There is something satisfying about a bedroom that feels open and uncluttered. The bed sits neatly against the wall. The floor stays clear, and everything within arm’s reach has a home. More and more of the homeowners we talk to are getting that look from a floating nightstand, a wall-mounted bedside table with no legs touching the floor.
At CO Lumber & Real Wood Furniture, we have watched floating nightstands go from a niche design trend to one of the most requested small furniture projects here in Colorado Springs. They show up in master bedrooms, guest rooms, kids’ rooms, and even RVs and tiny homes. Some customers come to us for the hardwood to build their own. Others ask our custom woodworking shop to build one to their exact measurements. Either way, the questions are usually the same: What wood should I use? How do I mount it so it does not sag? How big should it be? And is this actually a beginner-friendly project?
The answer to that last one is yes, and the answers to the rest are simpler than you might think. Let us break it all down.
What Is a Floating Nightstand?
A floating nightstand is a bedside table that attaches directly to the wall instead of standing on legs. From the front, it appears to hover beside the bed, which is where the “floating” name comes from. The mounting hardware hides inside the piece or behind it, so all you see is clean wood and open space underneath.
Floating nightstands come in several common forms:
- A single floating shelf: The simplest version, just a thick hardwood board mounted beside the bed to hold a lamp, a phone, and a book.
- An open cubby or box: A three-sided or four-sided box that gives you a shelf surface on top and enclosed storage inside.
- A floating drawer unit: A small wall-mounted cabinet with one or two drawers, which keeps clutter hidden while preserving the floating look.
- A live edge slab shelf: A natural-edge piece of wood mounted as a floating surface, which brings organic character to a modern bedroom.
All four styles share the same core appeal. The floor stays open, and the room feels lighter than it ever does with a traditional four-legged nightstand parked beside the bed.
Why Floating Nightstands Work So Well in Colorado Springs Homes
We talk with homeowners all over the Pikes Peak region, and the same situations come up again and again. Older homes on the Westside often have charming but compact bedrooms where every square foot matters. Newer builds frequently pair tall headboards with limited wall space. And plenty of families are converting basements into guest suites where a full furniture set would overwhelm the room.
Floating nightstands solve all of these problems at once.
They Save Real Floor Space
A traditional nightstand occupies its footprint around the clock. A floating nightstand occupies only wall space, which most bedrooms have to spare. In a small room, removing two nightstand footprints can visually enlarge the space more than almost any other single change.
They Adapt to Any Bed Height
Because you choose the mounting height, a floating nightstand always lands exactly where you want it relative to your mattress. Platform bed, standard frame, or a tall adjustable base, the nightstand meets the bed instead of the other way around. As a general rule, we suggest mounting the top surface level with the top of your mattress, or up to two inches above it.
They Simplify Cleaning
Anyone who has fished a vacuum wand around nightstand legs knows the appeal here. With nothing touching the floor, you can vacuum or mop straight through. For households with pets, that open space under the nightstand means one less place for fur to collect.
They Showcase Beautiful Wood
A floating nightstand is a small piece, which means even a premium hardwood stays affordable. A board of Walnut or a striking exotic species like Padauk might be a splurge across an entire dresser, but for a nightstand-sized project the cost is modest and the visual payoff is huge.
Choosing the Right Wood for Your Floating Nightstand
Wood selection matters more on a floating nightstand than on many larger pieces, because the piece is right at eye level when you are lying in bed. You will see the grain every morning and every night. Here in our Colorado Springs lumber yard, we stock over 35 species of domestic and exotic hardwoods, and several of them are especially well suited to this project.
Dependable Domestic Hardwoods
- Walnut: Rich chocolate tones and elegant grain make Walnut the most popular choice for floating furniture. It pairs beautifully with white walls and modern bedding.
- White Oak: Durable and versatile. White Oak takes stain evenly and suits everything from farmhouse to Scandinavian styles.
- Maple: Hard, smooth, and light in color. Maple is an excellent pick if you plan to paint or want a bright, minimal look.
