Debra, that desk was a sewing table so the hole was there. It was an ugly brown and the extention table on the back of my table used to fold over the hole. I moved the supports to the sides of the table and turned the hinges so the extention can hang down in the back. It has wheels on it and I have laminate floors so I can easily pull it out and use the whole table if necessary. I sanded and painted it but the top is sort of laminated so it didn't take the paint as well and I had to make a table insert around my existing machine to make the table level.