The Storage Ottoman Bench I Almost Did Not Order

I had the SONGMICS 43 inch folding storage ottoman bench sitting in my Amazon cart for eleven days. Not because I doubted the reviews. There are more than twenty one thousand of them and they average four and a half stars, which is about as close to a sure thing as that website offers. I hesitated because I could not picture it in my bedroom. I have been decorating my own houses for thirty years and I still cannot picture a piece of furniture until I have walked around it in the room.

The problem it was meant to solve was small and had been annoying me for a year. Blankets lived in the hall closet. Every October I dragged the winter things out, and every April I shoved them back in. Last spring the pile stopped going back in at all. It sat at the foot of my bed instead, and I walked past it every morning feeling like the room was never quite finished.

What finally tipped me was a Tuesday. I had laid out Wednesday's clothes on the bed, the way I always do, and I stood there at six in the morning with one shoe on and nowhere to sit down. I sat on the edge of the mattress, which is too soft, and my heel went sideways. That is the whole reason I ordered a bench. Not a vision. Not a plan. I was tired of hopping.

Gary asked what was wrong with the closet. He is a practical man and he was not wrong. I told him the closet was fine, the bedroom was the problem, and if I had to look at that pile of blankets one more season I would lose my mind. He carried the box in from the porch when it came and that was the whole of his involvement, and he will tell you so himself.

Forty three inches wide, fifteen deep, fifteen tall. It took the winter comforter, four sweaters, and the throw that used to drape over my reading chair. The pile at the foot of the bed was gone by suppertime.

It came folded flat in a long box on the front porch, which surprised me. I had expected panels and a bag of screws, the way the side table went together in September. There were no screws. The frame unfolds like a cardboard box unfolds and the panels lock into place, and I had it standing at the foot of the bed in about a minute. I did that part alone.

The inside holds more than I expected for something fifteen inches deep. The winter comforter went in first, folded in thirds. Then four sweaters, the ones I keep out of the cedar chest because I wear them constantly. Then the throw that used to drape over the reading chair. The lid closed flat on all of it with room to spare. Seven months later that is still where everything lives, and I have not opened the hall closet for blankets since April.

Fifteen inches is low. I want to be honest about that, because a bench at the foot of a bed looks taller in a photo than it is in a room. It sits closer to a coffee table than to a dining chair. For the thirty seconds it takes to put on a pair of shoes, low is fine, maybe better than fine. For sitting down with a book, it is not the seat you want. Shoes and tomorrow's outfit are what I use it for, and for those two jobs the height is right.

The top is firm, not soft. The lid has metal corner guards on it, which I did not notice in the listing and did notice the first time I set a laundry basket down on a corner. The surface is a linen look fabric with a tufted top, and it reads as upholstered furniture rather than as a storage box, which is why I was willing to put it in a bedroom at all. Dust comes off with a damp cloth. So did a shoe scuff. The SONGMICS bench has not pilled, and the seams have not gone soft at the corners.

What I would tell a friend before she orders. It is not a soft place to sit. There is no cushion to sink into, and if that is what you are picturing, look at something else. It does not want to be dragged across carpet with a full load inside, so put it where you want it before you fill it. And it is a bench, not a chest, so do not expect to hide a vacuum cleaner in it. Mine holds bedding and sweaters and that is the end of its ambition.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to measure the foot of your bed first, and to measure with the nightstands in mind, because forty three inches is wide and it will not fit in every gap. I would tell you the reviews are right about the folding and a little generous about the seating. And I would tell you the thing I like best about the SONGMICS bench is the least interesting thing about it. The pile of blankets is gone. The room looks like a room again.

If your blankets already have a home and you are happy with it, you do not need this. If you are sitting on the edge of the mattress every morning with one shoe on, you probably do. Seven months in, I have not had a morning where I regretted it, and I have had several where I was glad I did not talk myself out of it for a twelfth day.