IKEA Hack Cutting Table

So I’ve been meaning to do some photos of my sewing studio for a while. Because we did it pretty much all with IKEA and a lot of it is pseudo IKEA Hacks. But I just haven’t gotten around to it. However, a friend was looking to make a new cutting table so it provided the impetus I needed to put up some pictures of at least the cutting table which I’m pretty proud of.

Basically, we took two 2×4 Expedits, built those and laid them on their side. Meanwhile, I ordered a 40″ x 60″ cutting mat from Dick Blick.  Then we took a piece of plywood and cut it to size to fit the cutting mat. My husband took his router and routed the edges to make them nice and smooth. We sanded it and painted it white.

Then my husband attached the plywood to the expedits using 4 screws (see above image). We laid the cutting mat on top and voila! The expedits actually have little felt bits so I can move it around but it’s heavy enough with all the stuff I have in it that it doesn’t move on its own. The expedits provide tons of storage! You can see how I fitted mine out below. 

And I also attached a hook on the side for my rotary cutting ruler.

There are many ways that you can customize this for yourself:

• Use different sized Expedits since expedits come in 2×2 or 2×4. You could put 4 2×2’s in a square!
• Use different inserts to suit your needs.
• Combine two cutting mats to get an even bigger awesomer cutting table.
• Home Depot will cut your plywood to size for you if you don’t have a saw.
• Skip the plywood edge routing by using ikea table tops!