233 Lancaster Ave · Kitchen nook
Three things changed at once and they compound: a bench down the whole west wall, a custom top instead of whatever a catalogue sells, and a walkway that only has to be squeezable. Together they take this from six crammed places to eight, on 57% more tabletop.
The move
Stop trying to fit a table into the corner and fit a shape that follows the bench. A quarter-ellipse with its corner in the crook — 42″ along the north arm, 54″ down the west — runs its full edge against both benches instead of kissing each one at a single point. That one change is worth four extra seats.
Top
42 × 54 in bean
Places
8 / 6 adults
Tabletop
1781 sq in · +57%
Walkway
20.6 in
01 — Why the shape matters
This is the whole argument. Put a 44″ round in the crook of an L-bench and only about 25″ of each bench arm is close enough to the table to eat at — the rest of your beautiful 62″ bench is a place to put laundry. Give the table two straight edges that run along the bench fronts and the same footprint serves 42″ and 54″.
02 — The layout
The bench runs the full west wall to where the counter starts, and the full north wall to the landing. The table’s corner sits in the crook, its two straight edges run along the bench fronts, and its curved edge faces the room where the chairs go.
03 — How hard to push
You said the path only has to be squeezable and there’s a second way round through the peninsula. That buys real table — but it spends fast, so here is where each size lands.
| Top | Walkway | North arm | West arm | Places | Area | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38″ round | 27.7″ | — | — | 6 crammed | 1134 | today |
| 44″ round, L-bench | 14.8″ | 25″ | 25″ | 5 | 1521 | the wrong shape |
| fan, 44″ radius | 23.9″ | 44″ | 44″ | 6–8 | 1521 | safest path, symmetric |
| bean 42 × 54 | 20.6″ | 42″ | 54″ | 8 | 1781 | recommended |
| bean 44 × 58 | 17.8″ | 44″ | 58″ | 8–9 | 2004 | only if you truly never carry anything through |
The asymmetry is free money: your west wall runs 77″ and the north only 62″, so stretching the west arm adds seats and tabletop while costing almost nothing on the path — the pinch is on the diagonal, and the west arm grows away from it.
04 — Build spec
One continuous L carcass. Backless, because your 20.5″ sill means a backrest would cover glass. Held 3″ off the wall so the baseboard radiators keep working — that gap is the whole trick and it costs you nothing, because the cushion covers it.
L carcass
Build it as one continuous L so the corner has no seam. Keep the storage in the front 12″ with a full-height divider at the back — nothing should sit against a live convector.
The corner seat
Chamfer the table’s corner at 45°, about 18″ across. A square point in the crook is the worst seat in any banquette — whoever sits diagonally in the corner is too far from the table, and the two people either side of them arrive knees-first at the same place. The chamfer gives the crook a real edge to eat at, facing the middle of the table.
It also removes a 90° point at exactly toddler head height, which matters with a 1-year-old.
Custom top
A CNC shop cuts this from a drawing in an afternoon. Plywood or MDF core with a solid hardwood edge is the sane build; solid stave-and-shape costs more and moves more.
Base
A low cast disc, not legs and not a trestle. Feet rest over a flat disc; they collide with everything else. Put the column at the top’s centre of area so the longest overhang is about 36″ — have the fabricator confirm tip load at that reach before you commit.
Four moves, from a sheet of scrap this afternoon to a finished nook in a month. Each one exists to make the next one safe to spend money on.
Phase 1 — today
This is not a table. It is a 42 × 54 answer to the question “can we actually live with 20.6″ of walkway.” Warped, ugly, two pieces screwed to a batten — none of it matters. Only the outline and the 30″ height matter. The piece fits a 4×8 sheet with 6″ × 42″ left over.
How to draw a big ellipse without a jig
Snap two square lines from a corner — one 42″, one 54″ — and check them with a 3-4-5 triangle. Then plot the curve as offsets from those two edges, tap a brad at each dot, spring a thin batten through them and trace. Use Table A for the flat part and Table B for the steep part: near each end the curve turns hard, and offsets taken from the wrong baseline get unreliable fast.
