I love these old ironing boards and have 2 of them. I don't have covers on either of them because I use them for decorating. One is hanging (closed) on my dining room wall and the other sits (closed) in my sewing room. I used to have it sitting at the window in the sewing room with my serger on it and it was a nice spot for the cats to look out the window. I recently took it down from there and have it leaning up against the computer desk. I plan to use it for a bulletin board for my grandchildren's pictures. I think I will put a cork board on it so I'm not putting holes in the actual ironing board.