You might think a 35 ft trailer would have a decent place to seat a family for meals. My daughter’s Rockwood trailer had a table, sort of. It had a very heavy iron base that allowed the height of the table to be adjusted. But the only place to sit was a very long couch. There is also the island with sinks – but again, with a family of 6, sitting at the island is unrealistic. With four little girls and two adults – the design was completely impractical. Not to mention, that in order to travel, they had to pick up the heavy table, and put it upside down on the couch and pull out straps and tie it down. When the table was between the couch and the island – it took up most of the walking space. So, the idea was born to create a low table just for the girls. The adults could sit at the island bar on stools or sit on the couches with trays. The island has this overhang built into it, making the perfect place to hang a folding table. I bought a one inch edge glued board 18″ X 48″. I cut it off to match the 46 inches of the island and rounded the corners and edges. I also picked up a 1 x 2 X 8 ft trim board and a piano hinge. I found some folding leg hinges on Amazon. These along with more of the 1 X 2 will provide folding legs with latches.
I stained all the wood with a walnut stain to approximate the trailer decor. Then added two coats of Polyeurothane and finished up the top with some 2000 grit wet paper on the table top and then fine steel wool. The 1 X 2 strip was screwed in just under the overhang.
The hinge was screwed to the table top. then temporarily screwed to the 1 X 2. In order to get the table to fold fairly close to the cabinet, I needed the legs to fold into the recessed areas of the cabinet. I measured and mounted the legs at about a 45 degree angle. I also added some felt pads to the cabinet were the leg brackets would contact when the table was down. Then reattached the table top to the 1 X 2 board
One of my thoughts in building this was these girls are very inquisitive and active. I didn’t want them to see this table as something they could put up/down on their own, pinching fingers along the way – so operation needed to be somewhat childproof. The final part was to add a small wood block to the cabinet and install a screw eye into the that block and the under side of the table top so they overlap. A strong clip could then be used to lock the table in the closed position. The girls each have one of those folding step stools to sit on (they get stored in the island cabinet). All four girls will easily fit there (one each end, two in the middle) and they are over the vinyl floor cause spills WILL happen. While the table needs to be put down for the slide to clear, it can be left up all they time the slide is out and there is plenty of room to walk through. It doubles as a project, coloring or whatever place for the girls to enjoy.
