In search of short wide & thin furtniture

May 16, 2015 6:19 AM

I'm looking for a piece of furniture (a sofa table, DVD rack, bookcase, etc) to cover the exposed back of a sectional couch. Difficulty: can only be 8" deep at most.

I just got a new sectional and the back of one section is exposed and sticks out into the room. I have cats who are not declawed, and while I have things to keep them from getting at the rest of the couch, I'd like to put something along the back of the couch to keep them from scratching there as well. The problem is that there's only about 8" of space between the back of the couch and the hallway entrance. I suppose it'd be okay if something stuck out an inch or less, but I'm still having trouble finding something like a short but wide DVD rack or very small bookcase.

posted by Venadium to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

Can you post a picture? The problem with something that narrow is that you'd need to fix it to the couch or the floor to keep it upright. And if you fixed it to the couch, one nudge of the couch might send the contents spilling out.
posted by amanda at 6:32 AM on May 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

Well, they don't usually have backs, but the term for furniture-behind-the-couch is "sofa console table." Searching for console tables might lead you in the right direction.
posted by that's how you get ants at 6:45 AM on May 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Find someone making a style you like on Etsy and ask them to make something to your measurements.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:58 AM on May 16, 2015

Ikea has some shallow shoe cabinets, with drawers that pull out from the top (the Hemnes one is nice) , but that can be used for other purposes. There are lots of websites with hacks if you want to modify them. Of course, they might be too high, projecting above the back of the sofa, but it might work. The benefit of this type of cabinet is that it covers the whole back of the sofa; with a console table, the cat can just scratch the sofa exposed underneath it.
posted by primate moon at 7:22 AM on May 16, 2015

Here is a 34" h x 32" w x 8.25" d media storage cabinet. It does say wall mounted but it looks like it might work.
posted by that's how you get ants at 8:29 AM on May 16, 2015

How about a large sturdy frame with fabric in it?
posted by theora55 at 5:50 PM on May 16, 2015

We used to have IKEA's precursor to the KALLAX on its side behind the couch. I think this one is too deep for you, but if you can find a similar shelving unit that's able to sit on its side, that might work.
posted by telophase at 2:16 PM on May 17, 2015