Which are the best storage beds?

Ottoman storage beds use a mechanism to lift the mattress to around head height giving access to the storage area inside. Ours use powerful gas pistons to easily raise and lower the mattress. The pistons also hold the bed open until you’re ready to close it, which is great if you’re loading or unloading lots of things.

Ottomans are great where space is tight. Ours can open from either the side or end or the whole mattress can lift with the fantastic Alto mechanism.

Beds with drawers for under bed storage are more widely available – and often cheaper. They will give you extra storage, but in reality they’re often not that easy to use and lots of space is wasted. The drawers are large – which is good for space obviously – but the downside is that when full they’re often too heavy to open and close. In fact even when they’re empty they can be awkward because of their size – one side goes in, the other gets stuck and needs jiggling to free it and so it goes on.

It’s not only how easy or otherwise they are to use that separates ottoman beds and those with underneath storage drawers. Ottoman beds have around forty percent more storage then those of a similar size with drawers. Under-bed drawers may look large but they’re often obstructed by part of the bed frame, so can’t actually be filled.

Durability is a question too. Our ottoman beds have been designed to last many years (and come with a full five year warranty – see the Warranty page for details). The mechanisms have been fully tested for daily use plus the storage base is supported on all sides and with a hidden central foot. Conversely, under-bed drawers are rarely strong enough to take the weight so before long the bases sag and collapse.