Mr AP and I have a cozy little apartment. One where everything has its place, where everything is multi-functional, and where there isn’t really room for much else. Whenever we played a board-game we would play it at our dining room table. Or I wanted to draw, sew or paint I had to use – again – our dining room table. And there is nothing wrong with that unless, of course, you don’t finish whatever you are doing before dinnertime. Therefore, it is no surprise that dear Mr AP started fantasizing about the real thing, a gaming table.

Well, if you ever laid eyes on one, they are a beaut! I mean, really beautiful! However, with beauty comes a hefty price tag and a good chunk of space they take up. Since we don’t have either one just lying around, I had this idea: why not make our own? Considering our needs and the space we have for it I came up with the concept of a trestle table. One that would be light weight, could be folded up and put away quickly. We didn’t discuss it for long before we decided to give the project a go.

For the table legs we got these two Oddvald trestles from IKEA. Then bought two 120 x 60 cm (3’11” x 1’12”) unfinished pine boards at the local hardware store for the table top. A couple of hinges and wood screws, and a good hour later we had ourselves a working gaming table!

First we were considering piano hinges, but ended up choosing three smaller ones instead. The hinges were just the right choice to fix the boards together really firmly. The table top is easy to open and fold up. It is not wobbly or flimsy.
Folded up it is perfect for smaller games or coop ones, where the players’ physical proximity is important to discuss the strategy.
Open it up and you got a huge surface on which any big footprint game will fit easily.
And the best part is, that is can be used for so many other purposes: as a crafts table, for work when I am in home office, or as a buffet table when we have guest over!
Or if I don’t feel like taking out the big table top, a smaller drawing board can do the job just fine!

I am so happy with our table! I never thought we’d use it so much, because I never really considered the many uses it could have. I love it as a gaming table, but I think I love it more as my home office spot. I sit in front of a beautifully light window with an amazing view of our garden. And the best part is, if we use it we can leave it open for as long as we like. When not needed we can fold it up and hide it beneath our sofa. Just like magic!