Small Double Ottoman Beds: The Best Space-Saving Options for UK Bedrooms

Small bedrooms are one of the great realities of UK housing.

Compact terraced houses. New-build flats where every square metre is accounted for. Victorian conversions where the double bedroom is technically double only if you measure generously. Guest rooms that double as home offices. Teenager’s rooms that seem to shrink as the years go by.

In all of these spaces, the bed takes up the most room, and the bed is also where the biggest opportunity lies.

Because here’s what most people in smaller UK bedrooms haven’t yet discovered: a small double ottoman bed doesn’t just give you somewhere to sleep. It gives you somewhere to sleep and somewhere to store everything that’s currently making your room feel cluttered, cramped, and half the size it should be.

And the single ottoman bed, often overlooked in favour of its larger siblings, deserves just as much attention for anyone working with genuinely tight bedroom dimensions.

This guide covers both. The best small double ottoman options for compact UK bedrooms, what a single ottoman actually offers, and everything you need to know to choose the right size, style, and configuration for your specific space.

Why Ottoman Beds Work So Well in Small Bedrooms

Before we get into the specific options, it’s worth understanding why an ottoman bed is particularly well-suited to smaller rooms, because it’s not obvious from the outside.

On the surface, an ottoman bed looks the same as any other low-profile upholstered bed. Same footprint. Same height. Same visual weight in a room.

But underneath, literally, is where everything changes.

A small double ottoman bed provides approximately 520–680 litres of under-bed storage in one continuous, open space. No compartments. No fixed drawer sizes. Just a single large area that accommodates suitcases, duvets, seasonal clothing, spare bedding, pillows, and anything else that’s currently living somewhere it shouldn’t be.

That storage replaces furniture. And in a small bedroom, that’s the key insight.

Every chest of drawers you don’t need is 40–60cm of floor space returned to the room. Every wardrobe you don’t need to overfill is a door that opens properly. Every pile of stuff that disappears under the bed is a floor you can actually walk across.

According to the Sleep Foundation, visual clutter in a bedroom is directly linked to poorer sleep quality and higher evening stress levels. An ottoman bed is one of the most effective tools available for reducing that clutter, permanently, and without adding anything extra to your floor plan.

Small Double vs Single Ottoman: Which Size Is Right for You?

This is the question most buyers in compact bedrooms wrestle with, and it’s worth answering directly before anything else.

The Single Ottoman Bed (90 × 190cm)

A single ottoman bed is the smallest ottoman size available and the most appropriate for truly compact rooms.

At 90cm wide and 190cm long, a single ottoman fits comfortably in a room as small as 2.5m × 3m, leaving enough space to walk around the bed and use the room practically. The gas-lift storage area provides approximately 340–450 litres of under-bed space, which is still dramatically more than a standard single divan with two drawers (60–90 litres).

A single ottoman bed is the right choice if:

• The room genuinely cannot accommodate a 120cm wide bed with clearance on both sides.
• You’re furnishing a child’s bedroom where a single is age-appropriate.
• The room is a compact home office/guest room hybrid where the bed is occasional-use.
• Budget is a key factor; single ottomans are typically the most affordable in the range.
• You sleep alone and 90cm of sleeping width is genuinely comfortable for you.

The single ottoman bed is consistently underestimated. Buyers see the 90cm width and assume the storage underneath is similarly modest. In reality, 340–450 litres is roughly four to five times more storage than a standard single divan with drawers. For a child’s bedroom or a compact spare room, that difference is genuinely life-changing in terms of organisation.

The Small Double Ottoman Bed (120 × 190cm)

A small double ottoman (120cm wide) is 30cm wider than a single, and that 30cm makes a significant difference both to sleeping comfort and to storage capacity.

Storage increases to approximately 520–680 litres, enough for two medium suitcases side by side, a king-size duvet, several sets of spare bedding, and seasonal clothing in vacuum bags, all at the same time.

A small double ottoman is the right choice if:

• The room can accommodate 120cm bed width with adequate clearance on both sides.
• You want more sleeping space than a single provides, for a single adult, occasional couple use, or a teenager who wants room to stretch.
• Storage is a genuine daily priority and you want the maximum capacity available in a compact footprint.
• You’re furnishing a guest room where a small double feels more welcoming than a single.
• The room is a studio flat where the bed is the dominant piece of furniture.

The honest answer for most buyers in compact UK bedrooms is: go as large as the room allows. If the room fits a small double comfortably, choose that over a single. The extra 30cm of width is noticeable in daily use, and the additional storage capacity is meaningful.

If the room is tight enough that a small double creates awkward traffic flow or blocks wardrobe doors, stick with a single ottoman and make the most of its impressive storage capacity.