- Cherry: Warms and deepens in color over time, developing a glow that feels right at home in a cozy bedroom.
- Alder: A softer, budget-friendly hardwood that stains well and works nicely for painted or rustic pieces.
Exotic Species for a Statement Piece
If you want a nightstand no one else has, an exotic hardwood delivers. Padauk offers a vivid reddish orange that mellows to a deep russet. Purpleheart is exactly what it sounds like, a naturally purple wood that stops guests in their tracks. Zebrawood brings bold contrasting stripes, and Brazilian Cherry provides deep reddish brown color with outstanding hardness. Because a floating nightstand uses so little material, these species are surprisingly attainable for this project.
Plywood for Painted or Modern Builds
For a painted floating drawer unit, a quality hardwood plywood is a smart choice. It resists warping, and it gives you wide panels without glue-ups. Pair a plywood carcass with a solid hardwood face frame or drawer front and you get stability where it counts and beautiful grain where it shows.
One more note on material: dimensional stability matters for any wall-mounted piece, since the wood is fixed to a structure that does not move with it. Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity. Colorado’s dry climate makes properly dried lumber essential. Every board in our yard is kiln dried and acclimated, which is one of the quiet advantages of buying from a local yard instead of ordering boards sight unseen.
If you would like to browse species in person, our full lumber selection is out on the racks and our team is happy to pull boards so you can compare grain and color side by side.
How to Size a Floating Nightstand
Getting the proportions right is half the design. Here are the numbers we suggest as starting points:
- Width: 18 to 24 inches suits most beds. Go narrower, around 12 to 16 inches, for kids’ rooms or tight layouts.
- Depth: 10 to 14 inches holds a lamp and a glass of water without crowding the walkway beside the bed. Deeper than 15 inches starts to feel bulky on a wall mount.
- Thickness: For a single floating shelf, a board between 1.5 and 2 inches thick looks substantial and hides mounting hardware well. For box-style units, 3/4 inch material is standard.
- Height: Mount the top surface even with the top of the mattress, or up to 2 inches above it. Measure with your actual mattress and any topper in place.
When in doubt, cut a piece of cardboard to your planned size and tape it to the wall for a day. Living with the mockup answers sizing questions faster than any diagram.
Mounting Options: How to Make It Float Without Sagging
The number one fear we hear about floating furniture is sag. It is a fair concern, and the solution is choosing the right hardware and anchoring it correctly. There are three proven approaches.
Hidden Floating Shelf Brackets
These are steel rods welded to a flat back plate. The plate screws into wall studs, and the rods slide into holes drilled in the back edge of the shelf. Quality hidden brackets rated for the span of your shelf will hold a lamp, books, and everything else a nightstand carries. This is the standard method for solid single-board shelves.
French Cleat
A French cleat is a pair of interlocking beveled strips, one attached to the wall and one to the back of the nightstand. The nightstand drops onto the wall strip and gravity locks it in place. A cleat is forgiving to install and very hard to overload, which makes it our usual recommendation for box-style and drawer-style floating nightstands. They also let you lift the piece off the wall for cleaning or repainting.
Direct Stud Mounting
For enclosed box designs, you can screw through the back panel directly into wall studs, then hide the screws inside the cabinet or behind the drawer. Simple and extremely strong.
Whichever method you choose, one rule is not negotiable: anchor into studs, not just drywall. Drywall anchors alone are not a long-term solution for furniture that will hold weight and get bumped daily. Find your studs, and if the stud spacing does not line up with your design, size the nightstand so it catches at least one stud, or use a cleat that spans two.
How to Build a DIY Floating Nightstand, Step by Step
A basic floating nightstand is one of the best first furniture projects we know. Here is the process for a simple open-box design:
- Plan and measure: Decide on width, depth, and height, then check your stud locations with a stud finder before finalizing dimensions.
- Select and prep your lumber: Choose your boards and have them milled. Our S4S lumber, surfaced on all four sides, arrives ready to cut and assemble with no jointer or planer required.
