In many homes, the area under the stairs is just boxed in or has a teeny closet with such a steeply pitched ceiling that its recesses are barely accessible. A better solution is to fill the wedge-shaped void with storage units that are open to the rest of the room. You could hire a pro to create a custom assembly or simply make your own built-ins with a combination of stock kitchen cabinets from the home center. Start with a tall pantry unit, then angle down the line with a combination of smaller rectangular wall cabinets and base drawer units. It's even easier and less expensive to build cubbies like the painted plywood ones shown here, from KAA Design Group
. The series of rectangular boxes are placed one on top of the other in descending order and then screwed together through their tops, bottoms, and sides.
Learn how: Build these Wall Cubbies