Under-Bed & Drawer Volume Calculator
Measure the hidden storage under a bed or inside a drawer — in cubic feet, litres, and bins that fit.
The storage you already have
The space under a bed is often the largest unused volume in a small bedroom, and drawers hide capacity that’s easy to underestimate. Measuring it properly — and trimming for the lip you can’t fill — tells you whether it’s worth a set of shallow bins or a rolling drawer, and exactly how many will fit.
Once you know the clearance holds, say, three flat bins, size what goes in them with the Storage Volume & Capacity Calculator, or plan the rest of the room around the bed with the Room Layout & Furniture Fit Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I measure under-bed clearance?
Measure the gap from the floor to the underside of the bed frame or slats — that's your usable height. Then measure how far the storable footprint runs in width and depth, stopping short of any legs or centre rail that block the space. Those three numbers, width × depth × height, define the volume you have to work with.
Why apply a 90% fill factor?
You can never use a space right to its ceiling. A storage box has walls and a lid, wheeled bins need a little air to roll, and you want to slide things in and out without jamming. The calculator trims the raw volume to 90 percent so the figure reflects what you can realistically store, not a theoretical maximum you'll never reach.
What size are under-bed storage bins?
Common flat under-bed bins are around 30 inches long by 16 to 18 inches wide and 6 inches tall, though shallow versions exist for low frames. The tool tiles whatever bin size you enter across the footprint in a single layer, so you can see how many of a specific product will actually fit side by side.
Does this work for drawers too?
Yes. A drawer is just a shallow box, so enter its interior width, depth, and height the same way. The volume figure tells you how much it holds, and the bin-fit count works for drawer organisers or dividers if you enter their footprint. For deep drawers, the fill factor still helps you avoid overpacking to the very top.
Educational tool. Usable volume applies a 90% fill factor; bin-fit counts assume a single upright layer with no rotation.