Winnow & Spruce Organizing: What's Under Your Stairs?

Do you have one of those closets built under a stairway? Often they are used for storage and can over time become a "black hole" for the homeowner.

In this case, everything was pulled out and sorted - including to the right and around the corner from that file cabinet.

Good thing the homeowner found me a lantern to illuminate the space!

Usually there are quite a few items that are no longer needed, such as 5 bags of different types of tiling grout from when the home was built. In the event a tile has to be replaced, the contractor will prefer to use fresh, new grout.

Some items I relocated such as this filing cabinet. It was nearly inaccessible underneath the shelf, so it was moved to an office room and placed inside a closet, where it is much more likely to be used.

These cans of paint under the stairs were difficult to access (and see!) and a dried up spill was discovered as well. Uh-Oh!

I moved the paint cans completely out of that space and replaced them with boxes of tile, carpet tiles, and an extra piece of granite countertop. These are items that the homeowner will rarely need to access (Knock on wood!).

I installed a stick-on LED light with a motion-sensor so that the space now lights up whenever someone is in there. Let there be light!

With the construction materials to the right and stowed neatly under the stairs, I moved all the extra shelves from various closets in the home to be stored here in back of a few empty appliance boxes and a roll of carpet. This now clear path was formally clogged with items.

These shelves were reorganized with room for garden chemical storage in the winter (top shelf), household cleaners (2nd shelf) and spray paint, glues etc. (3rd shelf). Notice all the paint cans on the floor where they can easily be accessed?

The gray tote holds painting supplies. I recommend putting one together to hold everything you need for quick touch ups as well as for painting a room. Then the entire tote can be easily carried and moved to the painting area!

Next I put together an "Inventory" binder of everything that is located in this closet as well as a separate inventory of all the paint; including brand, color # & name, and room where that paint is located. This makes matching paint colors later a cinch!

Finally a few hours later, the closet is all put back together with items that the homeowner needs and wants in the space, and everything is labeled, for easy access.

The binders on the shelf hold all the instruction manuals and home warranties for the various systems in the home - electrical, plumbing, lighting, appliances etc. When something breaks, having the manual handy makes for a much easier and time-saving fix.

Before After