​Cheap Wall-Mounted Folding Work Table

Its always a challenge to find space and to make efficient use of the space I have. I got tired of using my saw horses as table legs and so I made a folding table that could easily be stored out of the way and it didn't cost my hundreds of bucks like some of the equivalent options I have seen for sale.

• 2, 2x3 studs 8 feet long. This will be cut into the support mount, legs and support beam. You can buy these for $2.15 each.
• Sheet of plywood cut to the dimensions you want for a table top. You can get a sheet of pine 2x4 for under $15, this will depend on your needs and what you want your end table top to be like. I had some extra plywood lying around so I used what I had.
• About 6 hinges and screws, 4 hinges will be used to mount the table top to the wall and the other two hinges will be used for the folding legs. A pack of hinges, 2, costs about $2.60.
• 2 inch and 3 inch screws, I'm using dry wall screws because I have a ton of extra. The 3 inch screws are needed to screw the a length of 2x3 into the studs on the wall, this will act as the support for the table and allow it to fold on the hinges. The 2 inch screws are used to screw in a support beam to give the table more strength.

The tools you need for this project will be:

• circular saw to cut the studs
• cordless drill, to drill pilot holes and screw the hinges in along with other screws such as the mount
• a level
• measuring tape
• pencil or marker

Total cost if you do not have any of these materials to begin with will be under $45.

Everyone should have a wall available to them that has studs to mount your table to.

So the first thing you need to do is identify the space you will be using and find the studs, they should be 16 inches apart.

For me, finding the studs was easy, no drywall.

I double-checked the studs and they are 16 inches apart. I pick my starting point on my 2x3 and make a mark, then repeat every 16 inches.

I will be using 3 inch screws to go through the 2x3 and then into the studs so I make pilot holes in the 2x3. Then I screw into each hole so that the screw is just showing on the other side, this will make my life easier later.

I measured the height and made a mark on the wall for where I want my table height to be, in this case 36 inches, the top of my 2x3 will go to this height and I am fine with the thickness of my table making it higher than 36 inches.

I made only one mark because my floor is not level, I will screw in one screw at the right end and then raise the left with a level on it before screwing in the left side, this way I can make sure it is level.

I thought I would be able to put the hinges on table board first but as it turns out it is a lot easier to put them on the 2x3 that is mounted to the wall first and then, from underneath, screw the hinges to the board.

The board I'm using has a really bad bow to it and so to straighten it out and to add support I want to screw in a 2x3 across the length of it.

I could have done this before screwing in the hinges but it really is not a problem to do it now.

I cut my 2x3 to length and then placed it under the board while my saw horses were underneath as support.

With this support "beam" under the board I simply screwed straight through the board and into the 2x3, I used about 12, 2.5 inch screws to do the job. I placed the 2x3 about 6 inches from the edge of the board so that I could use the edge to clamp things to in the future.

The picture is a bit blurry, but what I did here was adjust the saw horses until the table was level.

After that I measured each side from the floor to underneath the board for my leg heights.

The leg to the right needed to be 35.5 inches while the leg on the left needed to be 34.25 inches.

I marked my lengths on the 2x3's and made my cuts, I made the cuts on the outside of my lines in case I needed to shave some off.

Once the legs were cut I put them under the board and removed the saw horses. The table was stable and level so all I need to do now is attach hinges to the legs.

I'm using the same hinges because I had extra lying around but maybe down the road I will change them out because the 3rd screw hole hangs off the 2x3 and could be an issue. But I placed it out of the way for now.

I did not make any pilot holes, I just used my hand drill with a screw bit to directly screw the hinges in.

The screws that came with the hinges passed through the board and could be a safety hazard.

If I had more money I could mount another board, something nicer or thicker, or I could have sued shorter screws, but I used what I had.

In order to smooth these out I used a Dremel with a metal cutting blade. If you don't have a Dremel I highly recommend the purchase, I can't tell you how often I use it and for so many different things.

This project took about 2 hours with a lot of breaks and stops.

Overall it was pretty easy and if I worked straight through I think I could have completed it in just over an hour.

In the end, I made a cheap table that stores itself neatly against the wall when I'm not suing it.