apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The client had another table that could serve as the perfect size coffee table so it wasn't badly missed. The kitchen nook needed that vintage table more badly than the living room. The nook, which is nestled next to the one kitchen window, was so small that it couldn't even accommodate an off-the-shelf bar height table, let alone a little cafe table. Now it's the perfect spot for the morning coffee and it provides crucial overflow counter space, which is scarce in his kitchen. Plus, the client loves this tabletop and now that it's been liberated from collecting coffee table detritus, he actually gets to see more of the tabletop day to day in his kitchen.

We used simple L brackets to support three of the four corners, in addition to an adjustable leg from Ikea to do the brunt of the load-bearing work. I know that the gap between the actual counter and our new eating surface will irk many of you. When you use what you have, sometimes you sacrifice perfection. The tabletop wasn't wide enough to span the entire width between the counter and the window wall. In the end it was more important to the client to be able to cozy up next to the window than to have a seamless transition from countertop to eating nook.

-Kyle Freeman, Interior ReDesigner and Professional Organizer