Best Beds With Storage UK: 7 Space-Saving Picks for Small Rooms

Small bedrooms don’t need more things thrown out. They need the bed to earn its keep. In a room where the bed takes up half the floor, the space under it is the single biggest storage opportunity you’ve got, and a proper storage bed turns that dead area into somewhere real to keep bedding, clothes and clutter. Here are seven ways to do it, matched to the kind of room and the kind of mess you’re dealing with.

First, a word on the two main storage systems, because everything below is a variation on them.

The two storage systems, compared

Get your head around that difference and the rest is about matching the format to your room. Ottomans give you the most space and need no floor clearance, so they’re the small-room hero. Drawers give you quick daily access but need room at the side to open. With that settled, here are seven space-saving options worth considering.

1. The ottoman bed: the maximum-storage all-rounder

If storage is the whole point, start here. A lift-up ottoman bed gives you one big cavity, swallows the bulky things wardrobes never fit, and needs no clear floor around it. For most small UK rooms, it’s the single most effective storage bed you can buy, which is why it tops so many lists.

2. The drawer divan: best for everyday access

If it’s daily-use clothes and bits you want, not spare duvets, a drawer divan earns its place. Two or four built-in drawers keep everyday items within easy reach, no lifting required. The one condition is floor space beside the bed to slide them out, so it suits rooms with a bit of clearance on at least one side.

3. The side-opening ottoman: the fix for narrow rooms

When the foot of your bed faces a wall or sits in an alcove, a standard end-opening ottoman won’t open properly. A side-opening ottoman lifts along the long edge instead, so you can reach the storage from the side of the bed. It’s a small specification change that rescues an otherwise impossible layout.

4. The end-opening ottoman: when the walls are on the sides

The reverse problem, a bed hemmed in on both long sides by walls or wardrobes, calls for an end-opening ottoman that lifts from the foot. As long as you’ve clear space at the end of the bed, you get all that ottoman capacity in a room where drawers would be unusable. Between side and end opening, most tight rooms have a workable answer.

5. The high base bed: height that hides extra capacity

A taller bed isn’t only easier to get in and out of; it also creates more room underneath. A high base, particularly a deep divan, gives you a bigger storage cavity or deeper drawers than a low bed ever could, and it looks more substantial into the bargain. Our guide to high base bed frames covers the benefits of the extra height in full.

6. The ottoman bed frame: storage with a statement shape

Storage beds don’t have to be plain boxes. An ottoman mechanism can sit under a proper upholstered frame, so you can have a winged or buttoned headboard that makes the room while still hiding a full storage cavity beneath. It’s the answer for anyone who wants the practicality without giving up on looks.

7. The space-saver storage bed: when floor space is the real enemy

Sometimes the problem isn’t just storage but the footprint of the bed itself. A small double, sometimes called a space-saver, gives a growing child or a single adult more sleeping room than a single while taking far less floor than a full double, and paired with ottoman or drawer storage it makes a genuinely tiny room work harder. Sizing the bed down can be the smartest space-saving move of all.

How to measure your room for a storage bed

A storage bed only works if it fits and opens, so a few minutes with a tape measure saves a lot of grief. Start with the bed’s footprint plus breathing space: aim to leave enough clear floor to walk and make the bed on at least one side. If you’re considering drawers, measure the clearance beside the bed and check a drawer can pull fully out without hitting a wall or wardrobe. If you’re leaning toward an ottoman, work out which way it should open, from the side or the foot, based on where you’ve got clear space to stand. And always measure the route in, the doorways, the hall and especially the stairs, since storage bases are bulky and some split into halves to make the journey. Measure first, buy second, and delivery day looks after itself.

Storage beds and your mattress

It’s worth knowing that choosing a storage bed doesn’t limit your mattress. Ottomans and drawer divans both take standard mattresses, so you can pick the comfort you want independently of the storage you need. The one thing to keep in mind is that a deeper, heavier mattress adds to the overall height and, on an ottoman, means the struts need to be rated to lift that weight comfortably, so a good bed is built with a sensible mattress weight in mind. Otherwise, storage and comfort are separate decisions, and a storage bed asks you to compromise on neither.

Do storage beds cost more?

Storage beds do generally cost a little more than a plain bed of the same size, because there’s more to them, drawers and runners, or an ottoman’s struts and reinforced base. But it’s worth weighing that against what you’d otherwise spend on separate storage furniture, and the floor space that furniture would eat in a small room. Seen that way, a storage bed often pays for itself, since it turns space you already have into storage you’d otherwise have to buy and find room for. As with any bed, the mechanism is where cheap versions cut corners, so it’s wise to buy at a level where the drawers or struts are built to last.

Making the most of under-bed storage

A storage bed is only as good as how you use it, and a little organisation goes a long way. Vacuum-compression bags shrink bulky duvets and winter clothes to a fraction of their size, multiplying what an ottoman cavity holds. Keeping like with like, bedding in one area, off-season clothes in another, means you can actually find things rather than excavating. And it pays to store the things you reach for least in the hardest-to-access spots, since you won’t be opening them often. Treated as proper storage rather than a dumping ground, the space under a well-chosen bed can rival a small wardrobe.

Storage beds in a child’s room

Children’s rooms are where storage beds arguably earn their place most, because children generate an astonishing amount of stuff and rarely have the wardrobe space to match it. A drawer divan keeps toys, spare bedding and everyday clothes within a child’s own reach, no lifting required, while an ottoman hides the bulkier things and the seasonal overflow that clutters the floor. There are gentler details too: the upholstered, padded edges of a divan or ottoman are kinder than a hard wooden footboard when small people are climbing and bouncing, and there’s no sharp corner to catch a shin. Size matters here as well, since a small double gives a growing child noticeably more room than a single while taking far less floor than a full double, which keeps a compact room usable. And because children are hard on everything they own, it’s worth choosing the bed in an easy-care, wipe-clean fabric that shrugs off felt-tip, spills and sticky hands, so a small accident stays a quick wipe rather than a permanent reminder. A storage bed that grows with the child, hides the clutter and survives the chaos is one of the more sensible buys for a young person’s room.

How to choose between them

The decision comes down to three questions. What are you storing, bulky and occasional or everyday and small? What’s the shape of your room and where is there clear floor to open drawers or lift a platform? And how often will you need to get at the contents? Bulky, occasional and a tight room point to an ottoman; everyday clothes and a bit of side space point to drawers. Answer those honestly and the right storage bed more or less picks itself.

Where Justbed fits

At Justbed we build storage into beds that still look like beds, with the strut, base and frame quality that makes the storage genuinely last, across ottoman and drawer options and a range of sizes. A small room doesn’t have to mean a cluttered one; it just means the bed has to work harder, and a well-made storage bed is the piece that makes that happen.