The Dinette Table and Seat Cushions
Brooke With An E did not have a table, but she still had her hardware for one. So I set about to build a new table. Her previous owner told me that she was planning on making a drop leaf table, and I kept that idea in the back of my head.
I had a blank slate - no cushions, no table, nothing. I first hit up my local RV recycling place to see if they had cushions for cheap - I couldn’t find enough to make my bed mattresses (more on that here), but I was able to find enough to make the seat and back cushions. I set to work measuring and cutting (using a kitchen knife to slice through the 3” thick foam) and tossing the original covering.
I cut some luon (very thin plywood) into backings for the foam - about an inch smaller on all sides than the foam. I then wrapped some discount fabric I picked up and stapled to the luon. It’s not too pretty on the back, but most people won’t see it so I was good with the job!
I first had the smaller bench have an identical length back, but it seemed a little tight once put in place as it pushed against the bed railing and the kitchenette. The other bench seat was longer and I had two cushions to make up the back since I didn’t have enough length of the foam to make an identical back. The backs on both were adjusted later.
On to the table! I cut it so when it was laid down on the black edges on the seats that it could be a bed, but since one bench was longer than the other, I went with an artistic angle. I thought it looked pretty cool and it worked perfectly with the cushions as the bed. I used stain on the underneath to test how it looked - it was leftover from my deck build and I loved the gray/blue color. I put on the table hardware and tested the table and it looked great in place…however… When I dropped Brooke down to haul her in to get new tires, I discovered the table got in the way of the kitchenette when it was flipped down for transportation! Well, there goes my artsy angle… On to design #2!
So I squared off the table and now the kitchenette flips down easily. But then there was Problem #2 - can you see it in the first photo? Unless you were an ant, or willing to crawl underneath, there was no way that someone could sit on that bench! Well, now what?
Jade “helping” with the design decisions…
So, I set to work making a drop leaf table. I got 4 hinges, cut enough of the table so that it could flip down and be stored underneath, and screwed the hinges in place. I tested it out before staining the top and putting a couple of coats of polyurethane on it. It worked, and even me with my larger rear end was able to squeeze into that bench (I’ll save that seat for the Girls!). Bonus - the table can spin, too, since it’s just on a single leg! Spinning it slightly gave a bit more space for someone to squeeze in as well.
Now to figure out how to support the leaf - my original idea was to have dowels that slid out when we wanted to extend the table, but when I folded it under, I realized that the dowels would have to be super long (and thus lose their strength), otherwise they would interfere with the table folding under. I researched “folding legs”, “folding table legs”, “portable legs” and was coming up empty. I had an image in my head but couldn’t find an existing plan, so I just started to screw scraps of plywood together, added hinges, and created a folding “leg” to support the leaf when it is out. It’s narrow enough to be stored in the benches and the gravity of the table leaf keeps the legs in place. I like how flexible it is in placing so that we can position it in various ways depending on the needs of the table.
My final dilemma with the table was how to keep the leaf folded under. Again using scraps, I came up with a pivoting peg that holds the leaf in place when it’s folded under. I added a protector so it wouldn’t scratch the table when pivoted in place.
Remember the cushions? I decided to cut one of them down so now the two cushion backs fit on the one side, and although the other cushion back isn’t as long as the seat by the door, I liked that since before, it was easy to knock the seat back down when going through the door. This way it’s tucked in a little more. I also realized, when putting Brooke away for transportation, that this design change was needed anyway - the kitchenette, when flipped, was right next to the table and cushions. If I had used the longer cushions, they wouldn’t have fit with the kitchenette next to it! So, I guess it all worked out anyway! ;)
