Hang that mandolin up! (Just not near a heater or window).

My exact thought! Display your mandolin! Hang it on the wall.

As for under my bed, I have our luggage bags (collapsible) and a yoga mat.
We used to have a huge box of our old cds that we just can't part with (even tho it's all been downloaded onto our computer/iPod etc.)
And we had a huge box of tax files. Luckily we have a small amount of storage space in the garage so we moved the boxes. Our new bed is now only 6" off the ground, so we have limited space to store (thankfully!)

My bed is on a frame made of big wire drawers where we store all our sweaters and jeans. I prefer it over chests of drawers.

I only allow myself to store stuff that gets used regularly under the bed -- luggage, wrapping paper, out-of-season clothes and my skis. That way nothing sits under there unforgotten and collecting dust.

And I'll third that thought -- display the mandolin!

We have a parsons bed and it's got all sorts of stuff under it. Mostly purses and shoes, actually. I don't want a bedskirt to hide it all, so it's just there...

The only thing under my bed is luggage (that doesn't get used nearly as often as I'd like)!
And I agree- definitely display the mandolin!! That's what I did with my didgeridoo...

i live in a 300 sq. foot studio and no matter how hard pressed i am for storage space, i would never put anything under my bed. it's such bad feng shui! not to mention it just looks plain awful and cluttered. no, no, no.

Hanging the mandolin won't solve the problem of what to do with the case, though. Right?

Yes, from a Feng Shui standpoint it is not a good idea. On the other hand it makes it harder to really clean off the dust under the bed which makes it problematic for people with allergies. I know it is appealing - and as practical as it sounds - it is not a good idea.

Under my bed is 4 leaves for my dining room table. They are 4 feet long and 1 foot wide and wrapped in a movers' blanket. I really have no where else to store those and I don't need my table to be 10 feet long all the time.

I currently have the basic metal frame that came with my mattress and boxsprings. I would love to get a real frame so I can lower the bed but I'll lose the storage. Any suggestions are welcome.

I love my loft apartment, I hate that it doesn't have storage.

My beloved old bed frame collapsed a few years ago and we had to build a replacement frame made out of wood timbers for the rest of it to sit on. Not much storage to be had there, but it's a great place for shoes to hang out.

Moving from a place with three large closets to one small closet in the entire apartment, I needed more storage space. So my boyfriend and I built a loft bed with essentially an enclosed storage locker under most of it, and it works fantastically. As far as feng shui goes, I sleep like a rock, so I'm not too worried about it. Too me it's better than an overly cluttered apartment.

I only store clothing under my bed. I have two drawers and four boxes under there. I don't put anything that I don't use because it will only start a hoarding mentality. My closet space is really limited (okay, I'm lying, I have too much clothes) so only foldables go in the drawers.

The only thing stored under my bed is my dog. He wouldn't allow me to clutter up his hidey hole with my things.

Wrapping paper and photos I don't have room to display (as well as old negatives).

And dust bunnies!

Hanging/displaying musical instruments is not always the best option. If your instrument needs consistent humidification, in the case is the best place for it to live.

Sorry, believers, I think Feng Shui is fantasy. So more pragmatic concerns prevail for me.

I don't happen to have anything under my bed except the occasional cat, but I store a lot of craft stuff I don't have shelving for under the platform-style guest bed. (Nobody has complained so far about not sleeping or anything!)

I use some attractive wicker baskets (rectangular) under the edge of the bed since I don't have a bed skirt, and they show. (The contents are hidden.) On the wall side where nobody can get back far enough to see the stuff, it's just there without disguise.

Personally I think feng shui is a little overrated. Of course you are going to sleep horribly if you are sleeping on top of a zoo of dustbunny and the more clutter you have under your bed the easier it is for the dust to settle in. That doesn't mean you have to get rid of all your things - you just have to dust proof it. I live in a 500 sq foot 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate which means I have 130 sq foot to myself that has to accommodate library, dressing-, bed-, guest-, dinning- and living room. I have all the space I need because of how I have fitted my storage to the space. My queen boxspring doubles as a sofa. I built a back and armrest and made new longer legs for it so a twin boxspring fit under it and can be pulled out for sleep overs. When pushed in it still sticks out ca. 24 inches so the "sofa" has more levels. It can also be pulled out and pushed up against the side of the queen bed to create a theater like seating for movie nights. Next to the guest bed I have 3 large metal dj cases I use to store my extensive dvd collection. They have an easy to clean surface and are easy to move when I vacuum. That way my and I get a good nights sleep and easy access to my movies.