Table A — from the 42″ edge
Measure across the 42″ edge, then down parallel to the 54″ edge.
| across | down |
|---|---|
| 0″ | 54″ |
| 3″ | 53-7/8″ |
| 6″ | 53-1/2″ |
| 9″ | 52-3/4″ |
| 12″ | 51-3/4″ |
| 15″ | 50-1/2″ |
| 18″ | 48-3/4″ |
| 21″ | 46-3/4″ |
| 24″ | 44-3/8″ |
| 27″ | 41-3/8″ |
| 30″ | 37-3/4″ |
| 33″ | 33-3/8″ |
| 36″ | 27-7/8″ |
Table B — from the 54″ edge
Measure down the 54″ edge, then across parallel to the 42″ edge.
| down | across |
|---|---|
| 0″ | 42″ |
| 3″ | 41-7/8″ |
| 6″ | 41-3/4″ |
| 9″ | 41-3/8″ |
| 12″ | 41″ |
| 15″ | 40-3/8″ |
| 18″ | 39-5/8″ |
| 21″ | 38-3/4″ |
| 24″ | 37-5/8″ |
| 27″ | 36-3/8″ |
The two tables meet at 36″ / 27-7/8″. If your dots agree there, your baselines are square.
The chamfer
Mark 12-3/4″ from the corner along each edge and join them. That’s the 18″ corner facet — the seat in the crook, and the reason there’s no 90° point at toddler head height.
If you’d rather use string
Pin two brads on the 54″ line at 33-15/16″ either side of the corner (the second lands off the piece, so leave 34″ of sheet beyond it). Tie a loop that spans 108″ between the pins, and a pencil held taut traces the ellipse. Offsets are more accurate; string is faster.
Holding it at 30″
Stacked boxes, sawhorses, or set it straight on top of the existing table and shim to 30″. Height matters as much as outline — a mock at the wrong height teaches you the wrong thing.
Tape the benches too
Painter’s tape on the floor: 62″ along the north wall and 61″ down the west, 16″ deep. The table alone doesn’t tell you whether the room still works.
Carry a full laundry basket from the deck door to the kitchen. Twice. This is the 20.6″ pinch and it is the single thing most likely to make you regret the bean. If it grates, the fan at 23.9″ is the fallback and it costs you two seats’ worth of tabletop, not the whole idea.
Eat a real dinner on it. All six, in the actual positions — three along the north edge, two down the west, one at the chamfer. Watch whether the corner seat is genuinely usable or just theoretically usable.
Leave it up for two days. Mock-ups flatter themselves on day one. The complaints arrive on day two.
Phase 2 — Monday
You want a shop that will cut your material to your file, cheaply enough that a second run is a shrug. That is a specific ask and it changes the price a lot, so lead with it.
What to say
“I need one flat part CNC-cut from sheet stock I’ll supply — a quarter-ellipse about 42 by 54 inches with one chamfered corner, three-quarter-inch plywood, outside profile only, no pockets or joinery. I’ll send a DXF. Can you quote cut-only? And what’s the price if I come back in a month with a tweaked version of the same file?”
Ask every shop
Some shops won’t touch customer material — hidden staples wreck tooling. Ask early so you don’t waste the call.
Is $300–500 realistic?
Yes, for cut-only on your own sheet. Shop rates run roughly $60–150/hr and run higher near the coasts. Your part is about 14 linear feet of profile — well under an hour of cutting in 3/4″ ply, call it an hour or so all-in with setup.
That leaves the sheet: $80–150 for good birch or a veneered ply. It adds up to your number with room to spare, and the repeat run should be cheaper because the setup is already done. Say so on the phone — shops price differently when they hear “this will come back.”
Who to call
Cabinet and architectural millwork shops, sign shops, boat builders, and any local makerspace with a ShopBot. Millwork shops give the best edge quality; makerspaces are cheapest and most tolerant of “let’s try another one.”
Material for this round
3/4″ birch ply is honest and cheap. Veneered ply in white oak or walnut costs a little more and previews the final. Either way, sand the exposed edge and oil it — a clean ply edge reads deliberate, and you are not trying to fool anyone yet.
Search “cast iron disc table base, dining height, 30 inch” at restaurant suppliers. You want the heavy class — the good ones weigh 67–72 lb and are rated to about a 54″ round top; the light 28 lb cross bases are not it. Column height is usually 28″ or 28-3/4″, so with a 3/4″–1-1/2″ top you land at 29″–30″. Buy the base first and match the top to it. WebstaurantStore, Rapids Wholesale, tablebases.com and Affordable Seating all carry the type.
