It rained here over the weekend. There was even the most powerful August windstorm the region has seen since they started keeping records. Not ideal camping or kayaking conditions, but suitable(as long as we didn’t lose electrical power) for working on a Toto Enhancement Project.
Behold. The TotoLounge has a new, improved table.
It’s smaller than the old table — see this other post if you want to know why.
Also, two perfectly adequate, removable, but not-quite-right pedestals from the old table have been replaced by one permanently installed (as if anything in an RV could be considered permanent), pneumatic, telescoping one.
The new table can be set to any height (within limits). It can also swivel, and will slide left and right. This table can do anything you could imagine. Glorious.
Making the tabletop was the most time-consuming task. I had to lay out and cut plywood (with a jigsaw)… use a router to cut a groove all the way around the tabletop’s edge… cut Formica laminate to size using a utility knife… glue the Formica to the plywood (I used contact cement)… then use a different router bit to trim off excess Formica. Finally, I pressed the edge material (vinyl T-molding) into the edge, leaving the joint on the wrong side and therefore removing and re-attaching it.
It’s not perfect, but for a first effort I’m satisfied with the result.
Here is a thing I learned, the hard way: Formica sheets come in two grades — “horizontal” (for counter-tops and tabletops and such) and “vertical” (a thinner version that looks and wears the same but might not stand up as well to hard knocks). If you are me, when you go to Home Depot, you don’t know to ask for a specific grade, and the Home Depot associate does not know to ask you either. So you end up with the vertical grade, which will probably work fine, and is (likely) a little easier to work with since it’s more flexible. But if I had known I would surely have ordered the more heavy-duty stuff, for about $15 more. We are going to have to remember not to emphasize any discussion points with dramatically slammed-onto-the-table bricks, which might crack the laminate.
It’s easy to transform from table mode to lounge mode. No need to remove the pedestal; it shrinks on command.
We’ve ordered a cushion (matching all the others), the size of the tabletop, to make the TotoLounge decadently comfortable, in just the size we want for lounging. This is why we made the table smaller — to get to optimal lounge depth.
Here’s our old lounge board, cut down to become a filler board in the event we want to use the Toto Lounge as a guest bedroom (or in case I’m sent — unfairly, of course — to the doghouse). The seat-back cushions from the side of the dinette will fill up this entire area to make a full-size bed, for the sleepy, or for the falsely accused.
When we do use the table as, uh, a table, we have some new options.
The possibilities are limitless. Here’s the Company Mode, which accommodates up to 5 well-acquainted adults for beverages and small plates. Or just beverages. Or maybe beverages go on the fold-up “bully” tables and we use the table for Mexican Train.
And then…
Imagine, if you will. A couple, harmless in appearance, settles down on either side of a corner in a simple U-shaped dinette. They flip the TV out, then slide, swivel and lock their perfectly-sized, ideally-shaped table into optimal dining position. Then they watch Twilight Zone reruns while consuming the equivalent of a TV dinner. We’ve entered a new dimension, one not only of sight, but of sound and possibly taste (yes, poor taste). We’ve entered… the Toto Zone.
One last bit to complete the project: I need to fill the one screw hole in the floor that’s still visible after installing the new pedestal. It’s not noticeable but I’ll Know It’s There.
I’m going to use this kit, which is possibly the most difficult-to-find item ever stocked at the Gig Harbor Home Depot.
Here is another thing I learned: if you look up an item on the Home Depot website and specify your “home store,” the site will tell you where in the store to find it (aisle number and “bay number”). My future shopping experiences will be transformed.
So that’s our new TurboTotoLounge. Warning: there’s no doubt I’ll post a picture when we receive the new cushion from CushionSource.com. So this isn’t over yet. Not by a long shot. Well, but, almost.
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