Ottoman Beds: The Pros & Cons

Updated : April 22, 2025
Published : March 14, 2025
Beds
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Is An Ottoman Bed Right For You? Exploring The Pros & Cons

More and more people are opting for storage beds, not only due to their space saving nature, but the fact that they’re available in a variety of sizes, styles and fabric finishes to suit your bedroom decor too.

The options available are abundant, so you’re sure to find something to match your style and meet your needs. However, how do you know that an ottoman bed is the best choice for you if you’re looking for a new bed, especially one that provides additional storage space?

We’ve put together a list of pros and cons when it comes to ottoman beds to help you decide if your next bed should be an ottoman or not.

What Is An Ottoman Bed?

Ottoman beds actually have a very rich and long history, with the term ‘ottoman’ dating back to the era of the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim state which ruled over most of the Middle East and North Africa from the 14th century all the way to the start of the 20th century. It was during this time that the Ottomans developed this furniture type that featured storage space within.

Starting out with upholstered benches with integrated storage space, the design of ottoman style furniture has slowly evolved to include more and more storage space, which is evident when it comes to the modern day bed and footstools that are on the market today.

Ottoman beds carry on the traditions of their furniture lineage so to speak and combine it with contemporary styles and fabrics to create a modern day, stylish focal point that looks fantastic in any bedroom.

They feature easy to access storage space (powered by gas-lift hydraulics) that’s usually accessed from either the end or side of the bed and are often available as either only a base or with various headboard designs to choose from. There’s often plenty of fabric finishes to choose from too.

The Pros Of An Ottoman Bed

There’s a wide variety of pros when it comes to an ottoman bed, from their space saving qualities to their fabric finish options. So let’s break them down…

Extra Storage Space

We’ve all experienced it. The moment when a bedroom becomes unnecessarily cluttered and space is at a premium. Whether you’d like more space for your new clothes or you need more space for your child’s toys. Often, the most obvious step to take here would be to buy a new toybox, wardrobe or chest of drawers, but often, there’s no space for that either. This is where an ottoman bed comes in.

Ottoman beds allow you to take advantage of their storage space, within the same footprint your existing bed is already taking up. Immediately providing you with the extra storage space you need, without taking up any more space in your bedroom.

Unlike Divan beds, which are another great option when it comes to choosing a storage bed, the storage space in an ottoman bed takes up the entire footprint of the bed, giving you more, much needed storage space for all your things.

Storage Access Options

Another great thing about ottoman beds is their versatility when it comes to their design. We’re not just talking about headboard options and fabric finishes (We’ll come to that in a little bit), but the fact the access point to the storage space underneath can be configured to either be at the end or the side of the bed, is a real plus point.

This means that no matter the layout of your bedroom, an ottoman bed should be suitable for your needs. Unless of course you have a really low ceiling, which would make accessing the storage space very difficult in any case.

Safe & Easy To Use

You may be wondering about the process of accessing your new found storage space once you purchase an ottoman bed. Well we’re pleased to tell you that it’s super simple and as easy as slightly pulling up the wooden platform that your mattress sits on and letting the gas powered pistons do the rest.

There should be no danger of you straining a muscle or anything like that as they’re designed to take the weight for you when opening and closing. Plus, they’re often designed to safely shut too once you’ve finished accessing your storage space. Simply push the mattress down and once again the pistons will take over and safely and slowly close.

Different Styles & Fabric Finishes

Choosing an ottoman bed doesn't mean that you have to compromise on style or design in any way shape or form. There’s plenty of beautiful headboard designs to choose from and a wide variety of fabulous fabric finishes and colours available too.

When it comes to headboard designs, the most popular choices include buttoned, lined and more minimalist upholstered headboard options. More recently, headboard panels have entered the market too and these are placed on your bedroom wall behind the bed, rather than being connected to it. Whilst the fabrics used to upholster the headboard range from smooth plush velvet and soft linen to our beautifully textured (and trademarked) Malham Weave.

So no matter your style or bedroom decor, you’re sure to find an ottoman bed design to complement it.

The Cons Of An Ottoman Bed

As fantastic as ottoman beds are, as with anything, there’s always some drawbacks that may or may not apply to you. Let’s delve into them…

They Can Be Expensive

Ottoman beds can sometimes be more expensive than other types of beds due to a range of reasons. The first reason is the intricate craftsmanship that goes into bringing an ottoman bed to life. Expert craftsmen manufacture ottoman beds with premium materials to be stylish and durable, ensuring they last, night after night for many years to come.

Those premium materials aren’t cheap either and when you factor in the upholstery often included on the ottoman base and the headboard, you can see how the price starts to increase. Then there’s the inclusion of the gas-lift pistons that help you to operate the ottoman bed’s lift action to access the storage space underneath.

All this combines to create a bed that looks beautiful and provides you with all the extra storage space you need, so we feel it’s definitely worth the potential extra costs involved.

Physical Effort (Lift to access)

Whilst the integrated gas lift pistons certainly make accessing your storage space and closing the lid when you’re finished much easier, there is still a little bit of physical effort required in the first place. Plus there’s the action of bending over to reach in and out of the storage space underneath the bed, so this may not be suitable to everyone.

You could always consider a divan bed as an alternative if you need storage space underneath your bed. These beds feature drawers within the base of the bed, potentially making it less physically demanding to access your storage space whenever you need to. It’s always worth considering the alternative and doing your research before purchasing any big ticket item such as a bed.

They Can Become Difficult To Move

This can potentially be an issue in two ways. First of all, as you can imagine, once the bed is full of your belongings, it will likely become more difficult to move around, if needed. This can of course be fixed by emptying the ottoman bed first if you need to reposition it within your bedroom.

Secondly, once you’ve built your ottoman bed, it’s unlikely that it will fit through your doors if you were to move house in the future. Therefore, you will most likely need to disassemble the bed, before putting it in the moving van.

Potential Safety Concerns

Like with any bed, if it’s not been assembled correctly, is damaged or isn’t used correctly, there are potential risks involved. With an ottoman bed, the main concern people have is that the mattress platform will suddenly collapse whilst accessing the storage space, causing injury. However if used correctly, you adhere to the weight limits and it's built correctly, this shouldn’t be an issue.

As long as you purchase the ottoman bed from a reputable retailer, it should also have been rigorously tested before making its way to you in the first place. Some tips to remember when using the ottoman bed is to first of all always ensure the mattress you use, doesn’t exceed the stated maximum weight limit. Secondly, when opening the mattress platform, always ensure the gas pistons are in their most extended position before you start accessing the storage space. Thirdly, just to be safe, always keep children and pets away from the ottoman bed whilst operating it. You don’t want them accidentally getting trapped inside without you knowing.

Maintenance Is Recommended

We always recommend carrying out periodic maintenance of your ottoman bed, especially when it comes to the lifting mechanisms, ensuring it’s adequately lubricated and checking for any loose bolts, just in case.

These extra steps may not actually be required, but regular checks will help you to identify any potential issues should they arise and also keeps your mind more at ease. Now this extra maintenance may not be for everybody, so that’s something to consider.

Ottoman Beds: Are They The Bed For You?

So as you can see there’s both pros and cons when it comes to ottoman beds, much like everything really. We feel there’s certainly more positives than negatives too, but of course it’s for you to decide whether or not an ottoman bed is the right bed for you. There’s plenty of bed types to consider on the market, but hopefully our collection of the pros and cons have helped you to decide one way or the other.