Building a Wargames Table

by Derek · November 7, 2021

For many years I’ve wanted to get myself a permanent wargames table at home, but we’ve just not had the space. Earlier this year my son Duncan got himself his own flat and moved out the house. My wife Isabella took over his room for herself and moved all her stuff out of the “study” we had previously shared. This was my chance.

The room is just too small to take a permanent standard 6′ x 4′ table so I decided to go with a 4′ x 4′ with a 2′ x 4′ extension. I wanted storage room underneath the table and Isabella came up with the idea of using Kallax storage units from Ikea as a base for the table with a custom built top. See below for pictures of what I have built.

This 4′ x 4′ table is now a fixture of the room

Extending it to 6′ x 4′ works fine if I don’t need to work at my desk (just off the photo to the left).

A block of four Kallax units from Ikea gives me a huge amount of storage underneath the table.

I built the folding top myself. It fits snugly over the block of Kallax and is screwed on to the wall. The hinged flap is supported by Olov adjustable legs from Ikea

My Cunning Plan

My Shopping List

Ikea

B&Q

8′ x 4′ (2.44m x 1.22m) sheet of 5mm ply cut down to give me 4′ x 4′ and 4′ x 2′ pieces
46mm x 25mm pine stripwood
46mm x 15mm pine stripwood
Hinges
Door Stops

Excuse the strange mix of metric and imperial measures, it’s the way DIY materials are sold in the UK.

Details

The adjustable leg mountings are screwed on to blocks made up by pieces of the 46mm x 15mm stripwood. Rubber doorstops stop the flap banging against the Kallax.

It has to be said that this is certainly not the cheapest way of doing things, all that Kallax costs quite a lot. But the table works very well in the room available and the Kallax gives me a huge amount of extra storage space.