How are you using the space beneath your stairs?

In most houses there is wasted space walled away that you may not even be aware of. This is the part where I wish we owned our place. There are plenty of walls I may be inclined to poke around in to find out what hidden spaces I might reclaim for storage. One example is the wall to the side of our tub. They pulled the wall in to put it right up to the side of the tub, but I suspect the space behind it is vacant, walled away for contractor convenience, not necessity.

In many houses, under the stairs is the prime candidate for space to be reclaimed. Ours is already used to the max by a pantry, which you'll get to see in a future post as soon as I clean it out.

In this photo from a House Beautiful story on making tiny nests in your home, you'll find an under the stairs room built in space that might have been wasted. And this is no Harry Potter dungeon room. It's open, yet unmistakably cozy.

If you're going the storage route, you'll love this brilliant solution from Work Bench Magazine. They include the plans, so it's for sure worth a visit.

Under-stair playhouses are fun, too. This one by A to Being Creations is sweet. She includes instructions and photos of steps along the way. If you have kids or grand kids and are considering a conversion, you can definitely learn a thing or two from blogger Ashley Perry.