Kitchen Essential

A small kitchen may not have enough room for a permanent table at which a couple of people can eat breakfast or quick kitchen meals, but it may have a wall to which a fold-down table could be attached.

Such a table can also provide extra workspace when needed as well as a place for family and friends to sit and keep the cook company while meals are being prepared. Folding chairs, some kind of cosy lighting arrangement and a spot for a small television on a facing wall could make previously dead space the most popular spot in the house.

Before making any decisions about the size of the table, decide on your chairs and place them in situ, working out whether you actually have enough space and what restrictions the table will place on movement in the kitchen. Bear in mind that a comfortable minimum width must allow two people to sit opposite each other without banging knees.

The distance the table protrudes from the wall depends on its height as it cannot be so long that it won’t fold down flush against the wall. About 72 cm plus the mounting block is about right but test it with the chairs you intend to use.

The tabletop could be made from a variety of materials, depending on availability and your tools. Possibilities include:

• 25-30 mm thick fibreboard (MDF) which you could buy cut to size at a timber yard, or cut it yourself using a circular saw and a clamped straightedge as a guide. Clamp the sheet to a bench or table to stop it shifting when you make your cut. Draw the line along which the cut is to be made then establish where your straightedge needs to be clamped. It will be parallel to the cut line at a distance which is determined by the distance from the blade of your circular saw to the edge of its baseplate, which will be pushed along the straightedge during the cut. Experiment on some scrap sheet to get that distance exactly right. The surface finish could be either high- or low-gloss enamel paint or a laminate, although a laminate could be as easily applied to regular coarse grain particle (chip) board.
• Glued and clamped pine lengths (90 or 120 x 40 mm). Sash cramps are needed for this and the amount of surface sanding required depends very much on the straightness of the timber. Sometimes cabinet makers can be persuaded, for a nominal fee, to surface-sand such items in their big belt sanders. The assembly should be glued together first, with PVA adhesive, and cut to size afterwards, using the same technique as for fibreboard. The surface may be finished with either paint or lacquer. Be sure to clean excess adhesive off the surface before it dries as it is very difficult to remove when dry.

As we are proposing only a fairly small table here, one leg should be sufficient, although two may be fitted if desired. One leg has the advantage of allowing easier access for people and chairs.

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