My house is one of those old ones where every single wall has at least two windows and a door or chimney so for anything bigger than a couple of feet across it had to be free standing (or leaning in this case). The wardrobe that my new design wall is leaning against blocks one of the three doors that lead into the guest room. Luckily, one of the doors was converted into an archway years ago, so my sewing area actually goes from 4 feet inside the guest bedroom through the doorway and into my home office by another 3 feet or so. So I have a sewing space that's roughly 8 and 1/2 feet square. The design wall is located on the opposite side of the guest room, so I also have to get up and move when piecing, but that's probably a good thing otherwise I'd never leave my sewing machine.
Rob