apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Under my bed: cat toys that weren't fun enough to chase back out.

I store an occasional cat under my bed.

Our bed needs a major overhaul. Off the top of my head, we have a folding table, two large duffel bags, a collection of smaller duffel bags and backpacks, collection of plastic bags (the kind that sheets come in), cat toys, box of magic tricks, dust, and large quanties of cat hair. I am waiting for the spring cure to tackle it

There are two bank boxes full of stuff currently under my bed... and a dust bunny or two or three.

I read it was bad feng shui to keep stuff under the bed. But there's so much room down there.

Nothing under my bed, I read that according to feng shui, stuff under the bed sucks your money away or something. I'm not a devout believer in feng shui, but I figure it can't hurt.

Actually, I have a futon, so the only thing that does fit under it is a cat. I sure wish I could use all that extra storage space.

Hmm.. three under the bed boxes with off season clothes and ski wear. At least it's contained!

Oh.. and of course large quantities of cat hair.

I stuff all my bad feng shui under the bed.

Pteetsa,

IKEA makes a long, low box that fits under their futons.

A cat sleeps under my bed (on the heat register).

Nothing. We used to keep my silver pop up Christmas tree in a cardboard box under the bed, but my dog periodically dragged it out, leaving a trail of silver bits and chewed up, wet cardboard. He would be really proud of himself too, like, "Hey guys! Did you know this was under the bed! Look! You can thank me later."

LOL!
it seems we Cat Servants hold the majority as under-bed storers. myself included.

what can i do? i live in a 450sq ft apartment with only two closets (one regular, one slim). almost have NO choice but to store my off-season clothes, and art and office supplies there!

the feng shui reasoning resonates with me (it's about allowing energy to pass through unencumbered and your bed is a very sensitive area). but we don't have two story homes or sprawling ranches to allow us to follow the feng shui method! quercus, your comment is hilarious!

And I keep all my bad feng shui under quercus's bed, too.

oh, and because i stick the long vacuum nozzle in sporadic places down there when i vacuum each week, i don't have regular-sized dust bunnies per se. they're more like little dust rabbits' feet.

Jenniejen, thank you! Do you know what it's called?

Any recommendations on feng shui energy vacuums? I don't store anything under my bed but *something* is still sucking my d$mn money away!

Not a thing under my bed.

I recently dragged all the stuff out from under my bed for 2 reasons: the nightstand sanding fiasco of 2008 and after I got my new rug yesterday. I had a long storage bag of off season clothes, a rubbermaid box of fabric, a rubbermaid box of candles and candle/floral/decoration-related crap, my document safe, a never-used suitcase, and a long storage bag of blankets. I found new homes for the never-used suitcase and blankets...the misc crap and fabric boxes are awaiting me going through it. I need to find a new home for the off-season clothing (or a new container) because my new rug and pad took up enough space that it now won't fit. While I'd love a free and easy "look, I have such luxury of space I don't need to store anything under the bed" look, I have a feeling I won't be there anytime soon...it doesn't matter because I don't want to look at my ugly standard issue bed frame anyway!

A large box of sheets, a large box of home dec mags, two baskets of various pillowcases, tablecloths, handmade blankets, fabric, etc. A box of VHS's (like 8). A mini sewing machine and a box or two of odds 'n ends.

Luggage set (nested matryoshka style); small box of keepsakes; small number of collapsed cardboard boxes (to keep handy); several dozen prodigal hair elastics.

I JUST got two new Container Store under bed clear rolling shoe boxes, and I LOVE them. I used to keep all my shoes in a big heap under my side of the bed (somehow they never made it back onto the precarious shoe rack in the closet), and it took me forever to find the matching pair that I wanted. Now I just roll out a box (one for shoes, one for boots), grab and go. It takes seconds. Assuming I spent 5 minutes looking for shoes every morning, I've discovered an extra 30 hours per year that I can use for other activities.

