Under the Stairs

Hi, for my make it small design I tried to take the cupboard under the stairs from Harry Potter and take that space to create something better. In the movie that space is seen has him bedroom, the cupboard was small, dark, and dirty. I wanted to take that same space and turn in into something the complete opposite. A space someone would actually want to utilize.

3D

-Revit

Physical

-AutoCAD

-Laser cutter

-Paint

-Wood

-Glue

-Wooden Dowels

Due to the fact that I am only making edits to a certain part of the house and not the whole individual structure there are a lot of things about the house that I can not control. The parts pertaining to what I want to add can still be done using sustainable practices. The first thing is windows. Depending on where the stairs are in relation to the house could determine whether to have windows or not. The orientation of where that wall is facing can either benefit the house or hurt it. South facing windows provide lots of natural light and some heating during the winter. The size of the window also has effects, with larger windows comes with more loss of heat during the winter and more unwanted heat in the summer. Adding an overhang to the roof or adding a tree to block out the light where the large windows are helps to minimize the amount of heat that comes in during the summer and maximize the amount that comes in during the winter. 

Creating a space that is comfy, minimal, and efficient is the goal. To turn something that is constantly overlooked into an area that is used everyday. My idea is combining a bay window and a desk into one. My idea sparked from my own procrastination. The desk in my room is where I do everything from homework, scroll on social media, and play video games. I also tend to gravitate towards my bed when I’m in my room. A space that is dedicated to work has been shown to help a lot of people with efficiency when it comes to work. When there is a designated area for work, everything you go and sit there your area will automatically know that you need to focus and eliminate distractions. 

The idea of LED lights has been growing in popularity not only because they are long lasting but also because they require less power. To light up a small space doesn’t need some super bright lights, something small like fairy lights I feel can help create a more cozy environment. I want the space to be painted a lighter color which can also add to that calming setting. Typically the space under the stairs is used for storage which I didn’t want to take away, I still want to incorporate some type of storage space.  

When I started to sketch my ideas onto paper I had different ideas. One where the stairs are in a straight line and then the entire desk area is under the entire structure and a second where the stairs would wrap around a corner. I quickly drew both before moving on to Revit which is where I build the entire model. I ended up picking the one that seemed to provide more space which was the set that wrapped around. I also felt that this would give more dimension to my model.

The first step was to set up a base for the house. Walls, floors, ceilings and a roof were placed down so that I have something to work off of. I placed the starts in a L shape in the corner of the house trying to make sure that the longer part was the second half because the desk would be built under that.

Next I needed to add a wall to the base which also doubles as a ceiling for my space. This took me a long time because I wasn't sure how to create a wall that was diagonal and in a weird spot such as this one. Since the stairs are not a straight line, you could still see the bottom stair through the wall that I created so I had to edit the structure a lot.

After that I added a railing to the stairs and a bay window. The railing extends to the second floor and wraps with the steps. I choose to go with longer railing because I personally like them and I remember that I use to like to peak my head through the holes when I was a little kid.

I then created a wall under the stairs as a section that wouldn't be used. The space under the stairs in increasing in height from the left to the right so the section in the very front I just wanted to wall off and not had issues with there being too little space. I also thought this would be good to create a straight surface that I could work with.

I wanted to make my own furniture for the project so I tried to create a couch cushion by creating a mass in that shape but it was hard to create all the grooves that make it look realistic. I just ended up finding a couch online and editing the size of those cushions to fit my space.

I added a hole in the wall for the bookshelf but quickly realized that I could have to add something to back of the shelf because the shelf itself is hollow. I also added a desk top which was made out of wood as well to match the stairs. I wanted the surface of the desk to extend past the walls for which it sat on.

The new cushions and pillows are added but their size, orientation, and placement still need to be edited. After those I wanted to add one final thing which was storage which could go under the seat since there was free space. I wasn't able to find fairy lights or make them myself so I just added lights into the ceiling but in the physical model I want to see if I can incorporate them as well as the ceiling lights since that was my original idea.

I added that and just checked for minor details that I missed. The walls were often going into the stairs and they would peak out of the steps themselves as well as the pillows overlapping or going into something else. I then used Escape to get a rendering for what the space would look like in a more realistic light.

After my Revit model, I started to work on my physicals. I will be laser-cutting most of the bigger pieces of the structure such as the walls, floor, and stairs. Then I want to use dowels for the railings and other furniture. I started with the steps and built everything off. I used a scale of 2 feet, which is one inch in CAD. I also found that using paper to sketch on helps me visualize where things will go even with the Revit model in front of me.

After getting the cut out from the laser, I started by sorting the pieces. I labeled everything by what they were used for and what color I wanted it to be. I spray-painted most of the wood white and left the rest to be painted a darker wood color. Although my railing colors in the Revit are white I think I will leave the natural color just so not everything is one color. I cut out the dowels for the railing while I was waiting for the spray paint to dry. Each piece had to be cut and then sanded down at one edge into an angle so it would fit better when I put it all together.

I started with the steps once again because I felt the most confident in this part. I soon realized that the piece I cut out for the second half of the steps was not long enough or long enough to cover the space I needed it to, so I got measurements using a ruler and reprinted that part using another Autocad sketch.

I continued to work on the steps while that printed. Another problem I had was that the pieces that I had leftover were too small or too big for the spaces I had left. At the top of the steps there was a large space that would be connected to the second floor but because I didn't have a second floor for this model I had to readjust and cut out a piece that would over that. In addition, the seating area with the desk was so short and wouldn't reach the second wall that I had already printed.

After getting those two pieces reprinted I added the railings which turned out better than I thought, everything fit pretty smoothly and I did file down and recut a few of them while I was working. After that, I was finished. I had originally planned on adding more to furnace the space but I ran out of time.

I think that this whole process was fun, I've never had a project where I spent an equal amount of time on the physical model and the 3D version, it was always I spent more time on one or the other. I liked my model in the end. I do think that using the spray paint was a mistake because some of the edges would show and it would look messy. I learned a lot about Revit because I was designing a space a little out of the ordinary. I also had a lot of fun building the physical model. Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it.