[Grison]

Background

I play 'scape with my kids, and we had set up a table in the play room for that purpose. Unfortunately, the table we were using had several limitations:

• It was fairly large, taking up too much room even when no one was using it.
• It could only hold one map at a time, and any game-in-progress would prevent use of the table for other purposes.
• Both boys frequently wanted to build and keep their own maps, since they also use them for general "make believe" purposes.

Thus, we really needed:

• An expandable table that would take up less space when not in use -- ideally one that could be expanded and contracted while there was a map on it.
• A way to store multiple maps, easily moving them to the table (or empty floor space) as needed.

The Solution

Key Features

• The original 35" x 35" table already had a sliding-leaf feature, allowing one or both ends to expand by 15" as needed without disturbing the main playing surface.

• The modified table holds up to four maps, each on its own portable 1/4" baseboard. Two baseboards are on dedicated shelves, one on the floor underneath, and one on the main tabletop.
• The baseboards are 29.5" x 34", and each of the shelves has about 20 levels of headroom -- enough for a wide variety of maps, but not for a double-height fortress. (You could choose a different height distribution if desired.)
• Plexiglass panels on two sides prevent the maps from being disturbed when the table is in use, yet allow light underneath so the stored maps can be seen. (The two open ends coincide with the expandable leaves.)

Cost & Materials

• The base table is a Bjursta dining table from Ikea, which retails for $149 in several different colors.
• The shelves and baseboards are 1/4" plywood. They won't hold a ton of weight, but they work fine for Heroscape maps. To minimize sag, be sure to cut the plywood so that the face-grain runs side-to-side across the shelf span. Two 4' x 8' sheets left plenty of scrap for other projects, and cost a total of $14 on sale.
• For shelf supports, I used rails made of 3/4" x 1" moulding on each side, as seen in the photo. These added another $14 or so, but you could probably use something similar that would be cheaper.
• For the side panels I used 1/8" acrylic, even though it's much more expensive than wood (about $45). I really like how it lets light in, and it also keeps the whole thing from looking like a massive block of wood.

Dimensions

Your mileage may vary, but here's what I used:

• 1/4 plywood panels
  • 2 @ 30.125" x 34" (shelves)
  • 4 @ 29.5" x 34" (baseboards)
• 3/4" x 1" moulding
  • 4 @ 34" (shelf side rails)
  • 2 @ ~29" (rear support rail across the "back" of each shelf - optional for added stiffness) I didn't want any support beam across the front side of the shelves, as that would reduce the available storage headroom.
• Side panels
  • 2 @ 24.5" x 34" (acrylic)
  • A cheaper option that would also work fine: 1/4" plywood panels at 24" x 34", in order to make the best use of standard plywood sizing.
• Wood screws
  • 16 @ 1.5-2" long, for securing the side rails and side panels to the table legs.
  • 24 @ 1/2" long, for securing the shelves to the side/rear supports.
• Felt surface protectors (attached to the underside of each baseboard, so as not to scratch up the tabletop or other surfaces.

Results

• The kids love being able to store a few maps in addition to whichever one is "active" at the moment.
• The baseboards allow the maps to be easily moved to the tabletop or storage shelves, or can also be used to allow mapmaking/play on the carpeted floor.
• The table takes up only a modest amount of room when not in use, and the map storage takes no extra space beyond what the table already occupies.
• It doesn't look like crap and helps to mimimize playroom clutter, so my wife is happy.

Thanks for looking!