Anyone with an Ottoman bed please?

[FartleBarfle]

Hi there

I am looking to get a new bed. My fave so far is a velvet ottoman bed from Next (link below). However I have never had an Ottoman before, to me they look like they would be very heavy, with potential to break and a risk the mattress could fall when lifting. Also I guess you'd need to strip the bed to open it, or it was all go everywhere. Would this mean you would use it less than having drawers or just a bed frame with stuff under it. I'm sorry if these are totally daft questions, I hope someone can explain I'm totally off and they are good!

We currently have a few under bed boxes that store our sheets, and a few other items we would want daily access to. Would this mean an Ottoman is not for us?

www.next.co.uk/style/es783198/440298#440298?i=Superking

I was coming on to say our Superking Ottoman is amazing and has drawers as well, BUT ours opens at the foot, not the side. That way gravity is your friend so all the pillows stay put and there's very little danger of mattress slippage due to the headboard. Could you look at one that opens that way? It's an amazing storage space.

Our is brilliant, we've had it for about 6 or 7 years. Open it a couple of times a week. It's never felt as if it was in danger of breaking, the lifters make a light job of it (I was surprised my DCs could do it easily, they were probably about 8 and 10). You don't have to unmake the bed at all, the duvet might move a bit but it all just lifts up with the base. There have been literally now downsides at all, it holds at least twice as much as our old under bed boxes.

Ah yes, didn't look at link, ours opens from the bottom too which is great as you can access it from both sides and bottom.

Ours is side opening, it’s heavy, but not unmanageable. I have to stand properly not to risk my back
The pillows and duvet don’t fall off when it’s open, and the mattress is really secure.
Brilliant really, much better than our old bed with drawers

I didn't know you could get side opening ones

We have one from Dreams and it's fabulous. I keep all my bedding under it.

@IWillWashTheGreenWillow @ExtremelyDisorganised

Thanks both for taking the time to feed back!

It's great to know that they have more space than boxes underneath - very useful!

Yes I have seen them opening at the bottom too. But I forgot to mention a deal breaker for me is a foot board. I don't know why I just don't want a bed without a foot board too! And they don't seem to be bottom opening when you include one. I guess it makes it hard to reach. I tried googling it but couldn't seem to find one that had both.

@ExtremelyDisorganised I reckon the only reason they do side opening is for the footboard reason.

I have an ottoman bed and love it! Mine hinges at the top of the bed rather than the side. I think side opening probably makes it easier to access all of the storage space, but would probably means pillows etc wouldn't stay on when you open it. I don't have to take anything off my bed when I open it and it has opening struts that make it easy to open, although it does need a tug to get it started.

I wouldn't buy one without having the chance to test how easily it opens. I do recommend them to anyone who mentions getting a new bed as the storage space you get is so much more than if you have drawers and so much easier to access (and less dusty) than underbed boxes.

Ours is 12yo and the hinge mechanism (bottom opening) no longer keeps it open. It could be the heavier mattress we bought or just old age but I now have to ask someone to keep it open while I access the storage.
There’s certainly more room than having drawers in the same space. The only advice I can give is to keep rarely used stuff at the pillow area (least accessible).

We’ve got one and it’s been great 5 plus years in and going strong the gas struts make light work opening and all the bedding stays on. Store loads of stuff under there and all properly hidden (unlike under bed boxes which always showed a bit unless you have an awful frilly sheet).

@LegoClone dust is a good point as well! Why is there so much dust under the bed?! 😂

I’ve got one and I love it. I’ve got all the bedding, out of season clothes etc in there. Mine opens at the foot end though and nothing moves. It’s from Sueno.

Definitely try lifting it in a showroom with a mattress in place. I've never had a bed with a footboard and wouldn't want one which is why the side opening thing hadn't occurred to me I guess. Ours has 4 hydraulic lifters (king size, the base is made of two side by side boxes with one lift up base on top, so a lifter on each side of each box), the salesman explained that more lifters make it easier. I guess there might only be two on a sideways one?

Can you lift it from either side? Unless it goes higher than the picture shows it looks hard to access the stuff on the hinge side. Our bottom lifting one lifts to above head height so you can easily access stuff at the pillow end from the sides.

I have one and the storage area is like the black hole of Calcutta - it’s just a place to dump junk and forget about it forever

I’ve got one from Benson’s that lifts from the end.

It looks quite a bit higher than a normal bed which took a bit of getting used to but its storage capacity is massive which I love.

I bought a cheap ottoman bed 4 years ago and I love it! The hydraulics make it easy to lift up even a heavy mattress and duvet set (you actually need the mattress on it to weigh it down, otherwise it stays in the open position - that gives you an ideal of how much upwards lift you get from it)

It has also successfully survived a house move

Mine is something like this
beds.co.uk/product/fiona-ottoman-fabric-upholstered-sleigh-bed/

I don't know but I bloody love that bed! Almost bought it but ended up with a cheaper one and spent more on the mattress instead.

We have one, and I find it awkward to lift. This is because the hand holes are placed too wide, and it's much harder to lift with your hands too wide apart. Probably designed for men, like everything else in the world... .

I love mine . Opens at the bottom end , powered by some kind of gadget so easy to lift . Bedding & cat don't move when it's lifted & it stores sooooo much !

How about this one? It has a footboard to hold the matress in place but not so big to obstruct access.

www.happybeds.co.uk/allendale-black-faux-leather-ottoman-storage-bed-frame-5ft-king-size?gclid=CjwKCAjw1JeJBhB9EiwAV612yxcHYlqUnd6qKqPLT3N10YTSEwdXUg_5wJe2qHzqXNRzGyvM06iXRRoC5bIQAvD_BwE

Mine (super king) opens from the bottom - very easily. I think there's some sort of power assist in the hinges if that makes sense. Everything on top of the bed stays put when I open it - even the 30kg Labrador ...

I would say the only issue we have had is the cat jumping in when you have your back turned and then being woken up in the night by a strange scratching sound from the bed.

I love our ottoman, but if I was to buy again id want one that opened at the foot instead of the side. The corner opposite the opening at the end where the headboard is is really hard to access if you're short!

This is all great, thanks to all of your for replying. I definitely need to go check on out in a showroom @ExtremelyDisorganised. And thanks @TayceOnToast that does give me an understanding of how much uplift these things have!