three: a full-height cupboard at the tall end, mid-height drawers or pull-outs in the middle, and shallow shoe or basket storage at the low end.

Pull-out units are the key move. A carcass on heavy-duty runners brings the far corner of the triangle out to you, turning genuinely unusable depth into everyday storage. Rate the runners for the loaded weight, not the empty one.

Gas and electricity meters, consumer units and stopcocks must remain accessible. Design a dedicated hinged or lift-off panel in front of them, clearly identifiable, rather than burying them behind fixed shelving.

Where the staircase forms part of a protected escape route - common in flats and houses over two storeys - what may be stored beneath it and how it is enclosed can be regulated. Check with your building control officer or fire risk assessor before enclosing the space.

Understairs doors are often best made handleless with push-catch or finger-pull details, because a protruding handle in a hallway catches bags and clothing. In alcoves, choose a handle consistent with the room's other joinery.

Use a hard-wearing sprayed finish in circulation spaces. Hallway and stair joinery takes more abuse than anything in the house, and a durable topcoat is the difference between five years of looking fresh and one.

A small LED strip or a PIR-triggered light inside a deep understairs cupboard transforms it from a place things vanish into a place things are stored. In alcoves, lighting the shelves from the front edge makes a display of the contents without glare.

Add a socket if the space will hold a vacuum cleaner, robot cleaner dock or router - all three are common uses and all three need power planned in advance.

Alcoves beside a chimney breast and understairs cupboards on an external wall are the two places where fitted joinery most often traps moisture. In a Victorian or Edwardian house with solid walls, a sealed carcass tight against cold masonry can produce condensation behind it, and the first sign is usually a musty smell rather than visible damp.

The remedy is straightforward if it is designed in: hold the carcass back from the wall by ten to fifteen millimetres, leave the back open or perforated rather than fully panelled, and put discreet ventilation slots in the plinth and top rail so air can move. Where a redundant flue sits in the alcove, leave its vent unblocked.

It is also worth checking for existing damp before making anything. Fixing joinery across a wall with a live problem hides it rather than solving it, and the timber will be the first thing to suffer.

Indicatively, a pair of alcove cupboards with shelving above typically costs £2,500-£6,000 in London, and a fitted understairs set with pull-outs £3,000-£7,000, depending on size, finish and complexity. Survey, workshop making, spraying and installation are included in a proper quote.

Expect four to eight weeks from signed drawings, and one to three days on site. Decoration of adjacent walls is usually easiest immediately after installation.