Single Bed With Storage for Students: Solve Your Uni Room Clutter for Good

 Here’s something nobody warns you about before uni: the wardrobe they give you fits about half your clothes. Maybe less. You’ve got a desk wedged against one wall, a bed eating up most of the floor, and nowhere — genuinely nowhere — to put the rest of your stuff. Bags end up shoved under the bed collecting dust. Suitcases block the door. Sound familiar?

A single bed with storage fixes this in one move. Instead of fighting for floor space you don’t have, you’re using the dead space under your mattress — space that’s already taken up by the bed anyway. No extra furniture needed. No arguments with your landlord about drilling shelves into walls.

Why Do Students Need a Single Bed With Storage?

Because student rooms are small, and the storage they come with is laughable. Spend five minutes on The Student Room forums and you’ll find thread after thread from first-years saying the same thing — the wardrobe’s tiny, there’s no chest of drawers, and they’ve ended up buying plastic boxes from Wilko just to cope. One person described their halls room as “a bed, a desk and a wardrobe that a child would struggle to fit their clothes in.” That’s pretty standard.

A single bed with storage underneath doesn’t ask for a single extra centimetre of floor. The storage hides inside the frame itself — tucked away, dust-free, and there when you need it. We’ve spoken to students who keep spare duvets, off-season jackets, shoe boxes, sports kit and textbooks in their ottoman single bed. All out of sight. All in one place.

What Can You Actually Fit Under a Single Storage Bed?

Honestly? More than most people expect. Our single ottoman beds give you 30 cm of depth across the entire base — that’s roughly 204 cm by 100 cm of usable space. To put it in real terms: two spare pillows, a winter duvet, three or four vacuum bags of clothes, a pair of trainers and a stack of textbooks. All in one go.

Plastic under-bed boxes don’t come close. They slide around, they collect dust underneath, and they look messy. An ottoman base keeps everything sealed away. And when your bedroom doubles as your study, your living room and the place your mates come to hang out, “sealed away” is exactly what you want.

What Types of Single Storage Bed Are There?

There are three main options in the UK, and they work quite differently from each other. Which one suits you depends on how much stuff you need to hide, how often you’ll dig into the storage, and what your room layout looks like.

[IMAGE: Infographic — side-by-side comparison of ottoman, drawer and cabin bed storage types]

Ottoman Single Beds — Maximum Storage, Minimal Footprint

This is the big one. An ottoman bed gives you more storage than any other type of single bed frame — the whole mattress base lifts up on gas struts, and underneath is one large open compartment. Our Single Ottoman Bed uses an end-lift mechanism with a pull strap. One tug, the base rises, and it stays up on its own while you sort through your things.

For students, this is the one we’d recommend nine times out of ten. It takes up exactly the same floor space as a normal single bed. You just get a huge amount of storage thrown in for free.

Single Beds With Drawers — Easier Daily Access

Drawer beds usually come with two or three pull-out drawers built into the side. Good for socks, chargers, bits and pieces you grab every day. The catch? You need space beside the bed to actually pull the drawers open. In a narrow student room where the bed’s pushed against a wall, that space often doesn’t exist. You’d be surprised how many people buy a drawer bed and then can’t open half the drawers.

Cabin Beds and Mid-Sleepers — Desk and Storage Combined

Cabin beds lift the mattress up high and fit a desk or shelves underneath. Clever idea, but they’re tall, heavy and a nightmare to take apart. If you’re moving house every July (and most students are), wrestling with a cabin bed gets old fast. For the majority of uni students in shared houses, a single bed with storage at normal height is the far simpler option.

How Do You Choose Between Side-Lift and End-Lift for a Small Room?

This one’s easy — grab a tape measure and look at your room. If your bed sits with its foot end blocked by a desk, a radiator, or another wall, go for a side-lift. If the foot end is clear, an end-lift gives you a wider opening and makes it a bit easier to reach things stored near the headboard.

We sell both. Our Chesterfield Single Ottoman opens from the side — brilliant for rooms where the bed sits in a corner between two walls. The Single Ottoman lifts from the foot end, which works well if you’ve got a clear run of floor in front of the bed.

Quick Room Measurement Guide for Students

Three things to check. First, wall-to-wall width — you need roughly 100 cm for the bed plus a few centimetres clearance each side. Second, length from the headboard wall to whatever’s opposite — a door, a desk, a radiator. Third, check the door actually swings open without hitting the bed. Our single ottoman bed is 204 cm long and 100 cm wide with an 85 cm headboard. If you’re going end-lift, leave about 60 cm free at the foot. Side-lift needs around 50 cm on the opening side.

Can You Use a Single Ottoman Bed in Rented Student Accommodation?

Yes — and it’s probably one of the most landlord-friendly upgrades you can make. Our single beds with storage come flat-packed. No wall mounting. No screws going into anything that isn’t the bed itself. Assembly takes under two hours with the tools included, and there’s nothing stopping you from taking it apart again at the end of the year.

We’ve had students tell us the same bed has moved with them through three different house shares across three years at uni. It packs down, goes in a van, and gets rebuilt in the new room. No damage, no deposit drama. If you want more tips on keeping a rented bedroom tidy without permanent changes, have a look at our guide to smart under-bed storage ideas.

What Should Students Look for When Buying a Single Bed With Storage?

Budget, Durability and Mattress Compatibility

Money’s tight at uni — we get it. Our single ottoman beds start from £189.99, which is competitive for something that works as both a bed and a storage unit. What you want to check is the build. Engineered wood plus a reinforced metal frame handles the stress of being moved every year far better than thin MDF that’s going to crack the second time you take it apart.

Mattress compatibility matters too. Every one of our single ottomans takes a standard UK single mattress — 90 by 190 cm. If you’d rather not shop for a mattress separately, we also do ottoman beds with a mattress included so you get the whole lot in one delivery. Oh, and UKFR-compliant upholstery is a must in rented places — all our bed frames meet that standard, and they each come with a one-year warranty.

[IMAGE: Product shot — DHS single ottoman bed in grey linen, styled in a small bedroom]

Frequently Asked Questions About Single Storage Beds for Students

Is a single ottoman bed strong enough for everyday use?

It is. Our frames use engineered wood panels with steel reinforcement and sprung wooden slats. The gas struts are built for daily use — open it, close it, no issue. There’s also an anti-fall device that stops the mattress sliding out of place. These aren’t flimsy storage boxes with a mattress on top; they’re proper beds.

How heavy is a single ottoman bed to move between houses?

Fully assembled, you’re looking at somewhere between 35 and 45 kg. But because ours come flat-packed, you can break them down into panels that are much more manageable. Two people, a screwdriver, and about an hour — that’s all it takes to get it set up again at the new place.

Can I use any mattress with a single ottoman bed?

Any standard UK single (90 × 190 cm) will work — memory foam, pocket-sprung, hybrid, whatever you prefer. Just keep the thickness under about 25 cm so the gas-lift mechanism doesn’t struggle.

What’s the difference between a 3ft single and a small single?

A standard single is 90 cm wide and 190 cm long — that’s what all our single storage beds are designed for. A small single is narrower at 75 cm, mainly aimed at young kids or very tight box rooms. Most students will want the standard size.

Do single beds with storage come with a mattress?

Depends on the product. Some of ours are frame-only (so you pick your own mattress), and others come as bed-and-mattress bundles with an 8-inch sprung mattress included. The bundles are handy if you just want everything sorted in one order.

Ready to sort your uni room out? Browse the full single ottoman bed collection and find the right one for your space — free delivery and 30-day returns on every order.