An ottoman bed is bought for a volume, not for a look. Beneath a king size mattress sits roughly three square metres of floor, and in a home without a loft, a garage or a hall cupboard, that is the largest single storage opportunity available. The ottoman base is the only bed frame that uses all of it.<\/p>\n
Our conclusion for this index is that the ottoman has moved from a specialist product to a default consideration in flats and smaller houses, and that the decision between it and a drawer base comes down to one question: how often will the contents be reached? Ottoman storage suits low frequency items. Drawers suit daily ones. Almost every disappointment we hear about comes from choosing the wrong one for the contents.<\/p>\n
Under bed storage is measured by area multiplied by usable depth. A double base gives around 135cm by 190cm of area; a king size around 150cm by 200cm. With an internal depth of 25cm to 30cm, that is a volume comparable to a large wardrobe, and it is otherwise entirely wasted.<\/p>\n
What fills it in practice is bulk rather than quantity of items: spare duvets, winter bedding, pillows, seasonal clothing, suitcases and the things that would traditionally have gone into a loft. The English Housing Survey records that flats form a significant part of the English housing stock, and flats do not have lofts. Terraced houses frequently have unboarded loft space reached by a hatch on a landing, which is not storage anyone uses weekly.<\/p>\n
This is the real argument for the ottoman. It is not extra storage in a home that already has plenty. It is the replacement for storage the property never had, and that is why it appears most often in flats, new build second bedrooms and converted rooms. Across our ottoman beds UK<\/a> range, that is consistently the reason customers give.<\/p>\n Ottoman bases open in one of two directions and the choice is not cosmetic. An end lifting base hinges at the head and rises from the foot, requiring clear floor at the end of the bed and enough space for the mattress to travel through an arc. It is the better option where the bed sits between two walls or in an alcove, because both long sides can be tight.<\/p>\n A side lifting base hinges along one long edge and needs clearance on the opposite side. It suits rooms where the bed sits against one wall with an open side, and it is often easier to load because the opening is long and shallow rather than deep.<\/p>\n Ceiling height and light fittings matter more than people expect. The mattress rises through a considerable arc, and a pendant light hanging low over the foot of the bed will be in the way. In loft conversions with a sloping ceiling, an end lifting base positioned under the slope may not open fully, and a side lift is the safer specification.<\/p>\n Mattress weight is the other constraint. Gas struts are rated to a range, and an unusually heavy mattress can make the base difficult to lift or, more commonly, cause it to close faster than it should. Matching the mattress to the base is worth doing at the point of purchase, and our mattresses UK<\/a> are specified with standard base compatibility in mind.<\/p>\n The table below compares under bed storage options on the practical measures that determine whether they work in a given room. These are specification comparisons, not market figures.<\/p>\nSide lift against end lift, and why the room decides<\/h3>\n
How ottoman bases compare with the alternatives<\/h3>\n