Last Updated on September 15, 2021
EDITOR’S NOTE: Aldi is selling these again in September of 2021 for $12.99.
Storage space in a bedroom can be hard to come by, and sometimes we have to get creative. That means installing shelving, utilizing space under the bed, or perhaps even modifying the bed itself to help make more space. In late summer when Aldi begins rotating back-to-school products into its inventory, including items for college dorm life, the retailer sells a set of storage pouches that fasten to the bed to make room for small items such as phones, books, or water bottles.
The Easy Home 2-Piece Bedside Caddy cost $9.99 at the time of publication. It’s an Aldi Find (Special Buy), so it’s only in stores for a short time.
Features include:
- 2 separate pieces to install together or separately
- ability to fit most college bedframes
- 5 pockets to store tablets, laptops, and books
- 3 mesh pockets for cell phones, glasses, and other small accessories
- 2 small pockets with loops for water bottles and power strips
- 8 shoe pockets
Each caddy section measures 35 inches by 12 inches and was made in China. The caddy was available in gray, blue, or pink.
One of the caddy sections before going on the bed.
My kids aren’t college age yet, but the bedrooms in our house are smaller, so we’re always looking for creative ways to maximize our space. I picked up the pink caddy set for my elementary daughter. She has a junior loft bed, and I wasn’t sure how well the caddy would attach to the bed, but for $10 I was willing to experiment with it.
The caddy attaches to a bed using three Velcro straps. Therefore, it will not work on a traditional mattress and box spring bed set unless you were to get really creative and somehow modify the bed; you have to have a solid bar or rod to fasten the straps to.
That meant the only bed in my house that could possibly work with this caddy is my daughter’s loft bed, which has enough metal railings and bars that I figured I could find a couple of places where it might be useful.
One caddy section at the foot of my child’s junior loft bed.
Another view of the caddy at the foot of the junior loft bed.
I ended up fastening one caddy to the railing at the foot of the bed, facing away from the bed.
The other caddy, folded in half and fastened to the junior loft bed just under the mattress. There are more pockets facing under the bed. The installation is nontraditional but works for us.
I got creative with the second caddy and fastened it to the bottom of the bed frame just below the mattress, but because I didn’t want to completely block access to the space under the loft bed, I folded the caddy in half, making it only about 17.5 inches wide instead of 35 inches wide, before fastening it to the bed. This way, some of the pockets face out away from the bed, while some of the pockets are accessible when my daughter plays in the space under the loft bed.
One concern I always have with Velcro products regards their longevity. Because the caddy is held in place with Velcro, time will tell how long they last.
Otherwise, the caddy set has lots of nooks and crannies for holding small items. In our case, that means a lot of small stuffed animals, toys, and art supplies, but these are also good for holding phones, books, electronics, art supplies, personal care products, shoes, or whatever you need them to hold.
The Verdict:
The Easy Home Bedside Caddy comes with two separate pieces that fasten to standard college beds or a bed that has bars somewhere in the frame. In our case, it works well on a junior loft bed. There’s plenty of space to hold small and medium-sized items. The only unknown is how long the Velcro will remain sticky.
