The Phoenix Upholstered Ottoman Bed Frame is the Dreams ottoman I'd recommend most readily: a plain rounded headboard that won't date, sprung slats, and 22cm of storage under the mattress. The only thing to rule out first is the room. It opens from the side, so avoid it if both long sides of the bed are boxed in. Measure the floor beside the bed before you order: you need room to stand while the base is up.
Plain on top, useful underneath
The headboard is the same simple curve as the Phoenix frame, in woven fabric. The base lifts from the side to an internal storage depth of 22cm. The platform on top is sprung wooden slats, so your mattress gets a little flex as well. It weighs 56kg flat-packed.
A plain bed with hidden storage suits more rooms and more years than anything with wings or buttons. Spare duvets, the Christmas decorations and the suitcase you use twice a year all go underneath. The room looks tidier for it.
Test the lift before you commit
Dreams' guide for the Phoenix ottoman puts the recommended mattress weight at 20 to 50kg across small double, double and king, because the two gas struts are matched to that load.1 The lifting platform is a metal frame with a centre rail under the bentwood slats. On a display model, the base should rise without a heave and hold itself open.
The narrow stairs at my previous house taught me to measure the turn on the landing before ordering any bed. This one comes flat-packed, which helps, though 56kg is too much for one pair of hands.
What to buy instead
For a bed pushed against a wall, the Billy opens at the foot end. If you'd like a headboard to sit against, the Orion Upholstered Ottoman has the padded version with the same storage.
