It's not retractable but I bought two flannel-backed plastic table cloths and sewed them together. I then use pant/skirt hangers hooked over a couple of doors. I don't have a wall in my house that doesn't have a door or a window on it that is long/wide enough to hold the stupid thing. It does work fairly well and as long as I can get the bulk of the design up there and then label the blocks/rows it works fairly well. Just a thought....