Extra storage always seems like a good idea but I wouldn't do this in my house ideamom, it would be an accident waiting to happen! If someone left the drawer even slightly open....!

We are going to put drawers on the side of the steps towards the bottom of the stairwell and use the larger area for a pantry. This is a dangerous idea that wouldn't even be allowed in our county.

We are planning on as much storage as we can cram under our stairs. Probably some drawers and a larger pantry also.

Here is a great example from Fine Homebuilding.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet Stair

Nice idea, but I too could see it being left open and someone falling in our house, or better yet the cat curling up in it for his nap, (which would be more dangerous for the person that stepped on him!) LOL!

We did in our current small basement/playroom what che1sa posted. We turned it into a media/tv center for the kids, low to the ground so that the tv would not fall. We also put in pull out shelves for the dvd's, videos, games etc. I got the idea from something similar I saw in Southern Living mag. years ago.

Ideamom are you building now or maybe your finished already?

I see the OP's idea as very hazardous, but....

back in the late 60s, our family toured an Amish farm.
They had a similar storage solution for the staircase. But instead of drawers that pull out, they had hinged treads that lifted up.

I permanently damaged my hearing thanks to understairs storage. I tossed in a couple of heavy weight plates into a confined area. Permanent tinnitus ever since.

And now a way to break your neck on the other side!

The comments on that web site (if they're real) show how unaware many people are about safety in their homes, unless the recommendation to make the inventor President is intended as a put down. "Stupid enough to be president" has a nice ring to it.

You should also consider the fact that neither the stair nor the railing would meet the IRC minimum safety standards so it is probably a photo from Europe or an "idea" mock-up for a magazine article.

When Germany occupied Holland in the 1940's radios were collected by the Nazi's and it was outlawed to have one in your home. The ten Boom family (of the Hiding Place) had some kind of hiding place inside of a step and that is what the OP's photo made me think of.

I hadn't heard the story of the ten Boom family. Now there's a reason for secret places in your home! (Though our contemporary enforcers would probably be more thorough than the Nazis.)

For stairs with 36" minimum width, which is true of most current codes, the treads would have to be very thick to prevent downward deflection over such a wide span. Looks like a great idea, but not workable at all. Did Congress design this?