Bedrooms have a way of accumulating stuff. They are our sanctuaries, our havens from stress and the worries of the outside world. Whether you have an ever-expanding wardrobe or there's just no room for a desk and chair in addition to your big comfy bed, many people struggle with finding enough storage in their bedroom. When you've already stuffed the upper shelf of your closet, the bottom drawer of your dresser, and the space under the bathroom sink, you may be at a loss for how to keep things tidy without just letting them pile up on the floor.

Others with small bedrooms may have trouble with having any floor space at all. While the bed naturally dominates the room, there may be minimal space for dressers, desks, vanities, and area to move after the bed is in place. Fortunately, there are dozens of ways to reinvent your bed and create more space for both storage and activity.

Today, we're going to cover our favorite half-dozen techniques for optimizing the space under your bed.

1. Slide-Out Containers

The first and easiest upgrade to make is merely acquiring plastic rolling containers that can fit in the area under your bed. Without any DIY construction or new furniture, this is a great way to optimize the under-space. While you could continue to shove shoeboxes and dust bunnies under there, imagine how much easier it will be when everything stored under the bed is not only easy to retrieve but guaranteeable clean. A sliding plastic container can neatly hold everything from your winter sweaters during the warm months to your emergency camping supplies depending on what you want to stash down there.

Remember, when picking your under-bed containers first to measure the space between the floor and your bed. Bed frames vary wildly so you can't assume that every container will fit under every bed.

2. Storage Platform Bed

A storage platform bed is a bed with a wooden box frame instead of the traditional four to eight supportive feet. The box itself contains some outward-facing cubbies which can be used as shelves or as spaces for your favorite cube-storage boxes which tend to fit very tidily into a platform bed frame. It gives you a great decorative and convenient way to store things under the bed in an intentional and surprisingly easy to DIY approach.

Variations of the storage platform bed include both drawers and the flip-up. If you're a little handier or find a nice premade kit, drawers can provide great smooth storage that looks visually complete from a distance. Flip-up, on the other hand, can combine both storage cubbies (or drawers) and that space in the middle. When the bed flips up like a trap door, you can store your extra fluffy bedding or off-season comforter underneath. Or anything else you need a place to hide away.

3. Closet Platform Bed

The closet platform bed is a bigger, more complex version of the storage platform, combining flip-up technology with a slightly higher storage area and a helpful little set of stairs to get you up into the elevated bed. Rather than outward-facing cubbies, the closet platform bed's platform is just high enough for hanging shirts, folded pants, and short dresses on little closet bars. They also tend to include a plethora of shelving and cubbies on the inside.

Here's the fun part. Each closet platform bed comes with a little door or doorway. While that space may be too small for an adult to crawl in and select your clothes comfortably, most closet platforms are paired with the flip-up bed design so to access your closet, make your bed tightly and flip it up. This design can also match as a children's playhouse or a cozy dog house if you don't need the closet space.

4. Loft Bed

Loft beds take the bed even higher off the ground but without the robust built-up infrastructure around the sides. Loft beds tend to be four to six tall feet, but you can build tidy decorative walls around the bed as well. The magic of the loft bed is that it indeed takes your sleeping surface out of your floor space. The goal is to lift the bed high enough that you can build a comfortable seating, working, or even play area underneath. You can use it for an additional closet, but many adults who choose to build themselves loft beds find it as a great way to reclaim some of the bedroom space for daytime functions like a home office or a social area.

Loft beds are particularly popular for children's rooms that need more floor space to double as playrooms. The area underneath the bed can be made into anything with play-houses as the leading trend. For older kids, the space under a loft bed may be better served as a hangout/homework area instead.

5. Murphy Bed

Of course, if you want to get your bed entirely out of the way in favor of activity or even other furniture, the Murphy bed is your best friend. Murphy beds have been a popular choice for people with small homes and apartments since the very early 1900s. Named after its inventor, the Murphy bed folds up entirely into a cabinet or even a recess in the wall depending on how much remodeling you want to do.

Some Murphy beds even transform into other convenient furniture that could be useful in your bedroom. There are some that can turn into desks, tables, or even a small couch for additional seating. If you're looking for a way to turn your bedroom into a home office or sitting room when you're not sleeping, a Murphy bed is a fantastic solution.

6. Suspended Bed

Finally, if you're not afraid of heights and like the idea of an incredibly versatile bed, take a moment to consider suspending your bed from the ceiling. There's nothing like sleeping on a cloud six feet off the ground. Suspending your bed (or putting it on tracks) gives you the power to pull it all the way to the ceiling if you want it out of the way, drop it down to comfortable access level, climb up as if it was a loft bed, and delight in raising and lowering yourself, your pets, and your kids on the bed.