Ideas for Using an Upstairs Landing

An upstairs landing is valuable space, even if it offers just a few extra feet. Depending upon the available amount of extra square-footage, it can be used for a small library, open displays, hidden storage and more. With handmade built-ins or ready made furnishings, it is possible to make the most of otherwise wasted space. Every square foot in a home can be used to the fullest potential, and without creating clutter. Find out how I used an upstairs landing for an open office and a stylish storage area that held office supplies and more.

Create a Small Library or Study in an Upstairs Landing

If the upstairs landing in one of my homes had been large enough to accommodate a single chair and a small shelf unit, I would have thought about using it as a library with a reading nook. The area had plenty of overhead natural light that filtered in through the skylight windows. However, this upstairs landing did not provide enough square footage. A landing must be the size of a small room to create a fully furnished library or study, and the area I had to work with was the size of a double door closet but not quite as deep. I could not add a chair, but I had a built-in shelf unit designed for storing books. The shelves provided a unique way to showoff my small collection.

Use an Upstairs Landing for an Open Office with Storage

Is your upstairs landing large enough to accommodate a computer desk and a chair? If the space provides enough square footage to hold a desk and an office chair while leaving plenty of room for passersby, consider creating an open office. Add a desk lamp or a wall mounted light fixture and everything necessary to work at home, pay bills, use the Internet and more.

One of my homes had a mezzanine walkway with two areas that butted up against an angled ceiling. These were essentially dead areas of my upstairs landing, but they were ideal spaces for built-in storage and a small desk. I placed a traditional cherry wood desk against the sloped ceiling in one location and a built-in storage cabinet in the other. Since the ceiling in this area of the upstairs landing was not high enough for much else, an ordinary desk and low profile storage cabinets creatively filled it. These furnishings made the upstairs landing a useful part of my home.

Source: Personal and Professional Home Design and Decorating Experience