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6 of the best ottoman beds and storage beds 2020
Ottoman beds and storage beds provide a neat bit of extra space for stuffing away your winter duvet, Christmas decorations or those clothes which you are clinging onto just in case they come back into fashion.
Most are 'full ottoman' beds which give you the whole space under the mattress whilst some cheaper ones are just 'half ottoman' beds. Ottoman beds usually open from the foot of the bed, with some opening from the side. There isn't really a big advantage either way, but the shape of your room might determine which one you need.
Some ottoman beds are electric, so they lift up and down with a button but most of them just use clever hydraulics so they are relatively easy to open and close without removing the mattress.
We've picked out six of the best value ottoman beds on the UK market by comparing specification, price, colour options and customer reviews. Prices are for double size without a mattress.
Most are 'full ottoman' beds which give you the whole space under the mattress whilst some cheaper ones are just 'half ottoman' beds. Ottoman beds usually open from the foot of the bed, with some opening from the side. There isn't really a big advantage either way, but the shape of your room might determine which one you need.
Some ottoman beds are electric, so they lift up and down with a button but most of them just use clever hydraulics so they are relatively easy to open and close without removing the mattress.
We've picked out six of the best value ottoman beds on the UK market by comparing specification, price, colour options and customer reviews. Prices are for double size without a mattress.
1. Birlea Phoenix Wooden Ottoman Storage Bed - £299
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This Phoenix wooden ottoman bed frame is made by a company called Birlea.
It stands out because of its terrific reviews for the price and its five year guarantee if you buy it from Happy Beds, which is longer than the warranties from John Lewis & Partners, Dreams and Argos for similar ottoman beds. The Phoenix Ottoman was scoring (at the time of writing) a very decent 4.4/5 from 200+ reviews on Amazon whilst on the Happy Beds website it was scoring 4.6/5 from 300+ reviews and on Google reviews it was scoring 4.6/5 from 70+ reviews. It comes in a modest range of greys, blues and natural wood colours and uses hydraulics so it is easy to manually lift (in case you're wondering, hydraulics on an Ottoman Bed hold the mattress in the air whilst you lift things in and out). Inside, the storage is split into three compartments. It's mostly made from rubberwood which (according to a few minutes research on Google) is 'strong and cheap' but wouldn't be used in 'fine furniture' because it has a 'dense, coarse grain'. Personally, I'm not so keen on wooden bed frames as I have a habit of walking into them and waking the children with my screams of anguish. However, most people aren't as clumsy as me and I do think they look very classy particularly when they're painted. If you buy it with a mattress included, I would go for a pocket sprung or memory foam mattress. Cheap 'open coil' sprung mattresses don't support you as well and they wobble about more. If you get a pocket sprung mattress aim for one with at least 1000 springs. Memory foam mattresses offer a good alternative to pocket springs. Some people find that they make them feel a bit warm, but they offer good consistent support and don't attract dust like a sprung mattress (see our top 10 mattresses guide for some award winners or our spring v foam mattress guide if you're very bored). Overall, the Birlea brand was scoring 4/5 on TrustPilot and 4.7/5 on Google Reviews when I checked. As with most of the beds on this list, it uses sprung slats which give a bed a slightly softer and bouncier feel than you'd get with rigid/solid slats. It's available as a double, small double (i.e. queen size) or king size ottoman bedframe. Some reviews say it took them two or three hours to put it together. Is it just me that gets excited about constructing furniture? |
The Birlea Phoenix comes in a few different colours...
...and gets outstanding reviews on several websites
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2. Dreams Wilson Upholstered Ottoman Bed - £399
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This Ottoman bed from Dreams opens from the side which is useful if you've not got a lot of space at the foot of your bed.
It's a hugely popular storage bed, with more than 1500 customer reviews and glowing average scores of 4.7/5 which isn't to be sneezed at. The Dreams Wilson Ottoman comes in three similar and not especially exciting colours (black, grey and silver) and three sizes (small double, double or king size). Unlike the Dreams Francis Ottoman bed it doesn't have a fancy electric opening, but as with the others on this list it uses hydraulics so you don't need to hire the local rugby team to lift the mattress when you want to get your winter duvet out. The design is what they call a 'scroll' end or sleigh bed which I personally think looks classy and is much less painful if you bump into it, compared to wooden corners. The slats which the mattress sits on are 'sprung slats' which gives a bed a slightly softer feel than rigid/solid slats. You only get a one year guarantee with this one. Dreams reckon it will take you a couple of hours to put this one together, although I'm not sure if they've allowed for the number of tea breaks that I like to take when I'm doing manual work. |
The Dreams Wilson has more than 1000 positive reviews...