We have a sleigh bed (without the footer), which we purchased largely because I loved the idea of not having a bedskirt so we wouldn't store things under the bed. But we still have tons of stuff under there. Sigh. I wouldn't go for a bed with storage (though my parents had an ingenious one when I was growing up - the mattresses on either side lifted up and lots of clothes were stored in it) because I would just feel... stuffed up. Hoping for more storage in the next house!

We have a box with bedclothes, our gym bags and a antique pee bucket under the bed.

I bought the rubbermaid bins designed for going under beds. Every bed in my house has extra sheets and blankets for that bed stored in them. The rest of the bins hold sweaters, scarfs, mittens.. all that seasonal stuff.

You and me both, SherryBinNH. I think feng shui is complete bull.

We have: four spare yoga mats for the classes my wife teaches, two sleeping pads for camping, summer clothes in roller boxes, one pistol in a quick-open safe bolted to the floor, and one cat.

I have one of those Ikea beds with drawers under it. It's a love/hate relationship. Since I have a small apartment it's great storage, but I feel like it's a dust magnet. I store shoes and my underwear/socks on one side and Art supplies on the other side.

i had to set my bed and boxsprings on the floor so my old dog could still make it onto the bed..so no underbed storage for me.
no storage...but my dog is happy!

Love the lamp on the side table in the third pic. Unless you really have to, I'd avoid under-the-bed storage, but of course in small spaces it's prime real estate. Great place to put rolling containers that hold shoes, hand bags or extra linens.

I keep out-of-season clothes and my Christmas tree under my bed and I feel zero guilt about it! Yeah, it gets dusty under there, but given my cleaning style it would get dusty under the bed regardless.

All we have is an underbed box containing the seasonal bed coverings. Since its summer it now contains the doona and doona cover, in winter it will hold the cotton blanket and bed cover. Its easy to pull out and run over with vacuum to get rid of excess dust when I am vacuuming the rest of the room.

We don't have a lot of storage in our house but with the exception of bedding (and a few shoes) I prefer not to store a lot under there because of the dust factor.

I try not to store stuff under there, but it just seems to happen. Where else would I put the flattened dog crate?

I store big winter coats, scarves, gloves, etc. in boxes under my bed. I also have all my luggage under the bed, as well as my fabric collection. BUT when I have more space, I am not going to store anything under my bed.

There's way too much crap under our bed. And yes, it collects dust like nothing else in the house. 2 boxes of leftover laminate flooring and baseboard from our remodel, a box of 32x40" matboard, a barbell, unused car floor mats, a disassembled piece of artwork... oh man. The list goes on.

I have a house with little bedroom storage, so all my pjs, socks, workout clothes, spare sheets, and the boyfriend's pants go in plastic roll-outs under the bed. Oh and inbetween them, where they're not easily accessible to people who don't know they're there I keep my hunting rifles until I have kiddos.

Rifles under the bed- is that an ApartmentTherapy first?

Two long plastic boxes on wheels filled with out-of-season clothing. It's not the most aethestically pleasing solution but the boxes were designed specifically for this purpose so dust isn't an issue. It's easy to get to the contents, which is important given SF weather can vary a lot from day-to-day. I do pine for the walk-in closet in my previous apartment though, where under-the-bed boxes weren't needed.

One time my parents stayed in our small NYC apt while we were out of town and left behind a gift for my nephew for us to store for his birthday a few weeks away. My mom wrote a note saying she had stored it "under the bed", which was then crossed out, and wrote "in the closet" instead. It was very funny - she obviously wrote the note before trying to put away the gift. Under the bed was packed solid.

I actually think many of the principles of feng shui do hold true, but not when they fly in the face of common sense. And tiny NYC apartments not employing the storage space under the bed is one such example, IMO.

We currently have an extra futon mattress under our bed. Great for guests, but cumbersome to get out and a pain to move the bed around. I want to get rid of it as I love the look (and feeling!) of space under the bed.

I love the idea of the mandolin as art -- perhaps you can store other things in the mandolin case to maximize storage?

we have rolling 2 drawers from Ikea, a dumbbell, and a towel for the cat who loves her hiding place. We put air mattresses, all sheets, and some seasonal/camping clothes in the drawers.

Otherwise I do prefer to be able to shove the drawers away & sweep under the bed easily. Having hardwood floors makes underbed storage much cleaner, I think.

as soon as my bedroom reno is complete, i'm moving my duvets & blankets to plastic bins under the bed. i've been storing them in my TV armoire, but want to put my CDs & DVDs in their place.

Sweep under the bed? What an idea!
I haven't looked under the bed in a year or two. Not sure what's under there anymore.

Nothing.

I cleared my closets enough that I don't need to keep anything underneath. Easier cleaning, less dust, less allergies.

I'm told it's "good feng shui" but I don't really care about that.

