Under stairs office ideas/solutions
Hello everyone,
As you all help me finding solutions in my kitchen, I've decided to try to find help for small home office (PC area). More for fun than for work.
In video on link below you can see a layout of living room, dinning room and PC area under stairs (lets call it ''office''). The sketch from video is far from finishing so don't mind details (furniture, colours, etc...)
Video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hIeg7BeZhGhpIdXTJCZbnj6e5AxhZkkF/view
I am using PC few hours a day and I want TV to be in my eyesight, so I put PC under stairs and right side leave open so I can have sight to TV.
On next screenshot you can see the green area that has to be open because of sight and red area that I have no idea what to do with. Should I put some shelves which will divide office a bit?
In next picture you can see sitting area. I put it there because I still have no idea what to do. L-shaped table and PC have to be under stairs, but I do not know what to do with the rest of the office.
I do not have any specific question about it.
I just want to hear how would you do it for yourself. Maybe someone has or saw any interesting idea or solution. What would you put in your small office? More shelves, closets, cabinets? There is no bad proposal.
Thank you in advance,
Karlo.
Comments (15)
PROPatricia Colwell Consulting
last yearKarlo Salopek
last yearRelated Discussions
space under stairs
Comments (24)happykate... our cat bathroom is the same! We have a pantry off the kitchen and the back wall has a 2x2 opening in it (6 inches off the floor, with a small step) for the cats to go thru. That entire wall is pantry shelves, so we lost hardly anything to put it there. The other side is the attached garage, where we have a door that lets us in to store cat supplies, misc. stuff at the end where the stairs meet the floor, and the 2 litter boxes and trash. We have a 5W CFL that stays on 24x7 for them and a mini-split off the A/C system in the ceiling. For vacuuming, we just pass the hose through their doorway and walk around to our door. I consider it the most brilliant extra we thought of at framing time!!!...See MoreWhat to do with a space under the stairs??
Comments (29)I don't think chairs would make sense. You have limited height and I don't think anyone will ever sit there unless it was a space for small children. I know I would be uncomfortable there. That pretty much rules out all but the first table. Possibly the smaller desk at the taller end with some accessorizing in the corner. Another things to consider is that anything in that space still needs to be dusted and the floors around it cleaned. Maybe I'm sensitive to that because I'm tall and I have two dogs who are in shed mode --it's only 100 degrees outside, but I think I would tire of having to duck and clean in the shorter space. It seems your entry has space on that far wall for a table and possibly for a chair or two (hard to tell from just seeing the one side), so it doesn't seem like you need that space for a table. Personally, I like the idea of a bookcase, but I'd also not want it to get lost under the stairs. What is on the other side of that wall? This idea is not a move-in arrangement so long as an idea for a project, but I'd look at the possibility of putting in drawers or cabinets on the other side to take up about 2/3 of the depth and then bookshelves on the entry side. No furniture would be used under the stairs, but it might maximize your use of the space. Don't know what your needs are in combining two households, but it's an idea. The entry is appealing -- from the wood floors and stairs to the arch and the French doors -- lost of things to say come in and check me out. Looks like a lovely home. Enjoy making yours and mine into ours....See MoreWhat's under your stairs?
Comments (32)We don't have one in our current house - it's another flight of stairs, and then crawl space. As there's another 900 or so square feet of crawl space, the under stair area isn't used. In our last house, we drywalled it in, and it was a lower ceiling height area of the office on one side, and the workshop on the other side. In the house before that, it was a little wine cellar, as I recall. However, my favorite under stair space was in the house where I grew up. It was originally storage, and then my mother turned it into a cozy little kid place. She put a light in there, carpeted it, pillows all over, and hung pictures. I spent quite a lot of time reading in there. There was also a curtain hanging in front, so it was very cozy. The walls weren't finished or anything (stud walls), so there were places to stash stuff. Best use of crawl space I've ever had!...See MoreMoving the laundry to under the stairs - will that work?
Comments (5)Side by side washer and dryer need approximately 60" of clear area. Then there's the issue of storage and a counter top with lower and upper cabs. Often there's a closet for broom, vacuum, mop, and shelves for cleaner, wax, soap and the like. Where will you put all these things in the plan above? If you reversed the W&D and relocated them on the wall separating the laundry from the closet, you could add a small closet with built-ins under the stairs....See More- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last yearlast modified: last year Chris
last yearHi. I wish I’d had a video like yours of our space. It would have been quite helpful to me when we were building. No matter what there will things you miss. Houzz is a good stomping ground for ironing out some of the quirks. I think the shelf that sticks out from the stairs should be cut back to under stairs ( unless that’s just a computer generated issue). It’s hard to tell if the L shaped desk is deep enough without measurements. Keep in mind the space you are leaving for the couch… see what typical measurements for those you like have to make sure you leave enough room. What about a bit of open shelving between the living room and office? Unless that cramps the open feel…
Karlo Salopek
last year- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year 
Fori
last yearUser
last yearlast modified: last yearJust a few ideas to save space and help the little office look less cluttered when you're not using it:
Plan a shallow desktop -- around 18-20". Mount your monitor to the wall (this one will allow you to adjust the height). Your monitor should be "arm distance" from where you're sitting, and think about where you would place the keyboard. (I don't like my keyboard too close to the edge because I need somewhere to rest my wrists.)
Don't forget to drill a large hole to drop cords down through!
Also, look for an armless office chair with a low back. A low back looks better, and without arms, you will be able to easily push the chair all the way under the desk. There are tons of nice looking styles out there! This type of chair is perfectly fine for casual use (you only need arms and a high back if you plan on relaxing there for an extended time). Make sure it can be adjusted. Personally I found that using a "dining style" chair too uncomfortable for computer work.
Momof5x
last yearChris
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ShadyWillowFarm
last yearKarlo Salopek
last yearMomof5x
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