I recently built a floating desk for a client. When she first asked me to do it, I was a little nervous that I could make a desk float without it eventually sagging on the wall. I took to the Google machine and got to researching to see if I could make it happen. I came across Shelfology‘s website – they make all different kinds of heavy duty brackets out of metal for shelves, desk, etc. After reading the description and browsing through the reviews, I decided this bracket would be perfect for this project. They also back their products so I was confident it would work.

I picked the Yuri bracket for the desk and its super simple – you just place the bracket directly on the drywall and screw into studs. There are a lot of pre-drilled screw holes on the wall plate so you can position it almost anywhere you want on the wall.

I got the 46″ bracket to make a 4′ floating desk. They guarantee the bracket to hold up to a 19″ deep desk so I decided to live dangerously and push it to the limit. 😂 So I made a 19″x48″ floating desk.

Here’s what you’ll need to make yours:

1x10x8
1x3x8
1x1x8
2’x4′ 1/2” plywood
46″ Yuri bracket
Kreg jig
Wood glue
Miter saw
Table saw or circular saw and guide

Step 1 – Cut Down

Cut your wood down to size.

2 – 1x10x46.5 (top)
2 – 1x3x18.5 (sides)
1 – 1x3x48 (front)
1/2” plywood – 18.25″x46.5″ (bottom) *optional – see step 4*
3 – 1x1x16 (these need to be exactly 1″ thick, which is the thickness of the bracket, you’ll see why in step 3)

With the 1x10s, they’re actually 1×9.25. When everything is put together, this will give you a finished size of 19.25×48. Shelfology guarantees their brackets up to 19″ so if that extra 1/4″ makes you nervous, then you’ll need to cut these pieces down. There are 2 ways to do it.

Table saw: Just rip the 1x10s down to 9″ pieces before you Kreg jig and assemble.

Circular saw: If you don’t have access to a table saw, you can still achieve an 18″ top. First assemble your 2 top pieces (the 1x10s). Once assembled, mark 18″ on your wood and draw a straight line down the back of the top (the side that will be up against the wall). Set up your straight edge (you can even use a straight piece of wood) and clamp it. You’re ready to cut that extra off with the circular saw.

*** If you decide to cut your top down, make sure to adjust your side pieces to 18″ as well.

Step 2 – Join Wood

Join your wood. You can do pocket holes, biscuits, dowels, whatever you’re most comfortable with.

Join your 2 – 1x10x46.5 to get your 18.5×46.5 top piece. Kreg jig 3 sides on both 1x10x46.5s.

Then Kreg jig one end on your 1x3x18s

Glue and screw the edges together to make the top – 18.5″x46.5″. Glue and screw the ends of the top to the sides of the 1x3x18.5″ to make an C shape. Once the sides are screwed in, glue and screw in the 1x3x48 front piece.

This makes the important part of your desk shell – the part that will be seen and covers the bracket.

Step 3 – Extra Support

Adding extra support. Here’s where the 1x1s come into play. You want at least one side to be 1″ thick so that its the same thickness of the metal bracket.

Since the supports on the bracket didn’t extend the full depth of the desk, I decided to add extra supports at the front of the desk – you might not need to do this, but I did it to give myself extra piece of mind.

Take your top and lay if face down on your workbench. I grabbed a scrap piece of wood and clamped it to the back of the top and them clamped the bracket to the scrap wood. Doing this will show you exactly where the bracket will sit underneath the top and will make it easy to figure out where your extra supports will go.

Grab your 1x1s and place one beside each bracket. I Kreg jigged one hole on the end of each 1×1 so I could screw it into the front side of the desk. Now you’ll want to predrill 2 holes on the top of each 1×1 (to screw into the top) and 2 holes on the side of each piece – make sure you predrill the holes on the side that won’t be sitting up against the bracket.

Glue and screw each 1×1 down beside its coordinating bracket support. Clamping each 1×1 to its bracket support makes it easier to screw into place – you don’t have to worry about it moving all over the place while you’re screwing.

*** ONLY SCREW INTO THE TOP AND FRONT PIECE. DON’T SCREW INTO THE BRACKET. ***

Once you have the supports screwed in, drill back through your predrilled holes that you made on the sides of the 1x1s. Drill all the way until you hit the metal bracket (but don’t drill through the bracket right now). Doing this will show you where your screw holes are. Unclamp the bracket and the scrap wood. Now, drill the holes in the bracket where you just “marked” with your drill bit.

Step 4 – The Bottom

This step is completely optional. I added a bottom to mine to hide the bracket and give the desk a finished look. If plywood isn’t in your budget right now (bc it costs $1,000,000 right now), then just skip this step. Or you can use 1/4″ plywood and nail/screw it in place to hide everything.

The plywood size: I cut the plywood (the 18.25″ side) a 1/4″ smaller to accommodate the bracket. There’s a lip where the wall plate and the supports meet at the bottom of the bracket so you want to account for that.

Kreg jig 3 sides of the plywood (to screw into the sides and front of the desk). Set your plywood on top of the underside of the desktop halfway and mark where your wood supports are. I figured out where my screw holes were – the ones I made for the metal bracket and the ones I used to screw into the top. Once I figured out where those holes were, I marked for 2 holes on each of the lines i made then predrilled those holes. ** I did this so I didn’t accidentally screw screws into one another.

Step 5 – Finish Her Up!

Now its time to do the finish work. Sand, stain or paint, seal and you’re ready for install!

Installation

Step 1 – The Bracket

I screwed my bracket into 3 studs (I feel like the more studs you can hit, the better) and used one anchor on a screw hole on the very end of the bracket to make sure it was super secure. I pulled on it and tried to wiggle it and it wasn’t going anywhere. Success!!

Measure up on the wall however high you’d like it. My client wanted the final height to be 30″ so I marked 29.25″ on the wall (30 – .75 thick top = where the top of your bracket should go).

Make sure to use a level when installing the bracket. I used a stud finder and marked all of the studs on the wall with painters tape. Once I had my studs laid out, I put the bracket up against the wall and moved it side to side a little in order to try and get the screw holes to line up with as many studs as possible. I hit 3 studs. If you’re installing this solo, screw the bracket into one stud (preferably the middle one) – this will help the bracket stay in place while you straighten it out on the wall with your level. If you’re using anchors, mark your hole, rotate the bracket on the wall (so that it’s not in the way of the anchors), put your anchors in place and rotate the bracket back into place. Voila! You have all of your anchors ready to go and you never had to take it off the wall!

Step 2 – The Top

Set the top on the bracket making sure to place it so that your wooden supports line up with your metal supports. Once you have the top in place, screw through the wooden supports into the metal supports of the bracket. Predrilling all of the holes makes this go fast and easy! Use 1-1.25″ metal screws for this step.

Step 3 – The Bottom

Screw the bottom up. I started with screwing 1″ screws into my predrilled holes and then screwed in my pocket holes. This is total preference though – do whatever is easiest for you. I found lying on the ground on my back made it easier to hold the plywood up in place and I didn’t feel like I would drop it.