Ottoman beds have become one of the most searched for pieces of bedroom furniture in Britain, and the reason is simple geography. Homes are smaller, loft conversions are common, and the space under a bed is the largest unused volume in most bedrooms. A frame that lifts to reveal that entire footprint solves a storage problem without adding a single object to the room.
Alongside the practical questions about gas struts and mattress weight, people often ask about how they can pay. Below is a straightforward explanation of the payment options at checkout, followed by everything worth knowing before choosing a lifting frame.
There is a lot of confusing terminology online around payment plans, so it helps to be specific about what we offer. PayPal Pay in 3 is available at checkout as a payment option provided by PayPal. The amount is divided into three payments, the first taken when the order is placed and the other two on dates set by PayPal.
Because the service belongs to PayPal, any eligibility assessment is carried out by them under their own terms rather than by us. We simply process the order once the payment is authorised, and delivery follows our normal schedule with free UK delivery.
Our advice for anyone using a staged payment is the same each time. Note the dates, keep them somewhere visible, and treat the arrangement as a fixed commitment rather than a flexible one.
The base is a hollow box. The mattress platform is hinged and supported by gas struts that take most of the weight, so lifting it feels far lighter than the mattress alone would suggest. Underneath is a lined compartment covering almost the whole area of the bed.
There are two main lifting directions. Side lifting frames open along the length of the bed, which suits rooms where the bed sits with one long side against a wall and the other side clear. End lifting frames open from the foot, which is the better option when the bed sits in an alcove or between two walls with only the foot accessible.
Choosing the wrong direction is the single most common regret with these beds, so decide where the frame will sit before you order. Stand in the room and work out which side you could realistically open.
The compartment on a double frame typically holds the equivalent of several large storage bags. Spare duvets, pillows, winter coats, suitcases and seasonal clothing are the natural contents. It is deep enough for bulky soft items, which are exactly the things that fill wardrobes fastest.
What it does not suit is anything you need daily. Lifting the mattress is easy but it is not something you want to do every morning, so keep frequently used items in a chest of drawers and reserve the ottoman space for storage you access every few weeks or seasonally.
It is worth noting that a lifting base often removes the need for a second wardrobe entirely, which in a small bedroom is a significant gain in floor area.
Most lifting frames are upholstered, and the covering affects both the feel of the room and the practicalities of cleaning. Fabric is the most common. It softens the room, absorbs a little sound and comes in a wide range of tones, from pale neutrals to deeper colours that work well against a light wall.
Faux leather wipes clean easily and gives a crisper outline, which suits a more contemporary bedroom. It shows less dust than fabric but can feel cooler against the skin in an unheated room.
Velvet has become popular in recent years and reads as more decorative. It needs occasional brushing to keep the pile even, particularly along the headboard where people lean.
Our modern ottomans UK sale range covers these coverings across the standard sizes, which makes comparing tones easier than judging from a single photograph.
A lifting frame needs clearance in front of whichever side opens. For a side lifting double, allow at least seventy centimetres of clear floor along that edge. For an end lifting frame, the same applies at the foot of the bed.
The frame footprint is usually slightly larger than the mattress because of the upholstered sides, often by around five centimetres on each edge. In a tight room that difference matters, so work from the external frame dimensions rather than the mattress size.
If floor space is very limited, a smaller frame with a lifting base often beats a larger one without it. Storage that is built into the footprint you already occupy is more valuable than a few extra centimetres of mattress.
Comparing across the wider modern fabric beds UK sale range is useful at this stage, because it shows how much the overall footprint varies between designs of the same nominal size.
Gas struts are rated for a range of mattress weights. A very heavy pocket sprung mattress on struts designed for a lighter one makes the base harder to lift and shortens the life of the mechanism. A very light mattress can cause the platform to rise too readily.
Check the manufacturer guidance and match the mattress accordingly. Most standard mattresses fall comfortably in range, but deep hybrid models are worth checking against the specification. If you are replacing the mattress at the same time, check the listed depth and construction so the pairing is right from the start.
Ottoman frames arrive in several packages because the base, the platform and the headboard are separate. Assembly usually takes two people and around an hour, mostly because the base needs to be square before the struts are attached.
Build the frame in the room where it will live. These bases are not designed to be carried through doorways once assembled, and a landing turn in a typical UK terrace will defeat a fully built double frame. Clear the floor first and keep the packaging until the mechanism has been tested.
Once assembled, open and close the base a few times before loading it. The struts settle after a few cycles and the action becomes smoother.
Use storage bags rather than loose items inside the compartment. Loose bedding shifts when the platform moves and can catch in the hinge, which is the main cause of a base that stops closing flush. Keep the interior weight reasonably even across the space rather than piling everything at one end.
Air the compartment occasionally. A closed space under a mattress benefits from being left open for an hour on a dry day, particularly in a bedroom that suffers from condensation in winter.
Check the strut fixings once a year. They are simple bolted connections and a quick tighten keeps the lift feeling controlled.
Loft bedrooms are the obvious case, since the sloping ceiling rules out tall storage on at least one wall. Small second bedrooms come next, especially where a home office has taken over part of the room. Rented flats are another, because storage is often minimal and adding fitted cupboards is not an option.
In each of those situations the calculation is the same. The bed is already occupying the floor, so using the volume beneath it is the least intrusive storage available.
If you want to see how lifting frames compare with standard designs across sizes and finishes, the bedroom collections at Furniture in Fashion show both alongside each other, which makes the trade offs clearer.
A lifting base is not the only way to store things under a bed. The modern divan beds UK sale format offers two or four pull out drawers, which are easier to access day to day but hold noticeably less because the drawer sides and runners consume space, and they need clear floor in front to open.
Plastic boxes on a standard frame are the cheapest option and the least satisfying. They collect dust, they slide out of reach and they only use the height between the floor and the frame rails.
A lifting base uses the whole volume, which is why it holds several times what a pair of drawers will. The compromise is that access takes a moment rather than being instant. For seasonal storage that is the right trade, and for daily items it is not.
Because ottoman frames are upholstered, the headboard usually carries the visual weight of the whole room. A tall padded headboard makes a plain wall feel finished and removes the need for artwork above the bed, which is useful in a rented flat where fixings are restricted.
Winged designs create a sense of enclosure that suits larger rooms. In a small bedroom they can dominate, and a lower panel headboard keeps the wall feeling open. If you read in bed, check the height carefully, since a low headboard leaves your shoulders unsupported against the wall.
PayPal Pay in 3 is available at checkout as a payment option provided by PayPal. Any eligibility assessment is carried out by PayPal under their own terms.
It depends on the position of the bed. Side lifting needs clear floor along one long edge, end lifting needs it at the foot, which suits alcoves better.
A double frame typically takes several large storage bags, enough for spare bedding, coats and a suitcase, though it suits seasonal rather than daily items.
Most standard mattresses do, but the gas struts are rated for a weight range. Very deep hybrid mattresses should be checked against the specification.
It takes two people and about an hour, and the frame should be built in the room where it will stay because it cannot easily be moved once assembled.
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