The Oakley Upholstered Ottoman Bed: Fluted Front, Hidden Base

There are two ways to build a storage bed. One is a divan box with a lid, which works but looks like what it is. The other is what the Oakley upholstered ottoman bed does: keep the shaped, upholstered sides of a bed frame and lift the mattress platform inside them. The storage is hidden entirely when the bed is closed, and the fluted headboard and matching side rail are what you see.

The mechanism

The mattress platform lifts on gas struts, opening the full area beneath it as one lined compartment. The struts take the weight, so you are not hauling a mattress upright by hand. Because the compartment is undivided, it holds the things that drawers cannot: a cased duvet, a suitcase, boxed seasonal clothing, anything long or bulky.

The other advantage is positional. Ottoman beds need no floor space in front of them, only clearance above, so the bed can go hard against a wall on three sides and still give you every bit of its storage. A drawer base in the same spot gives you whichever drawers happen to face open floor.

Five sizes, finished dimensions

• Single 3FT: 99 cm wide by 212 cm long
• Small Double 4FT: 127 cm wide by 212 cm long
• Double 4FT6: 144 cm wide by 212 cm long
• King 5FT: 159 cm wide by 222 cm long
• Super King 6FT: 189 cm wide by 222 cm long

These are the bed at its widest point with the upholstery included, not the mattress size. The three smaller sizes are 212 cm long and the king and super king are 222 cm, so moving up a size changes the length as well as the width. There is a size guide on the product page with the bed drawn from the side and from above and every size shown to the same scale, which is easier to judge than a list.

The measurement people miss

Height above the mattress. The platform swings up, so it needs room to travel. A sloping ceiling, a low window sill, a shelf or a wall light above the bed can all stop the lid short of fully open, and the bed will still function as a bed while giving you only half its storage. Measure from the top of your mattress to the lowest obstruction above it and tell us the figure if it looks tight.

Second, the route in. The base sections and the headboard panel are large and the panel does not flex. Narrow stairs, tight landings and the dog-leg at the top of a tenement close are worth measuring before you order.

Twenty-five colourways

The Oakley is upholstered to order in any of twenty-five colourways, and every cloth surface, the headboard, the base and the sides, is finished in the fabric you pick. The choice covers plush velvets, chenilles, the Coniston and Naples weaves and a Silver Linoso, in shades from Cream and Almond through Mink, Mocca and Armour to Emerald, Blue, Pink, Seal Grey, Charcoal and Black.

A practical point for a lifting bed in particular: you will be touching the side of this bed every time you open it, so the hand of the cloth matters as much as the colour. A chenille or a Coniston weave shows wear differently from a plush velvet. Samples are the only honest way to decide, and we will send them.

What is and is not included

The tall headboard comes with the bed. Mattresses are sold separately, so you can pair the Oakley with whichever tension suits you. The bed is handmade to order in the cloth you choose, which is why the board, the rails and the lifting top are the same fabric rather than a close match.

Delivery

Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond it, which means beds in Scotland outside that radius carry one flat charge rather than a quote that changes with the mileage.

Dimensions, fabrics and the size drawings are all on the Oakley ottoman page. The same lifting base sits under every bed in our upholstered ottoman beds range, so if you like the mechanism but want a different board, that is the place to compare.