Granville kids ottoman bed: an adult amount of storage under a child's bed

A child's room holds more than a child does. The Granville kids ottoman divan bed answers that by turning the entire area under the mattress into one lifting compartment, with a headboard of six generous rectangular panels in two rows of three above it, each divided from the next by a deep recessed seam. It is the storage version of the Granville, and the reason to pay attention to it is the floor space it does not ask for.

Why a lifting base suits a small room better than drawers

The whole base lifts. Gas struts take the weight of the mattress and the top swings up from the side, opening the full footprint of the bed as one lined compartment. No drawers, no runners, nothing that has to clear a wall or a wardrobe door.

That last point is the one that sells ottoman beds in children's rooms. A chest of drawers under a bed needs its own length of empty floor in front of it, and a box room with a wardrobe, a desk and a bed does not have it. A lifting base needs only enough room to stand at one side, so the bed can go into a corner and still give you every cubic inch beneath it. Compare it with the drawer layouts in our kids divan beds range and the difference in usable space is not close.

Is a gas-strut bed sensible with children about?

It is a fair question and worth asking us directly rather than reading a reassuring sentence online. What we can tell you from the specification is how it behaves: the struts carry the weight of the mattress, so the top is not something a child lifts by muscle, and it opens from the side rather than the foot. In practice most families treat it as a parent-operated cupboard, and store the things that get used twice a year in it rather than the toys that come out daily. The daily things want a drawer or a basket at floor level.

Four sizes, measured across the finished bed

• Small Single 2FT6 is 75cm wide and 191.5cm long
• Single 3FT is 90cm wide and 191.5cm long
• Small Double 4FT is 120cm wide and 191.5cm long
• Double 4FT6 is 135cm wide and 191.5cm long

These are the widths of the bed itself, not the mattress, so measure the wall and the floor against them. All four are 191.5cm long. A small double is a serious piece of furniture in a child's room at 120cm across, but it is also the size a teenager will not grow out of, and the storage underneath grows with the width. The product page has a size guide with the bed drawn from the side and from above at a single scale.

Twenty-six fabrics, all in one cloth

The Granville is upholstered to order in any of twenty-six colourways. Every part finished in cloth, which here means the headboard, the lifting top and the sides, is done in the fabric you pick, so the bed reads as one object rather than a board and a base that nearly agree. Mid tones and textured weaves such as the Coniston and Chenille shades are the forgiving choices in a room where hands land on the headboard; the Plush Velvets are the ones that look best in photographs and want a bit more care.

A 54-inch floor-standing headboard is offered on the selector if you want the panels to run down towards the skirting rather than stopping above the mattress.

Getting it to you

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond that. If you are comparing beds in Glasgow, it is worth seeing a lifting base opened once in person, because the amount of room it gives back is hard to picture from a photograph. Mattresses are sold separately so you can choose the tension yourself.

The full fabric list, the four sizes and the size guide are on the Granville kids ottoman listing.