Hello AT,
I had my apartment renovated before I moved in back in February of this year. I'm thrilled with how everything turned out, especially my kitchen but am now wishing that I could accommodate two more seats at my kitchen peninsula.
Coming from a tiny rental, where my coffee table was also my dining table, I was at first feeling spoiled with my new 34"x49" peninsula. However the reality is I cannot accommodate more than one other person for a sit down meal...
(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.
Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
editor(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)
Link To All Good Questions
As you can see from the pictures, the two seats I do have are on the living room side of the peninsula (8" counter over hang). You'll also see that there are drawers and cabinets on the kitchen side of the peninsula, so a kitchen-side over hang wasn't an option over the storage that the peninsula gives me. An over hang on the side of the peninsula was also not an option as it would not have allowed enough of an opening into the kitchen.
My idea is this: create a portable 8" over hang on the kitchen side - something with collapsable legs that is only there when needed and can easily fold up and be stored in a closet. I'm thinking MDF or HDF could be used, and I've found a laminate that matches my SileStone.
Thoughts? Additional ideas?
Thanks very much, Tom
Tom,
Your idea sounds great, though a little challenging to produce. You know how in bars they will often lay a piece of wood on the bar to create more overhang for eating? Perhaps it would be simpler to make a wooden top that would simply sit over the whole thing - overhanging on both sides - and which could slip away when not in use. A nice piece of wood, with a high finish would look lovely and you wouldn't need to worry about matching your silestone.
Anyone else???
Take the dimensions of your island, add 12" or more to the width (overhang dimension). Go buy a nice thick piece of plywood in this dimension.
Have the plywood cut down the center and apply a piano hinge. Place some sticky rubber pads on the bottom to raise the "leaves" above the pin side of the hinge.
For true luxury stick some roofing felt on top of the plywood to make a nice surface for a tablecloth (like a built in table pad). Store this in your closet until you need to seat more people, then pull it out and cover with a nice tablecloth.
WOW -- what a fantastic kitchen / renovation... love it!
if you had a similar piece of marble or even the type of wood used for the cabinets you could have a semi-circle type of drop-leaf table made and attached to the side of the peninsula.
idea similar to this: http://cebas.ikea.com.au/Product_Images_Thumbnails/PE082720.JPG
put it up when you have guests and leave it down the rest of the time. it could add at least 2 more seats.
Hello,
look at my website and go to SIZES, there you will see I sell and island sized piece of granite. I know that it may be bigger than what you need however it can be cut down to the size you want or need and still have the finished edges. It's 3ft x 7ft and 1inch thick, very durable and it is granite! It will be a great option.
Jacob
201-951-1457
www.eastcoastgranite.com
info@eastcoastgranite.com
Thanks for the suggestions; I feel silly for not having thought of the table top idea. I love the idea of the piano hinge to make storage easier.
As much as I'd love a piece of granite it would be way too heavy. Thick plywood with a nice finish is the way to go.
Thanks again.
Instead of plywood - consider using the solid wood countertops from ikea if you have one nearby. Search for pronomen or numerar.
I cannot tell how high your walls are, but you might be able to connect the wooden countertop to the wall at the end of the existing countertop so you can fold it up against the wall when you are not using it.
tom:
love the kitchen remodel.
now listen to juniemoon: have a nice kitchen island on wheels made (using a slab of granite from jacob for the top would be fabulous), that you could pull up to the peninsula (and lock the wheels) when you needed it, then it would double as a kitchen island and be moved out of the way.
a butcher block top may also work.
I'm not sure the solid wood top would be a good idea. There are drawers on one side on the top, so an overhang there would totally limit access there (unless these are super drawers on 24" slides or something).
That given the top will likely only be used when company is over and there is a need for more seating. Anything heavier than a few pounds is going to be a royal pain to take in and out of storage.
A rolling cart might work, but you'd have to build one with an overhang so that chairs could be pulled up to it. From the photos I'm not sure where that could go.
I've always wanted to add a drop leaf table to my wall, or extension to my miniscule counter top. It seems pretty simple to do, altho I've never actually tried, mainly because I still don't think it would work with my space issues. For you though, it seems perfect - when left down, you could still pull the stools up to it and have pretty much the same look you have now. Then, when people come over to eat(or you need more space to say, do your taxes), all you need to do is pull the leaf up and tada! you've got a full table. You can do this with some nice wood or other material that you like the look of so that you don't have to add a table cloth if you don't want to. So long as you make sure the hinges and folding leg are strong enough to support the "table" you should be fine.
Can you add some sort of extension that you can fold back ontop of the current island when not in use?