- Cut your pieces: For an open box you need a top, a bottom, two sides, and a back panel. A miter saw or circular saw with a guide handles all of it.
- Assemble the box: Wood glue plus screws or dowels makes a joint stronger than the wood around it. Clamp, check for square, and let the glue cure.
- Sand thoroughly: Work up through the grits to at least 180. This piece sits at eye level, so the extra sanding pass is worth it.
- Apply your finish: Stain, oil, or paint, followed by a protective topcoat. More on finishes below.
- Mount it: Install your cleat or brackets into the studs, level them carefully, and hang the nightstand. Check level once more before loading it up.
Most builders complete this project across a weekend, with much of that time simply waiting for glue and finish to dry. If you get stuck at any step, bring your questions to our counter. Helping DIYers troubleshoot projects is a normal part of our day, and we would rather you ask twice than rebuild once.
Finishing Your Floating Nightstand
The finish determines how the piece looks and how it survives daily life, including water glasses and the occasional spilled coffee.
- Oil finishes: Products like hardwax oils give a natural, close-to-the-wood look and are easy to repair. They are a favorite for Walnut and live edge pieces.
- Wipe-on polyurethane: Forgiving for beginners and durable against moisture rings. A satin sheen suits most bedrooms.
- Stain plus topcoat: If you build with Oak, Maple, or Alder and want a specific tone, stain first and seal with a clear coat.
- Paint: A fully painted floating drawer unit in a deep color can be a sharp modern accent. Prime first, especially over plywood edges.
We stock finishing supplies alongside our lumber, and our in-house finishers are glad to walk you through the steps for whichever product you choose. If you would rather not finish the piece yourself, our team offers professional finishing through our shop, the same service we provide for our unfinished furniture customers.
Prefer to Have It Built? Our Custom Shop Can Help
Not everyone has the tools or the time to build, and that is exactly why we run a full custom woodworking shop right here at CO Lumber & Real Wood Furniture. Bring us a sketch, a photo from a magazine, or just your measurements, and we can build a floating nightstand matched to your bed height and your wall. We can even build a matching pair for both sides of the bed, or design a floating unit that coordinates with a headboard or dresser you already own.
Because we build in-house, you choose everything: the species, the dimensions, the drawer configuration, the finish. No job is too small for our shop, and a pair of floating nightstands is a project we genuinely enjoy.
If you are furnishing a whole bedroom, it is also worth walking through our real wood furniture showroom, where you will find solid wood bedroom collections, including Amish-built pieces, that pair beautifully with a custom floating nightstand.
Why Buying Local Beats the Big-Box Flat-Pack Option
You can order a mass-produced floating nightstand online, and plenty of people do. But there are real differences worth knowing before you click buy.
Most inexpensive floating nightstands are built from particleboard or MDF with a photo-printed veneer. Particleboard holds screws poorly, which is a genuine problem for a piece of furniture whose entire job is hanging on two or three screws. When those fasteners loosen, the piece sags, and there is no good repair. Solid hardwood, by contrast, holds fasteners tightly for decades and can be sanded down and refinished again and again.
There is also the matter of guidance. When you buy your lumber or your finished piece from us, you are talking with people who build furniture in this climate, mount it on local wall construction, and have answered every version of your question before. That kind of help does not come with a flat-pack box. We are an owner-operated, locally owned business, and when Colorado Springs homeowners succeed with their projects, word gets around. That is how we have grown, one well-built project at a time.
Visit Us in Colorado Springs
We invite you to stop by our showroom and lumber yard at 3636 N. Stone Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80907. Our team is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We are closed on Sundays.
If you would rather get in touch before your visit, give us a call at (719) 389-0100 or reach out online at columber.net. We are happy to answer questions about floating nightstands, help you pick the perfect board, or start a conversation with our custom shop about building one for you.
A floating nightstand is a weekend-sized project that changes how a whole bedroom feels. Come see us, and we will help you get it on the wall.