“Why, oh why, did you replace your dinette table with a smaller one?” Many alert readers have asked. So… observe:
This table came with our trailer — this is the standard size Escape Trailer Industries makes when you order the U-shaped dinette (with seating across the back of the table).
This perfectly nice table slides left and right, making it easier for people to move into and out of the seats. The angled corners at the front of the table serve the same purpose.
There is hardly space for an adult to slide back behind the table and sit there. Some adults don’t fit; others do. It’s tight.
To convert the dinette into a standard (double) size bed, one must pull the top, and wiggle it, and pull some more (keep wiggling!) wait don’t BREAK something is this thing ever going to come off gosh am I doing this right WOAH that came off fast I’m falling backward and I think something in my back popped.
Maybe the pedestals come out of the floor with the table top. Maybe they stay on the floor and the tabletop comes off by itself. Maybe one of each — there are two (2) pedestals. Maybe a pedestal (or two) comes out of the floor and the tabletop at the same time and lands on your foot, or perhaps a terrier.
Obviously, if you’re careful and patient, this all goes smoothly enough. And hundreds (thousands?) of RVs have dinette tables with this very same design.
Anyway after you get the pedestals out of the way (stowed somewhere you’d rather have available for extra wine bottles), you can put the tabletop down at seat level, move some cushions around and wa la, you have a bed. Or a Giant Lounge — one that’s hard to crawl into and out of, because it’s too deep. Okay if you plan to sleep all night, but not practical for daytime use.
And when the table’s up? Try as you might to jam the pedestals into the floor and the tabletop securely, the table is going to wobble some. It’s just part of the design.
I’m okay with wobbly, but… wait, I’m not. I’m anti-wobble. Anyway.
You will recall (having memorized the entire blog) that we began experimenting with a lounge configuration.
We’re experimenting with the Toto lounge. Table out, extra lounging area in.
You can see the pedestal brackets down there on the floor. See how close the back one is to the back seat? No room for feet if you’re using the table. Yeah, I know, we could have just bought a 60-foot coach with slides and three living rooms and possibly a spa, and space wouldn’t be an issue. But, well.
We found we prefer the lounge configuration. We didn’t miss the table (mostly). We found ourselves rarely installing it. If we did want the table, there was the hassle of finding the pedestals, getting them pounded in, and on and on. That’s a lot of hassle. We’re not just anti-wobble; we’re also anti-hassle.
So…. what do you do when clients go on vacation and you have too much time on your hands? You build stuff. We built the new table, which is always available, hassle-free, and big enough for our needs, and allows us to be enjoy the lounge configuration we prefer the rest of the time.
Many people wouldn’t make the same choice. But we did. So far we’re really pleased with how it all works for us.
It swivels. It slides left and right. It goes up and down. It’s the most fantastic item in the universe.
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What size is the new table? Very nice.
These tables are not-quite-rectangular, because the dinette space itself gets gradually wider from back to front. That said… from front to back, the new one is 17″. Big enough to accommodate two meal settings, but small enough to create a comfortably-sized (for us) lounge depth. This is (roughly) half the size of the stock table.
How wide is this table and where did you purchase?
About 17 inches. I made the table, using plywood, a sheet of matching Formica, some vinyl T-molding and contact cement. There was some cursing in there somewhere, too.
Thank you!
Great idea!!
How did you telescope the table? Material used to keep up for dining?
Thanks
Check out this post and scroll down to the comments … there’s a discussion about the telescoping, gas-filled pedestal. Warning: I think the manufacturer may have replaced that model with something else. Good luck!
Can you please provide a web site for the pedestal you used?
Just do an online search for this:
SPRINGFIELD Anodized Air-Powered 3-Stage Table Pedestal, Adjust 12-3/4″; 20″; 28″
The model may have been discontinued, but you can find it, or something like it, with this strategy. Good luck@!
https://springfieldgrp.com/product/1660236/
Glad to see I am not crazy. I found this while researching, my idea to do the same thing.
I have been trying to find some way to turn the very uncomfortable dinette into a couch. I removed the table instantly. Mine is two benches, nothing in back. I added a piece of wood making it three sides or U shaped. Still not happy went over many ideas and realize they won’t work because heater is under one side and the other side storage I wouldn’t know how to fix. My question is did you have the pieces of wood wrapped in material around the cushions to hold them in place? I want the gone but wonder want else I might have to do.
We did not put the wood pieces inside the cushion covers, and this meant, of course, that the cushions DID slide around a bit. Our ultimate solution to the dinette discomfort was to sell Toto and acquire a larger, more comfortable trailer. Of course it wasn’t just the dinette; we developed a need to be out in the trailer for weeks at a time, and the four of us wanted more space.
Can you still turn the whole set up into a bed?
Surely! We made a “filler board” to insert in front of the table to bring the platform back to its original size.
Thank you SO much for this fabulous idea!!! I absolutely cannot stand our table. WAY too big to slide in comfortably and our dogs have the hardest time jumping up with the table there. I plan on building one just like this over the winter!! Excellent idea!!! 🙂
Thanks, Cathy! Good luck with the project. And… agreed, it is all about the dogs. Just ask ’em!
I’ve read both of your posts about this dinette, and I still have one burning question! Did you build a special mount on the bottom of your table top to achieve the swivel and slide capability you mentioned? I can see how it might swivel since I’m assuming the entire pose will swivel, but how does it slide from side to side?
Here is the deal: the table came from the factory with a slide mechanism. Not sure what they’re doing these days, but in our model, if you opted for the U-shaped dinette seating, they put a slide on the table to make it easier to scoot in and out. I just re-used the slide from the original table top and mounted it under the new, smaller table top.
This may or may not make sense, and if it doesn’t, please just yell and I will try to make it clearer. In the meantime I’ll see if I can hunt down a picture of that slide mechanism. Not sure I have one. But I might.
I want to totally remove the back dinette in my Rpod and put in recliners. Do you think this can been done? I notice there is a heater vent on one side under the seat. Would this cause a problem to remove the seating?