Ikea Cutting Table Hack

I wanted my sewing room to feel like the rest of my home. I wanted the pieces in it to look like furniture. I wanted the room to be cozy and welcoming. I do a lot of work in there after all and it is my happy place. Here is what we ended up with and the supplies we used. (Psst…at the end of this post-I made this into a PDF as well a set of simple instructions and cutting diagram FREE to download)

The first thing I wanted to make over was my cutting table. My in-laws are staying with us for the winter and spring which was lucky for me because my father-in-law is a master carpenter. I had visions of huge custom islands and antique looking furniture. But there is a catch. We are planning a move once the right house with the right land comes up. That means, we could move next week or three months from now. So my new cutting table needed to be able to be moved.

First, let me show you what I started with. These are closet system drawers that the prior owners had installed in a storage room in the basement. Last spring when everything was closed, I went on project binge and decided to remake my sewing room entirely. Here is a post showing my original sewing room. Down below is the temporary drawer solution. I also stripped and re-stained the old dining table top I was using. There was one trestle leg from Ikea (which we had already) supporting the back. I meant to come up with something else much sooner but it worked so well that here I am nearly a year later with my improved version.

I first decided on an Ikea Hemnes dresser because it had fantastic storage and was the look I was going for. It has a face frame around the drawers so it looks a bit more custom. I also replaced the handles with copper looking cup pulls.

I didn’t like the wasted space behind the prior table and I wanted a way to store my batting roll. I buy it in bulk and I have been carrying it up and down from the basement. This batting solution was by far the most difficult thing to solve during this process. I had lots of inspiration on my Pinterest sewing room board. I had seen a few on the wall large scale industrial batting roll solutions but I wanted it to look a bit more furniture and hidden.

We looked at building a shelf or smaller island frame, having custom Island legs turned and about 30 other ideas. We were trying to have the batting roll on the side instead of behind when I realized we could just move it behind the table. I also remembered we had TWO Ikea Trestle legs in storage. Sure enough, the width of the trestle legs were perfect. We both realized we could rest the batting between the two trestle legs and length of it was perfect to fit behind.

The top is a perfect fit and the trestle legs do not stick out. It feels like a piece that was made to be this way.

We cut the pine 36″x96″ table top in half and put them side by side together for a new size of 48″x72″. I sanded all the edges down round which helped it look even morel like furniture. **Note always sand in the direction of the grain or you will be fixing sanding marks like I was**

I stained the top with Minwax Early American and sealed with Polycrylic matte sealer.

The top is removable and is held together with two table latches. We found ours at a local wood supply shop. One side screws on one piece and the latch on the other. The latch slips into the other side and two sides are joined seamlessly. Of course, we could have done a more permanent (and time intensive) joint but this was inexpensive and fast.

The batting roll is held in place by a wooden closet rod. We trimmedi it to go just over the trestle. For extra security, we used a u-bolt to hold it in place (so it won’t slip around). My father-in-law even added a dowel pin so it can’t be pushed out by curious children.

The batting can be pulled up and over. It is really easy to access and stays on top. But we do have one more hack to add to ensure it stays on top. I will share that update once its done. Of course, I will need to switch the batting out sometimes but only every 3 or 4 months so a little leg work is fine.

Hopefully I covered it all but if you have any other questions let me know below in the comments.

For more sewing room inspiration and to see the direction I am going follow me on Pinterest