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The C-table's whole idea is the missing side: roll the open end over the sofa's feet and the tabletop cantilevers across your lap — laptop, dinner, tea, all where you're actually sitting instead of an arm-stretch away. This one builds from a single 6-foot 1x12 plus a short 1x6 and four little casters.
The 1x6 center brace is the piece doing the quiet work. A C is structurally a question mark — top and back and bottom, nothing closing the front — and the vertical 1x6, marked at top, middle, and bottom and screwed through pre-drilled holes with glue, is what keeps the cantilevered top from wracking downward the first time someone leans on dinner. Don't skip it, don't skimp its screws.
The 1x2 footer is the opposite: 'purely decorative,' twice, in the source's own words — and the footer ends can't even take a direct screw into the back rail, which the source correctly shrugs at. Glue and screws to the side pieces are plenty, because nothing is asked of it.
Caster note: 1-1/2" wheels keep the bottom shelf low enough to slide UNDER most sofa clearances — measure your sofa's under-height before buying bigger wheels, because taller casters are how C-tables stop being C-tables. Prime and paint (the material list says paint, and a filled-and-painted build hides every countersink).
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 1x12, 6 ftTop, bottom, and back. | 1 each |
| 1x6, 2 ftThe center brace — the anti-wrack structure. | 1 each |
| 1x2, 6 ftThe decorative footer. | 1 each |
| Casters, 1-1/2" wheelSmall on purpose — the bottom must slide under the sofa. Measure your clearance first. | 4 each |
| Wood screws, 2", or pocket hole screws, 1-1/4" | 24 each |
| Wood glue | 4 oz |
| Primer, paint, wood filler, sandpaper | 1 qt |
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Top and bottom1x12 | 2 | 3/4" × 11 1/4" × 20" |
| Back1x12 | 1 | 3/4" × 11 1/4" × 21" |
| Center brace1x6 | 1 | 3/4" × 5 1/2" × 21" |
| Side footers1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 20" |
| End footers1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 10" |
Buy 3 boards at 8 ft.
1 board
1 board
1 board
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Pre-drill — pocket holes or countersunk pilots, your choice — and join the top and bottom to the back, outside edges flush, glue at both joints. That's the C; it's floppy on purpose right now.
Measure and mark the brace's position at the top, middle, and bottom (per the diagram), stand the 1x6 vertically against the back, and screw through pre-drilled holes with glue.
This board is the table's spine — the cantilevered top pushes down, the brace pushes back. Full screws, full glue, no shortcuts on the boring part.
Attach the 1x2 side footers to the bottom, then the end footers to the bottom and side footers. The back footer end can't take a direct screw — the source says don't worry, and don't: this trim carries nothing. Glue and whatever fastener reaches.
Screw the four 1-1/2" casters to the bottom corners, then confirm the whole bottom assembly still clears your sofa's under-height — that clearance is the entire product.
Fill every countersink, sand to 120, prime and paint. Roll it over the sofa foot, open the laptop, and accept that dinner now happens here too.
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