Custom Bed Risers, Built to Your Bed's Leg Size

Slide the bed away from the wall and look at what is actually touching the floor. Platform beds and Scandinavian frames usually sit on a square or tapered post. Metal bed frames often end in a flat glide plate or in a caster wheel. Antique wooden frames can have turned bun feet that bulge wider partway up. Identify which of those you have before you reach for the tape measure, because each one is measured at a different point.

Measure the widest part of whatever sits inside the riser, not the tip. For tapered posts, measure about half an inch up from the floor, because that is roughly how deep the leg will sit in the riser wall. Then add a quarter inch of clearance to both the width and the depth so the leg seats instead of jamming. Measure all four corners: bed frames get dragged, and a leg that has been knocked out of square will read differently from its neighbor.

If your bed rolls on casters, you have two choices. Either remove the caster and measure the bare post, which gives the steadiest result, or keep the caster and measure the wheel housing at its widest so the whole assembly nests inside the riser. Add any details about the leg shape in the notes box.

For beds, lifts under 3 inches are the typical and recommended choice. This is often enough to clear a vacuum head, fit flat under-bed drawers, and add usable clearance without changing how the bed feels to get into and out of. Measure the tallest thing you want to slide underneath, add working room, and use the difference between that total and your current clearance as the lift you need. Taller lifts remain available in the configurator, but a wider base with a shorter lift is the steadier combination.

Height changes the feel of the bed more than people expect, so check the mattress top height you will end up with before ordering: current mattress top plus the lift equals the finished height.

Because a bed carries a shifting load as people sit on the edge or roll to one side, base size matters more than it does on a static piece. Wider is steadier. If your leg allows it, choose a base range one step wider than the leg needs and note the exact opening in the comment box.

A bed's weight is not shared evenly. The mattress, the frame and the people on it are nominally divided by four legs, but the moment someone sits on the edge, two corners take most of it. If the frame has a center support foot, that foot needs a riser too or the slats will flex once the corners go up.

Add the reinforced build if the bed is heavy, if the frame has only four contact points with no center leg, or if the bed sees rough use. Weigh up the whole picture: the frame, the mattress and everyone who sleeps on it. Enter that total in the weight field in the configurator so the number is on the order alongside your dimensions.