Creating a table that uses all available space

Possible with \usepackage{tabularx}

\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{ XXXX }
  \hline
  label 1 & label 2 & label 3 & label 4 \\
  \hline
  item 1  & item 2  & item 3  & item 4  \\
  \hline
\end{tabularx}

I modified the code to add space vertically

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\begin{document}
  \newcommand\myvspace [2]{  \vrule width0pt height#1 depth#2}
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{ XXXX }
  \hline
\myvspace{1cm}{1cm} label 1 & label 2 & label 3 & label 4 \\
  \hline
 \myvspace{2cm}{2cm}\begin{minipage}{2cm}
 this is a long text and I need some place
 \end{minipage}
 & item 2  & item 3  & item 4  \\
  \hline
\end{tabularx}

\end{document}