My rabbit likes to sleep under my bed. Other than that I never store a thing under my bed. I have no interest in sleeping on top of clutter.

I finally bit the bullet, spent the money and bought four matching underbed storage cases from IKEA. They are black and disappear under the bed.

What's in two of the boxes varies from season to season, but one is exclusively used for childhood dolls, and another for holiday gifts - this way if I find something in April I can put it right in the case and find it come December.

the extra leaves to my dinning room table.

We don't keep anything under our bed. Is it bad that I'm using the comments here for ideas on what to store under there?

all the flattened boxes from my last move, in preparation for the next move. very few closets in my place, and you can't always count on craigslist to have free boxes the exact week you need them (nor can you count on their quality/sturdiness). i'll be happy when i move for the last foreseeable time.

It used to be nothing, just my bed on the floor, but I got tired of looking at all the stuff stored on my walls. [I have a 7'x7' room and no closet, but 10' ceilings, so someone long before me hung elfa shelves. So all my stuff is on those.]

I just recently re-arranged, got bed risers and stuck them under my boxspring [maybe not their designed purpose, but working], but that only gave me five inches high of space. So I got three mesh elfa one-runners from the container store, took all my clothes out of my dresser [it's all the pajamy, around the house stuff anyway], and put them in those things under the bed. I'm not worried about dust because they change through so frequently, and they're also, again, stuff I don't wear out.

So now the stacks of dvds and books that were too much for my bookcase are now stacked in my dresser until I get a skinny bookcase for them and get rid of the dresser.

I'm rambling.

I have clothes under my bed. There's the answer.

The only thing under my bed is the floor... the joys of not having a bed frame. :)

Nothing under our bed. The kid, however, has blocks, trains and tracks, Legos, miscellaneous games, and any balls that are too heavy to use in the apartment (out of sight, out of mind).

My bed came with drawers under it. Two of them have travel diaries from journeys past. One has French language books and tapes. One has maps from prior trips that might well be used again. One has any gifts bought before their time to be given - often it's pretty empty. One has telephone directories that don't get used very often.

Since my bedroom is in my "travel and helpful people" feng shui quadrant, I figure I'm doing OK. My feng shui consulatant wasn't worried about it.

I have a lot of crap under the bed - half done projects, broken stuff, things on their way out that I don't quite know how to get rid of. And all my internet connection and wifi equip. I like to have nothing under the bed, but it's such prime real estate. I just need a good piece of storage furniture, like a credenza or something and that would take care of it. In the distant past, before I had that bit of feng shui about keeping nothing under the bed, I had a storage bed with drawers built in that I loved so much.

I story my purses, sweaters, and some of my out of season clothes under my bed... no room for anything else

i'm with sparkle! in order to get my bed to a height i like, i put two box springs directly on the floor, then my mattress on top. i have been searching for a bed that sits directly on the floor, but can't find anything other than a pottern barn one that's well over $1000. i don't want that "floating" bed appearance that most platforms give nowadays... plus, when you live alone, it's MUCH EASIER to sleep knowing that there is absolutely no ONE under your bed. hehe.

I have five plastic underbed boxes for: purses, old photos, souvenirs, sewing & art supplies, Halloween wigs & costumes

I have a family of dust bunnies under my bed. I really need to evict them.

I just made a new bed out of Ikea Lack coffee tables and Stolmen wardrobe components (the drawer units). I LOVE it. It's basically a captains platform bed. I use the space under the coffee tables part to store the things I generally only need once a year, like my Christmas tree and camping gear. I live in a very tiny apartment with only 1 tiny closet so I've had to get creative about storage.
As for the Feng Shui, I'm not too worried about the energy under my bed, there is still a lot of airflow down there. I figure they are better off down there out of sight than cluttering up my living space ruining the energy where I can see them.
With this set up I no longer need a dresser in my room either so the space looks clean and clear. Just a bed and a wall shelf for my lamp and clock. (well, there's a mirror and some art too)