You know that space under the stairs – the place where you chuck the vacuum cleaner, that collection of plastic shopping bags and the half-tin of paint that has gone grey?
And then there’s that awkward space down the back, where the bottom steps of the staircase sit, and you can’t access it at all so it’s a kind of dead space. You have a box with seven tiles in there from 1994, don’t you?
So did I, until we knocked the walls down recently and opened the entire space up.
We’re still deciding what we will ultimately use the (surprisingly big) space for, but one really lovely idea I keep coming back to is to transform it into a play area for our kids.
Here are 5 great ways to do it:
How clever is this? The kids get to have their own private playspace that doubles up as the coolest train ever! Bonus points for this one as I assume if we did it, that we wouldn’t have to bring them on shopping centre train rides ever, ever again – score!
Secretly, I want this more for myself than for the kids, but when I pop my parenting hat back on and remind myself that I really do want to pass on my love of books to the kids, then this keeps seeming like a really excellent idea.
This was originally referred to as a ‘Doll’s House’ but I think it could have way more uses than that. Both my son and my daughter like to play house, put their toys ‘to bed’ at night time, and of course leave notes and presents at each of their fairy doors. I think this would be the perfect place to do all of that.
If you are not entirely convinced about purpose-building a play room for your kids under the stairs, then this is a nice subtle way to dedicate the space to them. I love the butterfly decals which lead the way into the secret play area.
This is one of my favourite ideas – it’s open-plan and part of the rest of the house, but it’s clearly just for the kids. Look closely at all the cool details – little reading area, chalkboard, guitar.. you’d never have gotten to display all of that cute stuff belonging to the kids if that cupboard under the stairs was still there, would you?
Feature image via To Live Properties
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