Ottoman and Storage Beds: How to Load, Use and Maintain Yours Safely
An ottoman bed hides a storage compartment the size of the bed itself under the mattress, opened by a gas-lift mechanism at the side or end. Used well, it's the most space-efficient furniture in the house. Used carelessly, it's a strained mechanism, a musty duvet and a lid that no longer stays up. The difference comes down to what you store, how you load it, and a few minutes of maintenance a year.
Here's how to get the best from yours, safely, for the long haul.
How Does an Ottoman Mechanism Actually Work?
Gas struts do the heavy lifting, literally. When you raise the bed platform, pressurised gas pistons take most of the weight of the mattress and platform, hold the lid open while you load, and control the descent when you close it. Some designs lift from the end of the bed, some from the side, and some, like certain models in our range, use an electric mechanism instead of a manual lift.
The struts are calibrated for a certain load. That's why every ottoman has a maximum mattress weight, and why respecting it matters. Put too heavy a mattress on top and the struts strain to lift it and can't hold the platform open reliably. Check your model's stated limit before pairing it with a new mattress, particularly a heavier hybrid in a larger size.
What Should You Store in an Ottoman Bed?
The compartment suits things you need occasionally but not daily. The best candidates:
- Spare bedding and duvets, washed and fully dry before they go in
- Out-of-season clothing, ideally in breathable bags rather than sealed plastic
- Towels and linens beyond the everyday rotation
- Luggage, which stores empty and awkwardly everywhere else
- Bulky soft items like cushions, throws and sleeping bags
What to keep out: anything damp or damp-prone, anything that leaks, food of any kind, and anything genuinely valuable that you'd rather not advertise, since an ottoman is the first place anyone looks. Avoid sharp or rigid items pressed against the base fabric too, as they can wear or puncture it from below over time.
One habit worth building: everything goes in clean and dry. The space under a mattress has limited airflow by design, and a single damp jumper can introduce moisture that lingers.
How Do You Load One Without Causing Problems?
Loading technique matters more than people expect. Distribute weight evenly across the base rather than piling everything at one end, since a lopsided load stresses the frame and can make the platform sit unevenly. Keep the fill level below the top of the compartment walls, so nothing presses against the underside of the platform when closed. Compressed contents pushing upwards is the fastest way to strain slats and struts.
Use shallow boxes or storage bags to zone the space. It keeps categories separate, stops small items migrating to the corners, and means you can lift a whole section out rather than excavating. And when you close the lid, guide it down rather than letting it drop. The struts control the descent, but a slam still shocks the hinges.
The Safety Rules
Two rules sit above all others. First, never let children operate the lifting mechanism. A rising or descending platform with a mattress on top is a genuine entrapment risk, and we advise keeping pets clear during use for the same reason. Make opening the ottoman an adults-only job, always.
Second, never lean into the compartment with the platform raised unless the struts are healthy and the mattress weight is within limits. If a mechanism has started to sink or hesitate, treat it as unsafe until it's fixed. Prop nothing. Gas struts either hold or they don't, and a makeshift prop is not a safety system.
Keep the area around the bed clear when opening, check nothing has fallen into the hinge line before closing, and teach everyone in the house that the bed opens, so nobody stores fingers where they shouldn't.
How Do You Maintain an Ottoman Bed?
A few minutes twice a year keeps everything smooth:
- Empty and air the compartment. Take everything out, vacuum the base, and leave it open for an hour to refresh the air.
- Check the fixings. Frame bolts and hinge screws loosen fractionally with use. Snug them by hand, without overtightening.
- Watch the struts in action. The platform should rise smoothly, hold firmly at the top, and descend with control. Hesitation, sinking or hissing means the gas struts are wearing and should be replaced before they fail.
- Inspect the base fabric for wear points from stored items.
- Rotate the stored contents. Anything that's been compressed for six months appreciates a shake out, and you'll rediscover what you actually own.
Struts are consumable parts with a long but finite life. Replacements are inexpensive and usually straightforward to fit, so a tired mechanism is a repair, not a reason to replace the bed.
Is an Ottoman Right for Your Room?
Ottomans shine in rooms where a wardrobe or drawers won't fit, effectively doubling the storage footprint of the bed. The trade-offs are worth knowing: you need clearance to open the platform, so check whether yours lifts from the side or the end and plan the room around it, and accessing storage means clearing anything off the bed first.
If that suits how you live, the payoff is enormous. Our spacious ottoman bed collection spans single to super king with a choice of fabrics, headboards and opening styles, built in specialist UK factories using FSC wood, and covered by the same 200 night trial and 10 year guarantee as everything else we make.
FAQs
The compartment itself handles typical household storage comfortably, since the contents rest on the base, not the mechanism. The critical limit is the mattress weight on top, which the gas struts must lift. Check your model's maximum mattress weight and stay within it.
Almost always tired gas struts, or a mattress heavier than the mechanism is rated for. If the mattress is within limits, replace the struts. Until then, treat the platform as unable to support itself and don't work inside the compartment.
Only if moisture goes in with them. Store everything clean and bone dry, use breathable storage bags, and air the compartment a couple of times a year. Done that way, an ottoman is as safe for textiles as any wardrobe.
Whichever your room allows. End opening needs clear space at the foot of the bed and suits rooms where the bed sits between furniture. Side opening suits layouts with a free run along one side. Neither stores more, so let the floor plan decide.
Generally speaking, no. The mechanism used in an Ottoman bed can be incredibly dangerous, and while accidents are rare, they remain very unsafe for children to use. We’d strongly advise parents to limit ottoman beds to adult-only rooms, and choose a standard bed frame with fixed or pull-out storage for children’s bedrooms instead.