...and it opens from the side of the bed
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3. John Lewis & Partners Emily Ottoman Storage Bed - £450-£650 (depending on colour)
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You won't be shocked to hear that this upholstered John Lewis & Partners Ottoman bed is one of the more expensive on the market. But you get the John Lewis name which is associated with quality and which will impress the neighbours when the van pulls up to deliver it.
The Emily Ottoman opens from the foot of the bed and uses hydraulics so it is easy to lift up and down. The main advantage of this John Lewis & Partners Ottoman bed over others is that it comes in a range of 10 funky colours and materials. The price varies quite a bit with the colours. If you aren't fussy, the black one (sorry, 'saga charcoal') is cheapest. I've not managed to find any reviews of this ottoman unfortunately. Overall, John Lewis & Partners was scoring 1.9/5 on TrustPilot when we checked, although that is the score for the brand as a whole rather than their mattresses or beds specifically. I also find that a bit of a bizarre score when the company was named as the UK's best retailer in 2019 (and come second in the four previous years). It's made in Malaysia and comes with a 1 year guarantee. It comes in double and king size. |
This John Lewis & Partners Emily Ottoman comes in lots of colours...
...including greens, yellows and blues
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4. Dreams Francis Upholstered Ottoman Bed with Electric lift - £799
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This is another storage bed from Dreams, but I've included the Francis Ottoman Bed on the basis that a) it gets great reviews and b) it comes with an electric lifting gadget. Most people will be fine lifting an ottoman bed manually with the help of the hydraulics but an electric version is a flashy alternative which will be easier for some people.
The colour choices are a bit limited (grey fabric or black leather-style) but the reviews are red hot at the time of writing, with an average of 4.8/5 from 1100+ customers. Unusually, you can buy the Francis as a single ottoman bed as well as the more common double or king size so it might be a good one for a tiny spare room which doesn't have much storage space. If you aren't bothered about the electric lifting then the hydraulic version is around half the price. But, y'know where's the fun in that? You have to put it together yourself, but several reviewers say that it isn't very difficult. It comes with a rather bog-standard one year guarantee. |
This Dreams Ottoman has an electric lift action, which is an unusual feature
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5. Argos Home Lavendon Double Faux Leather Ottoman Bed - £209
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This Argos Home Lavendon Ottoman bed is worth a mention at the budget end of the UK's storage bed market (Ed: try and make it more interesting, you sound like Alan Partridge).
It only comes in two colours - grey or black - and I'm not personally a big fan of the faux leather look but the reviews are really good with an average of 4.6/5 from more than 600 customers when I checked. It takes a couple of hours to put it together, but several reviewers comment that it was easy to follow the instructions. You can buy it in single, double or kingsize. It's worth noting that the double and king size have a maximum 'user weight' of 200kg, which is about 30 stone. So, two people who weigh more than 15 stone each wouldn't be able to use the bed together. It comes with a one year guarantee. |
This Argos Ottoman bed is one of the cheapest on the market...
...and customer reviews are very good
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6. Ikea Gvarv Ottoman Bed - £499
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IKEA's Gvarv Ottoman bed comes in one colour (dark grey) and the two most popular sizes (double and king size) but it's got a nice simple upholstered design.
There weren't many reviews when we checked, but those that were available were very positive. Overall, the IKEA brand scores 1.5/5 on TrustPilot but that's the score for the whole store and range so isn't particularly useful when we are just looking at one product. It's worth noting that the double size ottoman can support a mattress of up to 40kg. That will be fine for most standard mattresses but some posh pocket sprung mattresses weigh more than that (for example, the most expensive double mattress in the John Lewis & Partners Natural Collection weighs 64g). As far as I can tell, this frame comes with an outstanding 25 year warranty. The product listing doesn't mention the warranty, but elsewhere on the IKEA website it says that a 25 year guarantee is offered on 'wooden frame and slats in slatted bed bases'. |
IKEA like to keep it simple, with the Gvarv ottoman...
...which is available in one colour and opens at the foot of the bed
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