Transforming a bedroom with under bed storage and pillow headboard...

We are going to show you how we transformed our cluttered bedroom into a clean visually appealing room with a crazy amount of storage. While this was a custom example we built as a concept, you can make a similar set up with modules and stocked furniture to apply to your own bedroom. Overall, we added over 160 cubic feet of storage with a unique storage headboard, a king lift under storage bed, hanging and storage cupboards.

Every month our interior designers and specialists receive thousands of customer inquiries on how to save space, and after 10+ years of experience we have become experts at optimizing other peoples spaces to be efficient. On occasion we will develop new furniture and concepts and test them ourselves. Watch our video below (coming soon!) and read our thought and design process to see why we built this system and how it is helpful.

Storage Optimized Bedroom Makeover with King Lift Storage Bed - Expand Furniture

Watch this video on YouTube

The before:

We had just moved to a new location in a 60s era build. We brought with us a newborn child and lots of things. We wanted to update our bedroom to bring a modern element into the home while also improving the functionality and storage of the room.

We had a conventional bedroom to work with. It was decently sized but had a very small closet space for clothing. The room had a few small side dressers for bedside storage and a small cabinet. It also had a large bulky dresser which was needed for clothing overflow. It was still not enough, and other closets and cupboards in the home were jam packed with items.

Analysis:

The room was 12.5 feet wide by 11.5 feet deep. We determined that the room was wide enough to comfortably fit a King size bed with a surrounding custom storage unit. You might realize that a King size bed would reduce closet storage size, but we end up gaining even more space by utilizing under bed storage through a lift bed. While there was technically room to keep the large dresser in front of the King bed, we thought it was an eyesore. With the amount of storage we were going to create we decided we could ditch it and make room for a future wall mounted TV or fireplace. Other factors for consideration were windows being 29 away from the wall and a soffit drop down above the window.

The Design Thought Process:

Now we had to think about the cupboards surrounding our bed. A simple design of 2 drawers for underwear and socks and an upper cabinet for hanging clothes was an easy answer. While our cabinet was custom, you could buy a similar prefabricated cupboard module if you wanted to make your own similar solution and pair it with a Queen or King storage bed.

The design for the storage cupboards above the bed was a more difficult decision. The cupboard depth is 24 inches. This means that you are going to have a 24-inch box hanging over your head while you are in your bed. We decided this would not be optimal for a good night’s rest. You could get around this over hang by simply installing shallow depth cupboards or open floating shelves. But we wanted to push the limits of storage so we choose to keep the deep storage design.

We had to get creative, and we thought of the perfect solution. We decided to build a storage headboard behind our bed to push the storage bed forward so there was less of an overhang while sleeping.

This brought up a fun question – what can you store in a headboard and how can you open it if there are pillows against it? We decided on an upwards folding headboard with a deep drop storage compartment. So often in a boutique hotel or curated Instagram photo you will see a beautifully decorated bed with a plethora of throw pillows and these no doubt often end up on the floor when you use the bed. Our storage headboard solved this! We would use our headboard storage for our decorative pillows.

You might notice from the drawing above we have an empty cabinet space not being used. This was purposeful because otherwise the pillows could not easily be reached as the pillow storage would be too deep.

Now, what height do we set our bed at to feel comfortable and not claustrophobic? 66 inches was decided on as a sweet spot to allow for a bed and mattress. This would leave about 40+ inches depending on the mattress size, which was more than enough room to sit up and read.

Another issue was the need for accessible power outlets to charge our phones at night.

The wiring was an easy, elegant solution that already existed on the market, and we found some slim line power outlet covers with flat cords that could run behind the bed. This went through the empty compartment below the pillow storage and kept the cords away from pillows.

Our outline drawing:

The upper cabinet level was set to match the soffit drop down above the window.

The After – Final Product:

If you want to build something like this with existing components, you can do this with a King or Queen lift under storage bed and a modular cupboard and either floating shelves or wall mountable cabinets

If you want us to design you a custom system, we can do this if you are extremely patient, reach out to us by email.

If you are going to make your own version, consider floating shelves between the prefabricated cupboards for a more unified look. The less deep floating shelves and shallow depth cupboards will solve the issue of something over your head and still provide a solid amount of storage. We do think we have the best lift beds on the market because of our deeper than usual storage and strong builds.

How much storage space did we create?

Storage Bed: 76x80x13 = 45.7407 ft³
Min side tables: 5x22x12 (x2) = 1.52 ft³
Headboard: 41x94x7 = 15.6123 ft³
Cupboards: 23x94.5x26 (x2) = 65.06 ft³
Cupboard above bed: 27x23x93 = 33.42 ft³
Total added: 161.35 ft³

Products used in this build:
Reveal King Lift Storage bed (v2 Prototype)
Hover/MurphySofa custom cupboards
Willed Dimmable Touch Light
Hettich Hinges and hardware for cupboards
Blum Aventos HK-XS for the folding headboard
Sleek Socket Ultra-Thin Outlet Concealer

Questions and answers:

How deep is the under bed storage on the Reveal Storage bed?
The storage depth is 13 inches under the metal frame.

What is the benefit of having deep under bed storage?
We made the Reveal Bed’s under storage deeper than a conventional bed because we wanted to fit in larger items like luggage but also for organization with Rubbermaid style bins. The extra height really allows you to store more items and organize better

Why not just put the pillows and bedding in the cupboards?
Short answer is it is less convenient as you have to stand up to put them away. Long answer is convenience combined with the need for less of an overhang on the above cupboards. We could just use the behind bed storage for something else but we did not want another folding part of the headboard to open as it would not be usable with pillows (or a person!) against it. So using them for pillows was really ideal and functional. If you made your own system you could just put your pillows in the side cupboard and save some design work!

Why use a lifting storage bed over a bed with storage drawers?
A lifting bed has more storage capacity and has no conflict with side dressers or cabinets that drawers might be in the way of a storage bed design. A storage bed requires more sliding hardware and drawers and structures to hold these which makes it less efficient in how much it can store compared to a lifting storage bed which is more of an open concept inside.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!