Worked room · 4.5 × 16 ft
Under-stair storage that ate the walk
Four and a half feet wide. The useful cupboard is on the only route.
The space under the stairs became genuinely useful storage, and in doing so it took a foot and a half off the only route between the front of the house and the kitchen. Both things are true: the storage works, and the corridor no longer does.
ReportedThose dimensions were declared for the example. They are not a tape in this room.
What Room Lab concluded
Buy nothing yet
moderateMovement · severepressure on its worst condition2 of 6 unknownMovement looks like the governing problem. Open a route through the room — no money yet.
- Why
- Movement is the primary friction at 81. Movement scores 81. How people walk: pinch points, blocked routes, and whether a body can pass. Function at 66 is real, but it is not the thing a body hits first. Under-stair cupboard sits on the primary walk. The route does not narrow — it stops and goes around. Addresses congestion and storage pile and narrow walkway with a derived cause behind it. It costs nothing, takes about 30 minutes, and is undone in a minute.
- Caveat
- 2 of 6 conditions are still unknown. Ranking uses only what was scored. Unnamed: comfort and personality were not rated; which circuit the socket beside the cupboard belongs to.
- NextTest
- Nothing currently crosses this room without moving something, starting with Under-stair cupboard. Shift it far enough that a body gets through, then re-measure. What to watch: Tape the walk. It measures 0" now and must hold 36" with the door open.
This holds until: A working budget is named. Unknown money is unknown, not zero.
Driven by Movement score (81). Moderate — enough is scored to rank, and the top two are close or something is unnamed.
Where the walk is blocked
Nothing crosses this room without moving something, starting with Under-stair cupboard. That is a barrier, not a tight squeeze — in a small store or closet it may be exactly what you intended, so check it before you treat it as a fault.
- Blocked walk
- Way out
- Hatched fails its clearance, or is causing friction
- Primary walk is blocked beside Under-stair cupboard: 0" where it needs 36".
- Egress is clear: 38" at its narrowest.
- Primary walk ≥ 36" is not verified.
- Door landing ≥ 30" passes, with 43".
- Through-path remains 36" after a place is made is not verified.
Pieces on this plan
- Stair carriage1' 6" × 9' · Unknown
- Under-stair cupboard1' 6" × 4' 6" · Unknown
- What did not fit1' 3" × 2' 6" · Unknown
Free moves first
Open a route through the room
Nothing currently crosses this room without moving something, starting with Under-stair cupboard. Shift it far enough that a body gets through, then re-measure.
How to tell it worked: A body walks it without turning the shoulders.
Empty the pile onto a table
One surface. Sort: leave the room / stay in the room / leave the house. Do not buy storage yet.
How to tell it worked: The walk does not grow a new pile in 48 hours.
Then one reversible test at a time
One reversible split
Place a folding screen, a tension curtain, or a planted trough on the line between the two jobs. Live with it for seven days. Do not also move the bed in the same week.
What to watch: Can you do job A without seeing job B? Time the walk around the split — it must not pinch 36 inches.
Temporary light path
A lamp in the dark corner and a task lamp at the job. Different color temperatures if sleep and work share the room.
What to watch: Sit at the job 30 minutes after sundown. Can you read a page without the overhead?
Move the largest piece once
Shift the sofa, island, or bed off the crossing. Live with painter's tape marking the old footprint. Do not buy a new piece this week.
What to watch: Primary path ≥ 36". Conversation or work still functions.
Not worth buying yet
- Another rug before the walk is clear. Rugs do not fix circulation. They hide it.
- Hardwired statement fixture. Fixtures wait for a passed light test.
- Decorative storage cubes for the pile. A lid is not a sort. Empty the pile first.