Feng Shui aside, I keep only open air under my bed because I feel that it is vital to allow the mattress (which is on slats) to air out.

Stowing junk underneath prevents that. I would never stuff the underside of my bed with storage.

I first was introduced to the "storage bed" in my college dorm back in the late 60's. It was a great space saver in a dorm room and now living in a NYC studio I find in useful as well. I use a West Elm storage bed. Stows my sheets and bedding as well as winter sweaters that I'm not using.

Never heard of Feng Shui until a couple of years ago and the concept does not influence me.

Bed linens, a box of cds I refuse to give up no matter how many mp3's I download, and some holiday decorations are what we store under the bed. I don't feel weighed down by it - quite the opposite since everything still has it's place, just some needs be stored.

2 Ikea boxes with lids on rollers filled with bedding is the max I will have. ...got to have air circulating under the slats!

Plus, it's super easy to pull out every week and get the hoover and mop underneath!

Back to my Chinese New Year cleaning! So much to do!

we're soon getting a new bed that has hydraulic lifters to life the platform and mattress up to reveal storage. the space under the mattress is fully enclosed so no need to worry about dust getting in and will give us a ton of storage space. we stayed at an apt in barcelona recently that was furnished with these types of beds and it was a revelation to us that they even existed.

@LacyBones

"Rifles under the bed- is that an ApartmentTherapy first?"

Nah, my rifles including the (loaded) semi-auto AK-47 go in the upright safe. Under beds are the first place thieves look. Even if you don't have kids you should have a gun safe - even a cheap $99 one from Walmart bolted in the back of the closet. You never know when a friend is going to come over with kids, and I'd rather just not worry about it. Plus if you bolt the safe in place where there's not a lot of room around it it's really hard to open even a cheap safe with a crowbar. Filling in the bolt holes is easy when you move out of the apartment. Having a safe is just common sense and every gun owner should have one.

Besides, the other reason you shouldn't have rifles under the bed is that in case you actually have to access them quickly, they're not always guaranteed to be in the same position (hence why my handgun safe is bolted down under the bed).

We bought an IKEA bed frame with hydraulic lifts that lifts the platform that the bed sits on. It reveals tons of storage. The whole frame(including storage) sits on legs so the floor under the bed stays clear. We spend alot of time in Bulgaria where these are popular(brands other than IKEA). I dont know why they have not been used more in the states.

If you have that much stuff that you don't use regularly but you're hoping to use it one day, why don't you rent a storage locker? That seems to me to be the secret of small space living. In my 650 square foot apartment, we only have two closets. One in the bedroom which is already stretched between my husband and myself and one much narrower one in the hall where we keep things like the ironing board, the vacuum, mop bucket, important papers, wireless printer, and gift wrapping stuff. Everything else that we use maybe a few times a year (suitcases, inflatable mattresses, childhood memories, and holiday decorations) are stored off site in a storage locker and we barely pay anything for it a month. I think the peace of mind that comes with not having to see daily clutter is worth it!

Nice house tour; nothing amazing or very inspirational, but a pleasant, comfortable home. Like the kid's art work and the shower.

I could care less about what anyone puts under their bed, but I don't put anything under mine and keep it well vacuumed to avoid any dust bunnies.

When storage is short I make the most of every inch! If you look under my bed you'll find a stacks of large art portfolios and rolls of plans along with luggage and some Christmas decorations. Everything is labeled, too.

While I don't follow Feng Shui principals, I do make an effort to keep things under my bed orderly. I don't like the idea of sleeping over dirty socks and junk. Seems like that would be bad energy.

I am planning on moving in a couple months and our new bedroom won't have room for dressers. I'm considering rolling drawers for clothing instead of misc storage.

We have a platform bed. Under it, we have a couple of under-bed bins with off season bedding and extra throws (the bins are covered). While we don't need the space, we had to put something under the bed to prevent cats from lodging in places we couldn't reach when they get sick (had a cat with cancer who liked to go under the bed and get very very sick), so decided to go ahead and use the stuff we put there. They only take up about half of the space, so you really can't even see them. generally would rather not have stuff under the bed, but this is pretty unobtrusive.

@ploefff, your solution sounds brilliant for your space. It reminds me of my Hong Kong studio, which was 220 sq ft and perfect.

All this talk of feng shui is hilarious. In Hong Kong, where people take feng shui pretty seriously, almost 100% of the beds lifted up vertically for storage. (Hinge where the platform meets the headboard; gas struts for a hydraulic lift; completely sleek and invisible.)

Under bed storage is really underestimated by many people.

I have a quite small bedroom yet I was able to create enough storage there. I'm really happy there are blogs that provide me with ideas. Here is where I've found bedroom storage ideas. There are cool under bed storage solutions too.