If, like me, you have a small bedroom, then a storage bed is probably one of the best investments you can make.
Choosing a bed frame that has some kind of hidden storage means you’re maximizing every possible square inch of storage space in a small bedroom, which is exactly why ottoman beds are so popular.
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1. Think about what you store
(Image credit: Future PLC / Davide Lovati)
If you’ve been struggling to add enough small bedroom storage ideasthen adding an ottoman bed can be *very* exciting. Suddenly, your bedroom has a whole new cave-like storage space, and it’s very tempting to immediately start piling everything that’s been cluttering up your bedroom out of sight.
However, this is where some attention pays off. After consulting friends, family, and home organization experts, the one thing I heard over and over again is that you don’t necessarily have to put items that you need to access every day on your ottoman bed.
Yes, the mattress is easy enough to lift, but it still takes a bit more effort than just opening the cabinet door. And as one of my co-workers with a stool pointed out to me recently, if your partner is still in bed, you won’t be able to access the inside of the stool in the morning!
(Image: Habitat)
Instead, stool storage is best reserved for items we use only occasionally, not daily or even weekly. Consider spare bedding, off-season clothing such as winter coats or thick sweaters, holiday clothes or spare bedding such as towels and blankets.
It’s also worth noting that feng shui experts echo this advice for maintaining “free-flowing chi” or energy in the bedroom. There are seven things feng shui experts say you should *never* store under your bed, but “soft, neutral items like spare bedding or blankets,” thumbs up according to Alexandra Berto, a feng shui expert at Chez Holistics and Board Member of the UK Feng Shui Society.
2. Think big, not small
(Image: Christogatin)
You might also consider the scale of what you store in an ottoman bed to keep it neat and tidy.
As a home decluttering and organizing consultant and founder of Arrangedexplains Hester Van Hien, “stools are usually best for storing a few larger items rather than many smaller items. They provide quite deep storage, and if you pile a lot of smaller items, then it’s hard to see what’s at the bottom.”
And as Hester says, “what is out of sight is often out of mind.” You want to know exactly what’s in your bed, not rummage through it every few days looking for missing items.
3. Containers, containers and more containers
(Image: Dunelm)
This brings us to the next trick that people with stacked stools always use: containers.
Yes, putting storage *inside* storage may seem odd at first, but storage inside a stool is usually a large open space, so adding smaller containers inside will help keep things organized.
“When you segment a space into smaller spaces, it makes it easier to contain and organize,” agrees Sian Peleski, owner of home and office decluttering and organizing services Arranged! and current president of gallbladderThe Association of Professional Clearers and Organizers.
“It also means that if you need to get to those harder to reach places under the bed then instead of rolling you can pull the bin towards you for easy access,” shares Sian.
Just make sure all items in the containers can still “breathe”. Choose storage bags or “boxes” made from breathable natural fabrics rather than sealed plastic boxes, as plastic can trap moisture and cause mold problems.
Dunelm
Striped underbed storage bag
Lifewit
Lifewit 35l clothes storage bags with transparent window
Dom Argos
Storage bag under the bed
4. Highlight everything you don’t see
(Image: Dunelm)
For additional ordered points, label, label and label again. Yes, when we put our items in containers we might *think* we’d remember exactly what was in there, but in practice I’ve definitely found that I rarely do.
Make sure you store “like with like” and then label your containers so you know exactly what’s inside, especially if they’re zippered containers rather than open.
“If you want to store smaller items, I would recommend using separate containers for each category of item,” agrees Hester. For example, keep all your summer clothes in one container and your winter clothes in another so you don’t have to rummage through everything to find what you’re looking for.
You can buy cardboard labels like these £2.85 String Tags at Amazonto label each container, and if you want to be *really* organized, you can also write down everything you keep under the bed in a notebook or in the notes app on your phone so you can remember exactly what’s under your bed without digging.
5. Store things upright, not flat
(Image: Dreams)
As it might be clear, a tidy ottoman bed is all about first thinking about *what* you’re storing inside it, and then making it as easy as possible to remember exactly what’s inside and instantly find it once you lift the bed base.
And the last of Hester’s top tips for this is to “keep things upright instead of piling them up.”
“Consider storing your sheets and towels upright so that you can see them all, rather than the bottom ones not showing,” shares Hester. “I roll up my fitted sheets and comforters and stand them on their short side. It makes the most of the height of deep storage spaces like storage ottomans or deep drawers.’
Brilliant: this is actually a tip I’m going to start using in all my storage areas, especially when it comes to organization of beds.
(Image: Mary Wadsworth)
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, remember to never store anything damp under your tuchte bed, as this is one of the most common causes of ottoman bed moldy.
This means that if you wash your bedding or off-season clothes before putting them away, make sure they are *completely* dry before you put them under your bed. Otherwise, the residual moisture left in the items will have nowhere to go, and the trapped moisture can cause mold.
However, armed with all these top tips, you’re now ready to maximize every square inch of that hidden storage space and join the ranks of those with the neatest ottoman beds!
