Cruddy Corner to Mini Library

Deborah Perrin
by Deborah Perrin
6 Materials
$100
8 Hours
Medium

Lots of books at our house - but where to put them? In the wall & under a staircase, of course!

When we moved in, this was the front room of a separate building from our living space - labeled as "storage". This was basically wasted space for us as it wasn't heated & was seriously smelly as the squirrels had lived here for over a year.

This is the same wall - after we removed the stairs that went up to "nowhere" - we replaced drywall & insulation (& painted & carpeted - but that is a different project). Then we added our own stairs to the ceiling - they actually go into an attic. BUT - Look at the great space underneath!

As we were removing & replacing drywall with less smelly stuff - I also kept some of the 2x4's exposed to make inset shelving. I made sure the hole was far enough up on the wall that the shelves would not disappear behind furniture.

I put up a couple of vertical 2x4's under the stairs for the shelving braces to attach to, cut the first 3 shelves to match - length wise & as I originally planned on 24 inch wide stairs, I bought 12" boards - using 2 per shelf to prevent sagging, for the shelves. Instead of cutting them down, I decided it wouldn't hurt to just use them. (The person who put up my stairs didn't realize I requested wider-then-the-ceiling-hole stairs for a reason.)

The supports for under the shelves ended up being made as a square of 2" furring strips that I attached to the wall & 2x4 braces coming down vertically from the stairs. Can't give you exact dimensions, as it all depends on what you measure.


I added corner bumpers for these 3 bottom shelves since they stick out from the stairs by about 6 inches. I figured it would be me cracking into the corners, so why give myself a bigger bruise?


The rest of the shelves under the stairs were made the same width as the lower shelves, but cut to the length that fit the angle.


Sorry this is the only picture that survived this part of the process - the rest were too blurry to see anything.

As you can see - we unpacked our books! It's a space we enjoy - although it's always a bit over-run with other stuff!

Suggested materials:
  • 2x4   (Menards)
  • Corner braces   (Menards)
  • 12" shelving   (Menards)
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  2 questions
  • Monique Monique on Jul 21, 2018

    Why oh why did you keep the staircase to nowhere, I wonder???

  • Monique Monique on Jul 21, 2018

    Do love the space under the staircase, but you mentioned that it went nowhere which is why two of us were questioning why you kept the staircase!!

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  • Ronna Ronna on Jul 23, 2018

    I thought the smaller stairs in the first picture were what was being referenced, not this full set of stairs.

    • Deborah Perrin Deborah Perrin on Jul 29, 2018

      Sorry - that was just the "before" picture. Can't imagine many books would fit there. We built the stairs to the attic in the same place.

  • Patricia B Patricia B on Jul 24, 2018

    Love your idea!

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