Window sill table in the kitchen (42 photos): how to use, decorate, decorate with your own hands, instructions, photo and video tutorials on making a cabinet

Is it possible to make a table in the kitchen from a windowsill? How can this bold project be realized? Are there any pitfalls in this solution? Let's try to find out.

Why is it needed

It's simple: many projects of apartment buildings built in the Soviet era were supplied with kitchens of a very small area. The logic of the designers is hard to understand.

Saving on everything, brought to the point of absurdity? An attempt to wean Soviet citizens from gluttony? Who knows…

One way or another, many inhabitants of the Khrushchevs and small families, sadly examining the six square meters of the kitchen, understood: the space should be used very sparingly. Otherwise, there are very real chances that you will not fit in the kitchen yourself.

The builders took part in the efficient use of the minimum area. Take at least the inevitable attribute of the notorious Khrushchev - a cupboard under the windowsill in the kitchen.

The apartment owners did not lag behind. A variety of mezzanines under the ceiling in the kitchen and in the bathroom gradually accommodated all rarely used things. The lockers spread over the surface of the walls, eventually hiding them completely.

Please note: from the point of view of the design of a compact room, the mezzanine is not the best solution. By reducing the visible ceiling area, they reduce the visual volume of an already cramped kitchen.

The space under the sink now accommodates a trash can and a collection of carefully washed disposable bags; here, in the cramped kitchen, linen was often dried under the ceiling, and old nylon tights with a winter supply of onions were hidden behind the open door.

Finally, the gaze of one of the amateur kitchen furniture designers fell on the wide window sill in the kitchen. The agonizing contemplation of having to squeeze a dining table for a family of three into a miniature kitchenette finally led to a victorious finale.

After shouting "Eureka!" and weeks of mechanical sounds in the evenings, a tabletop adjoining the kitchen window appeared to the eyes of the household.

Read also the article "Tabletop-windowsill in the kitchen: we save space with a benefit for ourselves."

Underwater rocks

What's wrong with this idea - a table from the windowsill in the kitchen? What difficulties and possible troubles are associated with the implementation of our plan?

Convection

Why do you think radiators are traditionally placed under window openings?

There is more than one reason.

• Cold air from the window mixes with hot rising from the radiator. There are no cold drafts in the room (or, in our case, the kitchen).
• What is equally important - heat curtainformed by the heater prevents the windows from fogging up. Have you paid attention to the fact that with a sharp cold snap outside in the off-season, the glass in the windows is covered with moisture? In winter, the hot air from the battery warms up the glass and evaporates the water.

The design of the window sill in the kitchen should not interfere with the creation of a thermal curtain. This is one of the problems that we have to solve.

Structural stability

The narrow sill protrudes slightly beyond the curbstone under the window and is therefore stable. A short, unsecured lever arm means that if you lean on the edge of the sill, the force on the other, secured end will be small.

However, we are going to install a wide tabletop instead of a narrow window sill. Without additional support, with fixation only on the pedestal, a large load on the free edge of the table can lead to cracks on the slopes, and even to deformation of the window frame.

Therefore, a wide kitchen window sill should have additional support points.

Splash proof

How to decorate a window sill turned into a kitchen table in the kitchen? We are now talking not about aesthetics, but about functionality: a dining table, especially if there are children in the family, is inevitable splashes. It won't be easy to wipe them off the slopes.

Obviously, the trim of the slopes must be washable. Ideally glossy with minimal pore size. Then pollution simply will not linger on it.

Heat resistance

By default, modern plastic windows are equipped with PVC window sills. The window sill is not monolithic: inside, most of the volume is occupied by air. Longitudinal ribs provide rigidity.

Plastic is good because it is not afraid of either ultraviolet radiation or moisture. But PVC is resistant to temperatures only up to 75-90 degrees, depending on the stabilizing additives. But it is no longer worth putting a hot pan on it: at the boiling point of water, the surface is deformed.

The conclusion is obvious: we need a worktop made of a material that is more resistant to temperature.

Kitchen tables with ceramic tiles - see here.

Solutions

Let's outline possible solutions in the same order in which we formulated the problems. These are exactly possible, but far from the only options for implementation. Perhaps you can get around the same technical problem in a completely different way.

1. It is not difficult to provide a thermal curtain at the window opening by cutting one or two oblong holes parallel to the wall in the countertop and closing them on top with ordinary ventilation grilles. Better - metal, in case a heavy saucepan or other massive object is placed on top.

1. As additional supports, it is better to use not furniture legs 85-90 centimeters long, but chrome pipes with a diameter of 20-25 millimeters with attachments to the table top and to the floor. Advice is given by the author based on his own experience: furniture legs, not fixed to the floor, constantly move and stand with a deviation from the vertical.

The table top will not suffer, but the appearance is quite. The price of components in both versions is practically the same.

1. Often, the window sill table is mounted simultaneously with the installation of a metal-plastic window. In this case, the simplest solution is to immediately order the slopes not from drywall, but from plastic. Unavoidable splashes and other contamination can be easily removed from it.

If the slopes are already installed and there is no desire to change them - a tile apron may be the solution. Finally, the simplest way to make the slopes washable with your own hands is to paint them with silicone-based water-based paint. According to the assurances of manufacturers, such paints can withstand up to 5000 wet cleaning cycles.

1. What heat-resistant materials can be used for a countertop under a window? The same as for a regular work surface. The requirements are practically the same.

The ideal option is a one-piece worktop of the desired width, made of HDF or MDF (laminate). It combines sufficient strength and moisture resistance with ease of handling and fixing.

Regular moisture resistant plywood of sufficient thickness is also a good solution. Stained and lacquered, such a tabletop will look quite presentable.

How to decorate a kitchen window sill made of plywood? Regular plastic furniture edging, glued on. Designed for use with 16 mm laminated chipboard, the plastic edge fits perfectly on the ends of 15 mm plywood sheets.

A nuance: under the plywood countertop, you will have to hem a rectangular frame from a slat or make an overlay of the same plywood, slightly smaller in area. The instruction is due to the fact that plywood tends to deform over time under its own weight. That is why even thick sheets are always stored exclusively horizontally, on a flat surface.

Useful Tips

• The table top should go under the window frame, even by a few millimeters. If masonry interferes - do not be too lazy to arm yourself with a chisel and hammer. Filled with any material, the gap between the table top and the frame will look untidy and will crack very quickly.
• The joint with the frame must be covered with a sealant. Do not forget: in the off-season, when there is no heating, the windows will still fog up. Moisture can get under the countertop, which, you yourself understand, is highly undesirable for us.
• The plywood tabletop must be impregnated with linseed oil or other protective soil at least twice. Let's repeat: moisture is inevitable near the window. If the back edge of the HDF or MDF countertop is sawn off, it must also be protected from water.
• The table top, like any other window sill, sits on the mounting foam. With a large connection area, the foam will securely fix it. In addition, there will be no gaps under the windowsill through which cold air will blow from the street.

• Having put the table-sill on the foam, do not forget to load it: the polyurethane foam tends to increase in volume when solidified. A kettlebell dusting in the corner or a large pot of water will do just fine.

Conclusion

You will find a few more interesting ideas on how to use the windowsill in the kitchen in the video at the end of the article. Success in creative work!

Kitchen countertop - see here.

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