Divan Beds
The term divan bed is a confusing one in that it has (at least) two completely different meanings.Sofa Beds
The original divan beds originated in the Ottoman Empire. They were essentially just a sofa bed: a divan bed was a couch which was designed for sitting during the day but which could be used for sleeping at night. Often the divan bed would lack arms at one end to enable comfortable sleep by longer people. The divan bed could thus be used as a quick and easy guest bed.This design provided the image frequently seen in early movies of the queen lounging on the divan, leaning against one end with legs dangling over the other.
Storage Beds
The old style divan sofas often used to have storage space in the bottom and this has led to the more modern usage of the word.A modern divan bed is simply a standard bed with storage drawers built into the frame. These drawers are usually not heavy duty and are traditionally used to hold items such as spare bed linen.
Note that room is required to pull out the drawers for use. That may seem obvious, but it's easy to plan your bedroom and buy a divan bed for the storage it provides - only to discover that you can't open the drawers!