Know this before you buy
The rule of thumb is to keep overhang under about 12″ past the edge of the base. This top isn’t round, and from the best possible single-base position its farthest edge is still 34″ away — so even a 30″ disc leaves about 19″ hanging past it. For a 50–70 lb plywood test top that’s livable, as long as nobody leans on the west tip. For the finished table it is not good enough, which is Phase 4’s problem — so buy the cheap disc for now and don’t assume it carries over.
Phase 3 — this week
Deliberately crude, precisely sized. The only numbers that must be true are 15″ deck height, 16″ total depth, and the 3″ gap at the wall — because that gap is what tells you whether the radiators still work once something is sitting in front of them.
Cut list, both runs
| 8 | 2×4 uprights | 14-1/4″ |
| 4 | 2×4 rails, north run | 62″ |
| 4 | 2×4 rails, west run | 61″ |
| 6 | 2×4 cross members | 10″ |
| 1 | 3/4″ ply deck, north | 62 × 13″ |
| 1 | 3/4″ ply deck, west | 61 × 13″ |
Ladder frames, deck screwed on top: 14-1/4″ + 3/4″ = 15″. Around $100 for both runs.
Set them 3″ off the wall
Not against it. The box is 13″ deep and floats 3″ out, which makes 16″ total and leaves the radiator a clear chimney. Get this wrong in the mock and you’ll learn nothing about whether the room stays warm.
Cushions, for now
A folded quilt or a cheap 3″ foam pad from a fabric store, cut with a bread knife. You want 18″ to the top of the squab. Don’t order real cushions until the benches are built — a fitted cushion made to a drawing rather than to the finished box always fits badly.
Phase 4 — a month out
One decision drives everything else here, and it isn’t which wood you like. It’s weight, because this top’s shape puts an unusual load on whatever holds it up.
| Top material | Thickness | Weight | Base | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White oak | 1-1/2″ | 72 lb | custom steel plate | the sane answer |
| Walnut | 1-1/2″ | 64 lb | custom steel plate | same, darker |
| Porcelain slab | 1/2″ | 77 lb | custom steel plate | the stone look, wood weight |
| Granite / marble | 1-1/4″ | 218 lb | engineered frame | triples the problem |
Why stone is a base decision
218 lb of granite reaching 34″ off-centre is not a top you hang on a catalogue pedestal — it needs a properly engineered frame, and it turns a $300 part into a fabrication project. A porcelain slab gets you the same look at 77 lb, which is lighter than the oak. If the stone look is what you want, that’s the door.
What the base has to be
No stock pedestal covers a 34″ reach. What does: a low steel plate cut to a smaller copy of the top — roughly 60% scale, 3/8″ to 1/2″ plate, with a column welded on. Feet rest on it instead of barking against it, and it spreads the load the way the shape actually needs.
Any metal fabricator can cut it from the same DXF as the top. It is the one piece of this project nobody sells off a shelf, so start that conversation early.
Briefing the furniture maker
Send them the Discovery tab — the bench section drawing is the whole spec. Continuous L, 62″ and 61″, 16″ total depth as 13″ box plus a 3″ open slot, 15″ deck, backless, lift lids with soft-close stays.
Ask for a scribed fit. These walls are not square and not flat, and the difference between a bench that looks built-in and one that looks delivered is entirely in that fitting.
What you’ll know by then
From the mock: whether it’s the bean or the fan, whether the corner seat earns its place, whether 20.6″ is fine or grating. From the CNC round: what the shape feels like at full size in a real material, and whether you want the arms a couple of inches longer or shorter.
That is a genuinely well-specified brief. Most people commission furniture with far less.
Still open
Bean or fan. The plywood decides it. 42 × 54 with a 20.6″ squeeze, or the symmetric 44″ fan with 23.9″ and two fewer places.
Final top material. Wait until you’ve eaten on the CNC version. Wood or porcelain both work; granite changes the base into a different project.
Whether the west arm wants to be longer. You have 9″ of slack before the counter. Living with the mock is the only way to know, and it’s a cheap change on the second CNC run — which is exactly what the repeatable-file plan is for.