Hidden Storage in Front Hall - Life at Bella Terra

Upon entering our front hall, you see our grand staircase and an antique petticoat table. But tucked in behind the mirrored table, is a wainscoting panel, just to the left of the door to the powder room. Several months after we purchased the house, we discovered that this panel is not permanently fixed, but slides down to reveal hidden storage under the stairs.

The hidden space

A rather ingenious system with a rope and pulley, the panel drops down below the floor level. Painting of baby chicks done by my friend, Jane Horn.

As the panel slides down, you can see the original lathe and plaster construction of our 110 year old home.

My Mess

Now comes the embarrassing part. This hidden storage area is a collection point for all my seasonal pillows, slip covers for the family room sofa, dining room table leaf and pillow inserts. It is an area that I have been wanting to organize, but as you know, out of sight, out of mind.

After removing all of the items, you can see that this is a rather large space, probably created to provide access to the plumbing to the powder room.

Sorting and Organizing

After cleaning and wiping down this space, I begin to re-organize the contents. Heading to Target, I purchase large plastic storage tubs. Inventory is rather low after the Back-to-School sales, but I start with 6 large containers. Click here for a good selection of stackable plastic storage boxes from Amazon.

Making labels for each box helps with the sorting and organizing. The four different sets of sofa slipcovers takes up a great deal of space.

Since Target didn’t have enough plastic tops for the containers purchased, I keep all the pillows in plastic bags so they don’t get dusty. I utilize all the space under the stairs.

The dining room leaf is placed in a fabric pocket I made with an unused tablecloth. I lean the leaf against the boxes, as it will not fit any other way.

Now when I need a seasonal item, this new organizational system will save time and effort.

Do you have a project that you keep putting off? This under the stairs storage is definitely one that would bother me each season. I am so happy I finally tackled it! To see my recent post about another storage project in the front hall, click here.

If you enjoy this post, please share it on Pinterest!

Today, I am happy to be part of a blog hop that revolves around front hall projects!

We all love it when you visit and comment so please enjoy the following DIY Front Entryway Projects. Niky from the House on Silverado jazzes up her front hall for Fall.

Chas from Chas Crazy Creations turns this $1 garage sale find into a sweet side table.

Do you ever wonder how to revamp, update, or makeover a side table? I have been dabbling in making over a few furniture pieces and when I saw this side table for $1 at a garage sale, I thought what have I got to lose! In this post I'm doing a side table makeover with painting, stenciling, and glazing.

My friend, Andrea from Design Morsels loves the color red and check out this colorful front hall project here.

Tarah from Gramma’s House DIY makes clever use of a space in her front entryway. See it here.

Creating shelves and hidden storage beneath a narrow plant table in our entryway for boots and boot dryers and whatever else we may need to store

Thank you so much for joining me today! Have a wonderful week!