The Aries Upholstered Ottoman Bed Frame is the Aries headboard on a lift-up base, and in a small bedroom that makes it the more useful of the two. You get 22cm of storage under the mattress, opened from the side, and sprung slats on top. Rule it out if the bed will sit tight against a wall on one side and close to a wardrobe on the other, because a side-opening ottoman needs clear floor beside it.
An ottoman is the best storage a small room can get
I'm a fan of ottomans in small rooms. The whole footprint of the bed becomes a cupboard for spare duvets, the winter coats and whatever came home from your mother's. Under-bed boxes slide about and collect dust; an ottoman keeps it all sealed under the mattress.
The Aries lifts from the side on a pair of gas struts, and Dreams' photos show the base boxed in right down to the floor, so nothing gathers dust underneath. Inside there's 22cm of depth, enough for folded bedding and suitcases. Its assembly guide sets a recommended mattress weight of 20 to 50kg in small double, double and king, so weigh yours before you order.1 A mattress too heavy for the struts lets the base drop on your hands; one too light makes it a fight to close.
Heavy to deliver, and the headboard still marks
61kg flat-packed means two of you to carry it in and two to build it. Assembly isn't included. The woven fabric and the winged headboard are the same as the plain Aries frame, so expect marks on the wings over time.
What to buy instead
If you need the bed against a wall, the Billy opens from the foot end, which suits a narrow room better. If you like the storage but not the wings, the Phoenix Upholstered Ottoman is the one I'd buy. Would I buy the Aries? For a box room with space down one side, yes.
