Just looking to brainstorm ideas for the space beneath my U-shaped stairs.

The only thing that’s certain is that we (as in my wife and I) want to turn that space into a dog crate/kennel. But I see an opportunity to do a little bit more. Behind the u-turn in the stairs of the stairs is a hallway that leads from the main living space to the garage. Directly across the hall from the back of the stairs is a nook with cubbies for coats and shoes and what not (I wouldn’t quite call it a mudroom as it’s small and open to the hallway. Maybe a “mudnook”).

My idea for the wall that makes up the back of the stairs facing the hall way is to put in a built in shelving/cabinet system to serve as a family command center. This wall also has the hub for the smart home smack dab in the middle of it, which is also something to consider.

Other ideas is a book shelf to serve as a small library (trying not to bring too much clutter to the main living spaces, so this space can hold our small book collection.)

Also thought about dog/cat supplies, but there’s room in the mudnook for those supplies already.

Any other innovative ideas for a built in system to take advantage of the wasted space beneath the u-shaped stairs? How about features I should include in a potential command center? Maybe a large deep shelf for packages that are in “limbo” (as in: haven’t been opened, yet and probably won’t for a week, lol).

See attached photo of my crude drawing of the space to get a better idea of the look of the space. ** no where near drawn to scale!