A place to put your drinks...

Have you ever com across a gettogether at someone's house where you find that the coffee table always seems to be right in the wrong spot for you... no matter where you sit? No one wants to be the person to move the table, or constantly get up to retrieve your drink.

In my search for a coffee table I refused to pay in between $300 and $500 for one piece that didn't serve my needs. Why pay for something that doesn't function properly? If it's not going to work for you, don't spend the money on it. Design is about functionality, and it seems no one had really designed the right coffee table for the most common 'l-shape' configuration for living and family rooms (yes, even parlors).

My frugal nature thought up a design which would serve the need of having the table right where it was needed;

With a solid 18" x 18" birch plywood base I designed an inset which featured a circle. This circle was routed with a "T" bit upside-down to create a track for some type of double 'T'-shaped vehicle. I then took the underside of an 18" x 36" top and routed a similar track in a straight line. Adding my 'double t-shaped' vehicle (which ended up being large screws with a nut on the other end) I created a table that moves across an entire l-shape configuration with little effort.

The idea was amazing, yet the construction was definitely a trial and error... However, this is what came about (the piece is currently stained rather badly due to my impatience, however this will be fixed as of this summer);

Table on a diagonal

Top

Corners and storage

Track