Sterilite 28 Qt Underbed Storage Box, Stackable Bin with Lid, Plastic Container to Organize, Bedroom, Clear Base and White Lid, 1-Pack

Why it's worth it

A single 6-inch-tall box with a clear base, a white lid and recessed handles. There's nothing clever about it, but it clears low frames, it costs the least of anything here, and you can buy exactly one instead of a four-pack.

Sometimes you need one box. You're storing a wedding dress, or the tax paperwork, or the sweaters that don't fit in the dresser, and buying a set of eight to solve that is absurd. This Sterilite is 6 inches tall, 23 inches long and holds 28 quarts, which is about one dresser drawer. Buy it, fill it, slide it under, done.

The clear base does more work than you'd expect. Consumer Reports notes that people with opaque totes end up opening containers just to remember what's in them, and it's the complaint that comes up over and over. With a clear base you crouch, glance and move on. The white lid keeps it from looking like a supply closet exploded under your bed, which matters in a studio where the bed is also the couch.

From our review of 5 under-bed storage containers

What we like

• +Sometimes you need one box
• +The clear base does more work than you'd expect
• +Recessed handles on the ends give you something to grab, and 6 inches clears a lot of frames

What to know

• –There's no latch. The lid sits on, and Better Homes and Gardens found that slide-on lids let noticeably more dust in over a few…
• –No wheels, either, so you're pulling it out by the handles