tank idea - ramblings of a want-to-be 'scaper.....

[James O]

Pretty new to this all but have really taken to the planted tank idea. We have a small 1 bed flat where the lounge is our main room. It is quite literally our living room. In it we have a nice 4 seater table (+chairs) that can extend to take up to 10 but thats only about 6 times a year (Mrs O is a mega cook/entertainer with 4-6 guests every weekend 🙂). Normally the table is just covered in junk (mostly my junk to be fair😳) We have a pair of poang armchairs with matching footstools as theres only two of us and the open frame makes for a more spacious feel. Thats it apart from some floor standing bookshelves.

Now heres the plan.....I want a larger tank and would quite like to get rid of the big table/rubbish dump, but Mrs O wants a dining table. I'm after minimising furniture in the lounge and so came up with this (please excuse my rubbish rendering, I've only used SketchUp for this image 🙁)

The tank is 1800mm long x 350mm high x 450mm deep in a low tech style. There are equal cupboards at each end and the table top is hinged to fold flush into the recess and will be store thus. In the recess I will store 2 or 3 more parts of table top that can be connected together to seat 8 (The legs will be trestles stored elsewhere). Should be a great spectacle for dinner - wont be eating fish though .There are a couple of points i'd like your thoughts on.

1) what do you think of the whole idea (practicalities etc)?
2) how does the long'n'low idea sound (?

thanks in advance

 

[Edvet]

It should be doable. I would make the base of the tank stick out 2 inches or so and have the tabletop on hinches at the underside. This way you could stowe a nice thich tabletop (say 3/4 inch). You would have to think about the light not shining in the eyes of someone sitting at the table. But a sturdy tankstand should pose no problems. Tanksize i don't expect problems.

 

[kirk]

I like the idea of this. If this was ada style where the table Top fold in flush when not in use. Is that the idea? You could use I leg or two that fold in half that goes into the cabinet. I'll draw a which scratch and put it up if you don't mind?

 

[kirk]

Here's the quick pic. sorry not the best at drawing . Couldn't draw a witch scratching predictive text grrrr.

 

[James O]

I like the idea of this. If this was ada style where the table Top fold in flush when not in use. Is that the idea?

That's it exactly Kirk 🙂 tnx for your efforts btw! The cupboard doors will rest on the internal vertical dividers and the table top will sit between them, resting on magnets or a soft close unit. That way the table will be flush with the doors when closed. I'm not sure about the locking hinge you drew though - might get in the way of your legs when sat facing each other. I was thinking of drop down legs a la pasting table that fold up to the bottom of the table. Orrrrrrrrr a simple piece of wood that slots under the table into a fixing under the tank for a cantilevered brace.

The tank is taking inspiration from BigTom's bucket'o'mud, pretty much everything under the title search 'shallow', Iwagamis and the low tech masters....

 

[ivydree]

Brilliant Idea!! Can't wait to see it happening!

 

[Gilles]

Nice idea and can't wait to see how it 'folds out' hehe