Bedroom Storage & Seating Upgrade: Yaheetech Storage Ottoman Bench

So I recently moved into a new house and that means a fresh opportunity to organize and design every part of my house- I cannot wait to bring you along as I look for ways to set up our home in ways that are functional and aesthetically pleasing on a teacher budget and a busy mom schedule. I had to start off with my favorite addition to my bedroom that I am completely obsessed with, that serves as both a comfortable and stylish seating option and hidden storage: the Yaheetech storage ottoman bench!

I was sent this item for review. All opinions are completely my own. Affiliate links do not affect price or purchase experience.

Because I am a single parent of 2 children, I have never actually been the one to use the master bedroom, and this time is no different. The size of my room is about the same as my previous house, but unfortunately I lost a LOT of closet space- in fact my new closet is half the size of my old one. That meant I had enough room for my hanging clothes and drawers, but no way to keep the shelving unit I had in my old closet behind closed closet doors. You can see how I had my old closet set up in the picture below (and click on it to read the full post of what I used and how I set it up- it worked really well for me!).

Initially I assumed I would just keep the shelving unit in the room, just not in the closet. But I quickly realized that meant having bins labeled as "underwear" and "socks" out where everyone who walks in the room can see it... I didn't think I would care, but I did. It just felt weird. Plus it was just not the calming aesthetic I wanted for my bedroom... See what I mean?

Enter the storage bench. Not only did it give me a place to store the clothes I had in the shelving unit in a way that was hidden from plain sight, but I didn't need labels because when I open the bench I can see the contents. Using some smaller bins I had on hand from when my daughters were toddlers, I was able to divide up the storage space inside and fit the contents of what ended up being not just the 3 bins in the picture but 5 of those bins- I added the PJ tops and bottoms in as well.

Now it's easier to get everything in one place instead of pulling out all different bins, it's more compact, and it looks nicer in the room! Not only is it functionally a better storage option, but it adds a beautiful window seat with a small footprint that doesn't take up too much valuable space in the room:

My room looks so much more sophisticated and comfortable just by adding this one piece. And now that I freed up that space on the shelving unit, I can style the shelf to also look more sophisticated and use it to store other items like my craft supplies as well as add some decorative pieces- I have lots of ideas I'm working on but I used what I had on hand to try out what it could look like:

So much better already! I can't wait to play around with the shelving unit now- I will be sharing what I end up doing with that soon. But the best part about the bench, in my opinion, is that it is super inexpensive without compromising on quality. Most storage benches are super expensive- most of the ones of this quality are hundreds of dollars, so I never thought I would be able to afford a new one on a teacher budget- but this one is well under a hundred. And judging by the price you would think this would be cheaply made, but this truly is not. I used to have a storage bench I got off of craigslist in my old entryway that I thought was amazing, but it was super dangerous for little fingers because the lid didn't stay open. This one has solid hinges that stay open at any height- no more gingerly holding the lid open with one hand while trying to grab what I need with the other!

Oh, and one more thing I love: assembly is so easy and quick. I normally hate buying furniture new because it means I have to put it together. If you've ever bought something new from a certain Swedish furniture company you know what I mean... *cough* so I was a little worried when I opened the box. But all I had to do was screw in the legs- it seriously took me 5 minutes and no tools at all! Score!

Thank you to Yaheetech for sending me this bench- I love it and I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone looking to add style and organization to any room of your house on a teacher budget. And they have tons of other beautiful, practical, and budget friendly items I have my eye on as I continue to set up my home- you can check out their website here to see everything they have to offer. If you have never heard of their company before here's a little about them:

Yaheetech is a cross-border e-commerce company established in 2003 with more than 500 employees worldwide. With our own 39 warehouses around the world, we provide a wide range of products with fast delivery to millions of customers in more than 10 countries, available on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Wayfair, Wish, Cdiscount,  ManoMano, OTTO, Rakuten, Real and more. We devote to make your life comfortable.

I can't wait to show you the other home organization projects I've been working on! Which space do you want to see next? I will be sharing more home organization posts this summer, along with my teacher content, as I find creative ways to organize everything in ways that work for our busy family without breaking the bank. Stay tuned!