For those of you who have built your own sewing cabinet or have someone who built one for you, I have a few questions.

My husband is going to be building me my dream cabinet. I've been looking at the Koala ones, but I just can't justify the price. So, he and I sat down today and drew everything out, then took a trip to Lowe's to price things. Looks like we can do it for around $500, including the new circular saw he wants and using 3/4 inch oak ply. (Compare that to a couple thousand for a Koala!) This particular cabinet will have an extension off the back (I quilt) and some space for storage under the main section, as well as having side wings that I can add plastic rolling shelf units onto.

Now, I want to put a lift in, which I've found online. However, if I do that, I have to get a custom cutout for my machine. My options as I see them are to have hubby make a cutout out of plexi/plastic or to buy one from someone who sells them separate from a pre-made cabinet. The question is, who sells those? And, I have a Pfaff Hobby 1042, which apparently doesn't fit a lot of pre-made cabinets for some reason (must be an odd shape or something). Is there someone who would sell a separate one for my machine?

Also, what kinds of advice do you have about making one of these? We're going for something nice that can be a furniture piece when I need the sewing room to be the guest room, so if anyone knows of any tricks we can use to make this work, I'd really appreciate it.