Friday, January 18, 2008

Making Good Use of Under-Bed Space

baskets under bed

For those of us with smaller homes and limited storage space, under-the-bed storage can sure help us out. (Be careful just what you store under the bed, though.)

Under-bed storage boxes are a standard option, and under-bed baskets can look quite nice. The ones shown above come from West Elm.

Another options is to get a bed with built-in storage.


bed with lockers underneath

Apartment Therapy has a great list of storage beds, including this one from PBteen.


bed with mattress that lifts up to show storage underneath

Apartment Therapy also points you to beds where the mattress lifts up to reveal storage underneath, such as this one from Door Store. Update on Feb. 14, 2012: I'm no longer finding it at the original site, but other sites have it, including this one. It's called the Lucca storage bed.


campaign bed

But there are also some nice choices I've never seen on Apartment Therapy. For example, there's this campaign bed made from rosewood. Update on Feb. 14, 2012: This bed is no longer available.


bed with storage underneath - very colorful

And here's a very colorful option. There are other designs - they aren't all this tall - and there's a choice of 10 color palettes. Update on Jan. 4, 2010: This bed is no longer available from the original source, but Soma Sofa sells them. Thanks to the anonymous commenter who pointed me to the Soma Sofa site!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We use a combination of vacuum storage bags and suitcases for under bed storage. The vacuum bags mean we fit more in (always a plus ;-) The suitcases help keep it all tidy, prevent the bags from being damaged, and are already taking up space anyway.
If you need to use the suitcase, the vacuum bag keeps everything tidy while you're away, and makes it easy to repack when you return.
It is best to put the bag in the suitcase and then vacuum it. Otherwise, the squeezed shape may not fit your suitcases.

Jeri Dansky said...

Suebk, since your suitcases fit under your bed, that sounds like a fine idea. I'm glad to hear you've had good luck with the bags; a number of organizers have reported problems with space bags leaking.

Louise said...

Most RVs have built-in underbed storage. The bed lifts up like the one in your Door Store photo.

Like suebk, we store our suitcases under the bed. It is amazing how dusty they get! Using plastic bags, whether they are the vacuum type or not, is a great idea just to help block out the dust.

Other things we store under the bed include clothing we use rarely (such as ski clothes and formal wear), seasonal items like costumes and winter boots, and the dog's kennel.

Jeri Dansky said...

Louise, thanks for pointing me to RV storage beds. Now that you've mentioned it, I've found pictures: RV under-bed storage and truck camper under-bed storage.

And using plastic bags as a dust-controlling device makes sense. If I get a lot of dust in my house, I can just imagine how much you get in the bus!

My own under-bed storage (built-in drawers) holds diaries from prior trips, gifts not yet given, and the phone books I hardly ever use but need sometimes.

Anonymous said...

soma-sofa.com in San Francisco sells that lower bed.

Jeri Dansky said...

Anonymous, thank you so much! I'll modify the post to link to the soma-sofa.com web site.