Additional Counter Space

Kim Oliver
by Kim Oliver
6 Materials
$90
15 Hours
Easy
My daughter needed additional counter space in her newly purchased mid century ranch home. I transformed a 4' x 2' folding plastic table into a portable counter with an additional storage shelf hung underneath it.
Plain Jane plastic folding table.
I framed the table with 1" x 4" MDF trim board. I cut 1" off of it and used that to put an additional frame on the inside of the first trim board. I drilled holes and used 2" counter sink screws with lock nuts on the side that went through a metal frame on the underside of the table. The ends are held there with 2 1/2" trim screws that went through the molded plastic about 1". On the end screws I cut a small block of pine to anchor these screws into, that act like a nut for them.
Laminate wood flooring was used to cover the plastic. I glued these down with construction adhesive. The laminate was about a half inch thick so I also used 1 1/2" trim screws through the frames into the edge of the laminate. Be very careful here, you need to drill first to avoid splitting the laminate.
Marking and cutting the laminate for placement.
Table half way done.
The hanging shelf is a piece of 1" x 12" pine board with laminate also glued and screwed to it. I framed the edges of this shelf with 1" x 2" pine trim. I made this shelf 43" long.
Shelf before finishing.
I drilled 5/16" holes in the shelf, two at each end for the hangers. The hangers are 13" pieces of 1/4" allthread secured with nuts and washers on both sides of the shelf. The hooks are small corner braces that I had in my spare parts drawer mated to hooks that I cut and bent using some mounting strips that I also had left over from some project. The're really simple to make, just cut them with a hacksaw about 6" long and bend them to your liking. I used a vise and a screwdriver, but you could just as easily do it with a couple of pairs of pliers. Make them as identical as you can for leveling and aesthetic reasons. The shelf can be leveled with a small level using the nuts on the bottom of the shelf for adjustments. When it is level hold the bottom nuts with a wrench and tighten the nut on the top side of the shelf.
The finish on the trim boards is a white wash made up of equal parts of water and white satin latex paint. I coated them, wiped a little off, let dry, lightly sanded to get an old look to them, and then repeated the process a second time.
The finished product! The lettering was ordered from www.diylettering.com they were about $15.
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  • Laura A Crawford Metz Laura A Crawford Metz on Aug 25, 2022

    This is an awesome idea. I could use the bottom part for my paint table as storage. I would just have to get someone to do it for me. Thanks for sharing.

  • Betsy Betsy on Aug 25, 2022

    This is beautiful. I can see using it as a craft table. Just need someone to make it.

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