With space at a premium in so many of today’s homes, platform bed frames that provide room for storage are growing more popular.

​

“Consumers like having room under the bed for storage,” says Dennis Rodgers, president of Forever Foundations in Irvine, California. “It’s space that otherwise goes unused, so it can be a big plus to a space-crunched shopper.”

NO LONGER A TWILIGHT ZONE The Store More platform base, from Irvine, California-based Forever Foundations, offers 14 inches of vertical under-mattress storage.

​

Forever Foundations’ line of all-steel platform bases replaces the standard metal frame and box spring combination with a three-in-one solution: support, foundation and storage, all in one unit. Its Store More model offers 13-inch side access with 14 inches of vertical under-mattress storage.

“With Store More, consumers can slide a bunch of bins under the frame to store bedding or other items,” Rodgers says. “And the entire area is easy to clean under and around, so dust doesn’t accumulate.”

Because the company’s frames are made of metal, they also are naturally bug resistant,” he says. “Bugs don’t like cold steel.”

​

A fabric deck provides additional support and allows the mattress to properly breathe.

 

Support meets function

​

Seahawk Designs’ Sto-A-Way wooden mattress foundation offers another approach to under-bed storage, combining support with built-in function. This patented base system incorporates four oversized, full-extension drawers into a microfiber-covered foundation structure that replaces a standard box spring. The unit, which easily attaches to any headboard-footboard, offers the equivalent storage of a six-drawer dresser.

​

PRETTY AND PRACTICAL Seahawk Designs’ patented Sto-A-Way wooden mattress foundation incorporates four oversized, full-extension drawers. Seahawk is based in Riverside, California.

​

Sto-A-Way retails for about $699, but because no separate box spring or frame is required, the price “is not as much as it seems,” says Bill Jahn, president and chief executive officer of the Riverside, California, company. “It’s a nice profit opportunity for the retailer without being a major stretch for the shopper.”

​

Jahn started his career in 1976 as a waterbed retailer and manufacturer. “And at least 75% of our waterbeds were sold back then with under-bed storage. There’s always been a high level of interest in bed storage, but the range of offerings has been much more limited with conventional bedding.”

​

Jahn says that since introducing Sto-A-Way to bedding retailers seven years ago, Seahawk has seen steady growth in the design, particularly among sleep specialists. “They see the value right away. It’s a simple sale, because as soon as the retail sales associate opens the drawers, the consumer starts thinking about all the things they can put in there. There’s not a lot else you have to explain.”

​

Jahn adds that Sto-A-Way has a strong appeal with “metro dwellers and anybody with a second bedroom or vacation home.”