I leave mine on the desk and put my machine on top of it. That way, if I want to cut large pieces, I just go to the other side of the desk and cut. If I cut smaller pieces, I just reach over to the smaller mat. My desk is out in the open, with just the end next to the window. I have a 36x23 mat and next to that is a medium size maybe 18x24 at the end of the desk. The desk is 30 x 60. Before I had the desk, I had them under the couch.