Dimensions / Furniture / Bed frames / Storage bed
A storage bed hides drawers or a lift-up (ottoman) base under the mattress. Side drawers need about 50–60 cm of clear floor beside the bed to open fully; an ottoman lifts the whole base on gas pistons, needs no side clearance and stores things under the full mattress. IKEA’s queen MALM with four boxes is 168 × 211 cm (66 1/8 × 83 1/8 in), each box 98 × 59 × 15 cm inside.
| Drawer clearance | Queen drawer bed (MALM) | Inside a drawer |
|---|---|---|
| 50–60cm | 168 × 211cm66 1/8 × 83 1/8 in | 15–20cm5 7/8–7 7/8 in |
Sources: Dreams (storage beds), IKEA (MALM with 4 boxes), IKEA (BRIMNES). Checked October 2026.
Enter the bed and its drawers, your knee height and the floor beside the bed. Each check uses the numbers in the tables on this page.
All in centimetres. 1 in = 2.54 cm.
To bring the bed to your 55 cm knee height you need a 22 cm mattress, within the usual 20–36 cm.
Measure from the floor to the middle of your kneecap, and the base at the top of the slats.
There is 70 cm beside the bed, enough for the 62 cm drawers to open all the way.
An ottoman lifts upward instead and needs no room beside it, only space to stand while it is up.
It is 12 cm tall and the drawer is 15 cm high inside, so it closes.
Take the inside height from the spec sheet; the drawer front is taller than the space inside.
Fitting a drawer bed into a tight bedroom? Photograph it, mark the walls and the floor in SizeMarker and check the drawers before you order.
Mark a photo| Bed | Width × length | Inside a drawer, W × D × H |
|---|---|---|
| IKEA MALM high bed, 4 boxes, QueenBoxes roll out on castors | 168 × 211 cm66 1/8 × 83 1/8 in | 98 × 59 × 15 cm38 5/8 × 23 1/4 × 5 7/8 in |
| IKEA BRIMNES, Queen, 4 drawersThe frame is 47 cm (18 1/2 in) high | 158 × 208 cm62 1/4 × 81 7/8 in | 95 × 54 × 20 cm37 3/8 × 21 1/4 × 7 7/8 in |
| IKEA HEMNES daybed, Twin, 3 drawers | 105 × 199 cm41 3/8 × 78 3/8 in | 51 × 70 × 18 cm20 1/8 × 27 1/2 × 7 1/8 in |
| HEMNES daybed, pulled outBecomes a double bed; each drawer holds 20 kg (44 lb) | 195 cm wide76 3/4 in | — |
| MALM storage box, outsideFor the MALM high bed | 102 × 62 cm, 29 cm high40 1/8 × 24 3/8 × 11 3/8 in | — |
Sources: IKEA (MALM with 4 boxes) · IKEA (BRIMNES) · IKEA (HEMNES daybed) · IKEA (MALM storage box)
| Measurement | Size |
|---|---|
| Outside, Queen | 168 × 212 cm66 1/8 × 83 1/2 in |
| Storage space insideUnder the whole mattress | 153 × 203 × 27 cm60 1/4 × 79 7/8 × 10 5/8 in |
| Heaviest mattress it lifts, Queen | 50 kg110 lb |
| Heaviest mattress it lifts, Full | 40 kg88 lb |
| Sizes with a lift | Full and Queen, not King |
Sources: IKEA (MALM storage bed)
| Measurement | Size |
|---|---|
| Beside the bed, to open drawersDepends on the drawer depth | 50–60 cm |
| Beside an ottomanIt lifts upward | Room to stand while it is raised |
| Walkway on each side of any bed | 61 cm24 in |
| Standard beds, floor to mattress topDreams, UK | 45–55 cm |
| Standard bed with a mattress | 64 cm25 in |
| Mattress thicknessCasper | 20–36 cm8–14 in |
Sources: Dreams (storage beds) · Sleep Foundation (mattress sizes) · Dreams · Amerisleep · Casper
About 50–60 cm, depending on the drawer depth, so the drawers slide out fully (Dreams). Measure the drawer itself: IKEA’s MALM storage box is 62 cm (24 3/8 in) deep.
A bed whose base lifts up on gas pistons, raising the mattress and base to reveal storage the full size of the mattress. It needs no clearance beside it for drawers, only room to stand while it is up.
Both exist. Dreams warns that a low or slanted ceiling or a very narrow room most likely won’t work with a side-opening ottoman, so an end-lifting one suits those rooms.
Check the lift. IKEA’s MALM storage bed takes a mattress of up to 50 kg (110 lb) in Queen and 40 kg (88 lb) in Full, and warns that a heavier one can make the base fall suddenly.
A storage bed with a set of drawers on either side of the frame below the mattress, as Sleep Foundation describes it; the ottoman, which lifts up, is the other common style.
Dreams recommends that ottoman beds are not used by young children. IKEA’s HEMNES daybed is another option for a small room: its base pulls out into a double bed 195 cm (76 3/4 in) wide.
Storage beds are bought for small rooms, so buyers ask how far the drawers pull out, how much fits inside and, for lift-up beds, how heavy a mattress the lift takes. Mark the real sizes and the open drawers on your own product photo in SizeMarker, as in the picture at the top, and send one product card for WhatsApp or WeChat.
