Before buying an ottoman bed, ask six questions: which direction does the base open, will the gas struts support your mattress weight, how much clearance does the room allow, what is the frame made from, how will you use the storage day to day, and does the headboard suit the wall behind it. Get those six right and an ottoman frame is one of the most useful pieces of furniture you can put in a bedroom. Get one wrong, particularly the opening direction, and you will find yourself working around the bed rather than with it.
An ottoman bed lifts its entire mattress platform on gas struts to reveal a storage void underneath. Unlike drawer divans, the space is uninterrupted, which means it takes bulky items that drawers cannot. In UK homes where loft access is awkward and built in storage is limited, that void often ends up holding seasonal bedding, suitcases and everything else with nowhere obvious to live.
This is the question that most often gets answered after purchase rather than before, and it is the one with the biggest practical consequences.
End opening frames lift from the foot of the bed towards the headboard. They need clear floor at the foot, typically around 60cm to 80cm, so the base can swing up and you can stand to load it. They suit beds positioned against a side wall, and they are generally easier to lift because the pivot sits at the head.
Side opening frames lift from one long side. They need clearance along that side rather than at the foot, which suits rooms where the bed sits against a wall at the head with the foot facing a door or window. Side opening tends to give easier access to the whole void, because you are standing alongside it rather than reaching over the end.
Measure the space and consider where you actually stand in the room. A frame that opens into a wardrobe door or a radiator will be opened far less often than one that opens into clear floor.
Gas struts do the lifting, and they are rated for a weight range. Modern pocket sprung and hybrid mattresses are considerably heavier than older foam or open coil types, particularly in king and super king sizes where a mattress can weigh well over 40kg.
If the struts are underspecified for the mattress, three things happen. The base becomes difficult to raise. It fails to hold steady at the top of its travel. And the struts wear out faster, since they are working at the limit of their range.
Check the stated strut capacity against the mattress weight before ordering. Where the figures are close, consider whether a lighter mattress would serve you better, or choose a frame with a higher rating. Struts are replaceable on most quality frames, which is worth confirming at the point of purchase.
Across our modern ottomans UK sale range the lifting specifications are listed alongside the dimensions, which makes this comparison straightforward.
Ottoman frames need two kinds of clearance: floor clearance for the opening direction, and vertical clearance for the base at full lift.
Vertical clearance catches people out in loft conversions and rooms with sloping ceilings. When an end opening base is fully raised, the foot of the platform rises to roughly the height of the bed length. In a room with a coombed ceiling above the foot of the bed, the base may hit the slope before it reaches its locking position.
The practical test is simple. Measure from the floor to the ceiling at the point where the base will rise. Compare that to the bed length plus the base height. If the ceiling is lower, choose the other opening direction or a drawer base instead.
Also check for radiators, window sills and light fittings along the opening path. A low window sill behind the headboard is fine. A sill on the side where a side opening base will rise is not.
An ottoman frame carries more structural stress than a fixed base, because the platform moves and the storage void bears the weight of whatever you put in it. Construction quality matters more here than on a standard frame.
Look for a solid timber or engineered hardwood chassis rather than a lightweight softwood one. Check whether the storage floor is a solid panel or a thin board, since a thin base will bow under heavy items over time. Some frames use a fabric lined base, which is comfortable for bedding but less suited to hard edged items such as cases.
Slat quality also matters. Sprung slats flex under load, which is comfortable, but they need secure fixings in a lifting frame because the whole assembly moves. Loose slat holders rattle and eventually fail.
Upholstery affects longevity too. Fabric frames sit softly in a room and suit layered bedroom schemes, while faux leather wipes clean and copes better with regular handling around the lifting edge. Both are available in ottoman construction, and you can compare them across the modern beds UK sale collection.
The answer changes which frame suits you. Ottoman storage is excellent for items you access seasonally and awkward for items you need every morning, because opening it requires clearing the bed surface first.
If the void will hold spare duvets, winter coats and luggage, an ottoman is a strong choice and the infrequent access is no drawback. If you intend to keep everyday clothing in there, consider whether you will genuinely lift a mattress each morning. Most people will not, which is when a chest of drawers or a wardrobe serves better.
A sensible arrangement is to use the ottoman for bulk and low frequency storage, and keep a small piece of accessible storage nearby for daily items. A slim chest from our modern chest of drawers UK range alongside the bed covers the daily needs without taking much floor.
One practical note: store items in bags or boxes rather than loose. A loose pile shifts when the base lowers and can jam the mechanism or get trapped at the hinge.
Ottoman frames often come with substantial headboards, partly because the overall frame is already visually heavy. Before choosing, consider what is behind the bed.
A tall headboard against a plain wall gives a strong, composed look. The same headboard in front of a window blocks light and looks awkward from outside the house. A headboard that covers a radiator reduces the heat reaching the room.
Height also interacts with the opening mechanism on end opening frames. Since the base pivots at the head, a very tall headboard does not obstruct the lift, but it does determine how close to the wall the frame can sit if the headboard is angled or buttoned.
Consider the room proportions honestly. In a standard UK bedroom with a ceiling around 2.4m, a headboard between 95cm and 115cm from the floor generally looks balanced.
Ottoman frames arrive flat packed in several boxes and are heavier than standard frames. Assembly usually takes two people, particularly when fitting the gas struts, which are under tension and need aligning precisely.
Measure your access route before ordering: stairwells, landing turns and doorways. The largest single component is normally the base platform, which cannot be reduced further.
Once assembled, an ottoman frame is not easily moved without partial disassembly, so decide on its position before you build it.
Ottoman beds solve a real problem in homes that lack storage, and they do it without adding a single piece of furniture to the floor plan. The failure points are almost always practical rather than aesthetic: an opening direction that fights the room, struts that cannot lift the mattress, or a ceiling slope nobody measured.
Work through the six questions above with a tape measure in hand and the decision becomes straightforward. Our full range of storage frames is available at Furniture in Fashion, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.
Is an ottoman bed better than a divan with drawers?
They suit different needs. Ottoman frames give a single uninterrupted void that takes bulky items, while drawer divans give smaller compartments with easier daily access. Choose ottoman for volume and drawers for frequency of use.
Can one person lift an ottoman base?
Yes, provided the gas struts are correctly rated for the mattress. The struts carry most of the weight, so the effort is modest. If lifting feels heavy, the struts are likely underspecified or worn.
Do ottoman beds work in loft rooms?
They can, but the ceiling slope needs checking against the lift path. In rooms with a coombed ceiling above the foot of the bed, a side opening frame or a drawer base is usually the safer option.
What should you not store in an ottoman bed?
Avoid anything damp, anything with a strong odour, and loose items that can shift and jam the mechanism. Store contents in bags or boxes and leave the hinge area clear.
How long do gas struts last?
Struts have a finite working life measured in lift cycles, and correctly rated ones last for many years of normal use. On most quality frames they can be replaced individually if they weaken, which is worth checking before you buy.
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