Ottoman Beds Are Different From Standard Bed Frames
The storage compartment is what makes an ottoman bed awkward to move. To access the storage, the base lifts up on gas struts, the same pressurised pistons you get on car boot lids. Those struts have to come off before you can take the bed apart. Skip that step and a strut will fire out under pressure when you separate the frame. Its dangerous, and it almost always wrecks the strut in the process.
If you’re working with furniture disassembly as part of a bigger move, read the gas strut section below before touching anything. Everything else about taking an ottoman bed apart is fairly normal once the struts are dealt with. For anyone moving a whole property that includes one, oversized furniture moving services are set up for exactly this. If you want house movers to handle it rather than doing it yourself, just check they know ottoman mechanisms before the day.
Before You Start: Tools and Preparation
Gather cross-head and flat-head screwdrivers, Allen keys (ottoman beds are almost always flat-pack and need them), a cordless drill with screwdriver bits, zip-lock bags for screws and fittings, masking tape, and a marker. Two people are non-negotiable here. One holds the lifting base while the other works on the fixings.
Strip the bed completely before starting. Mattress off, bedding gone, storage compartment emptied. Anything left in the compartment during dismantling will get trapped or crushed.
The Gas Struts: Disengage Before Anything Else
Each strut on a typical ottoman bed is holding somewhere between 300 and 800 Newtons. That varies by model and bed size, but the point is there’s a lot of stored energy in there. Try to pull the lifting base off while they’re still attached and they’ll extend hard and suddenly. People get hurt this way, and the fittings rarely survive it.
How to do it safely:
- Open the base fully so the struts are extended and holding it up on their own
- Find the connection points at each end of each strut. Ball-socket fittings and pin clips are the two most common types
- One person holds the base firmly in the raised position. The other unclips the first strut from its bracket. Pin clips have a release tab; ball sockets pry off the ball stud. Most come apart without tools
- Swap so the second person holds the base, first person disconnects the remaining struts
- Once all struts are free at one end, lower the base down manually. Keep hold of it until it’s fully down
If you can’t work out how the struts release on your specific bed, find the model number on the strut body and look it up. A handful of brands use non-standard mounts that need a particular tool. Better to find that out now.
Removing the Lifting Base
With the struts off, the lifting base unbolts from the hinge at the head end of the bed, usually two or four bolts. It comes away as a single flat panel. Bulky, but most people manage it between two. Carry it straight out.
Before you move on, bag up the hinge bolts and label them. These fittings are specific to the model. Losing one mid-move means hunting for a match that may not exist.
Dismantling the Main Frame
The rest of it comes apart like any flat-pack bed. Headboard bolts off the back (usually two to four bolts). Side rails separate from the head and foot boards at the cam locks or metal brackets. The storage base panel lifts out from the bottom. Any cross-supports come out last.
Mark every panel with masking tape as you go: Left rail, Right rail, Headboard, Footboard, Storage base, Lifting base. One zip-lock bag for all screws, bolts, cam locks, and strut fittings. Tape it to the biggest panel so it travels with the bed.
Packing the Gas Struts Separately
Wrap each strut in bubble wrap or a folded towel and keep them somewhere they won’\”t get punctured. If a strut body gets damaged it’s scrap. Replacements are model-specific, often only stocked by the original retailer, and sometimes on long lead times.
Keep them out of direct sunlight for any extended stretch. Don’t try to manually push or pull them while they’re disconnected. They’re charged with pressurised gas and aren’t designed to be handled that way.
What Size Van Do You Need?
An ottoman dismantles into panels roughly the same dimensions as a standard bed frame, plus the lifting base on top. Here’s how the van sizes line up:
- Medium van (6m³, 2.5m load length) — works for a double ottoman with the mattress alongside, though there’s not much room left for other bedroom items
- Large van (10m³, 3.4m load length) — handles a king ottoman, mattress, and the rest of a normal bedroom without much difficulty
- Extra-large Luton (18m³, 4.0m load length) — right choice for a super king or if the ottoman is one piece of a larger house move
Loading the Van
Panels go in flat, stacked against one side of the van with moving blankets between them. Lifting base in first since it’s the largest piece, flat against the wall, others stacked on top. Struts ride in the cab or somewhere protected. Not loose in the back where they can get crushed.
Reassembly: Gas Struts Come Last
At the new property, build the frame before you touch the struts. Main frame first, storage base panel fitted, lifting base bolted back onto the hinge. Then the struts:
- One person holds the lifting base in the raised position
- The other clips each strut back into its brackets
- Check every strut is properly seated before letting go of the base
A strut that’s not fully clipped will come off under load. The base drops fast when that happens and it’s not gentle on the mechanism.
When It’s Worth Paying Someone Else to Do It
Super king models and anything with non-standard strut fittings are worth handing to a handyperson or the original retailer for disassembly and reassembly. The fee is usually small compared to a pair of damaged struts you can’t easily replace. If you bought the bed from a specialist with a long parts lead time, that calculation is even more straightforward.
