Thank you IKEA! Studio Remake

Two weeks ago James went down to the basement to grab something and said “Hey, there’s a lot of water on the floor down there.”

Basement + Water + Floor = BAD! Especially bad because we have three fish tanks in the basement. One of them is 180 gallons.

Turns out it was one of the smaller fish tanks (not the 180 gallon, whew!) It cracked and leaked around 5 gallons of water on the floor overnight. Instantly we went into cleanup mode, and unfortunately most of the water had leaked into my kitchen studio.

But bad things can some times have a silver lining. The water ruined a very ugly, dirty green rug, but other than that, it didn’t do much damage. The horrible brown tile the rug was covering would probably survive a nuclear blast.

I had to collapse my big cutting table for several days while the floors dried and until I found a replacement for the carpet.

Which is where IKEA comes in. The big cutting table I have set up in my basement kitchen has been a cobbled together mess for several years. For awhile it was plywood. Then I added two plastic folding tables. Then I tacked on a homemade lightbox.

Slowly this table surface changed to fit our needs and it’s gradually shrunk because it started out as the size of an aircraft carrier flight deck. This area is a pass through for the entire basement so it would be nice to have more area to navigate around in.

So I decided it was time for an IKEA improvement! I already had a spare table top from another sewing machine setup and a handful of adjustable height legs. I took some more measurements, ran some searches and found the perfect combination. Here’s the awesome results:

This is three LINNMON tables on OLOV adjustable height legs. I’ve adjusted the tables to be higher than they were before so the top is coming in around 35 inches, which is perfect for cutting and pressing while standing.

Underneath I have ANTONIUS frames and bins. Unfortunately they’ve discontinued the plastic bins and only offer this with wire frames now. I may go back for more frames, but I already have two under the longarm and another 4 in the laundry room.

Sometimes I think limiting the amount of storage I allow myself is good. If I have space to stash stuff, I just end up buying more stuff!

The new rug I found on Amazon and placed some white peel and stick tile against the wall to cover the bare concrete where the indestructible brown tile had never been laid.

I’m tempted to lay more white tile because the entire room feels so much brighter and happier now. But I’m resisting the urge because one day I do plan to wage war on that brown tile floor and I don’t really want to make it more difficult by laying more tile on top of it.

All around, I think this remake has been a success! If you live near an IKEA definitely check it out for organizers, bins, and accessories. Even if it’s a couple hours drive, it’s worth it!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day