I bought a "superboard" from Joanns (about $14.00). It is made out of cardboard, plain on one side and has measurement stuff on the front side. Use the plain side, hang on the wall with velcro and then use either batting or a flannel back of a vinyl tablecloth to do design on. You can then use straight pins to put up your design. You can take it down when not in use if you want to because of the velcro. Works for me and cheap.

This is what I came up with...not all my ideas . I do not have a blank wall large enough to be only used as a design wall nor do I want it left up all the time so....I used the hooks made by 3M that are removeable without leaving any marks , some binder clips and the back of a vinyl tablecloth and placed it on the outside of my sliding closet door. I can put it up quickly and take it down as I want. I leave the 3M hooks up but remove all the rest. Pieces stick to the back of the tablecloth just fine. In fact I have had pieces up now for over 2 weeks and nothing has fallen off. Probably the least expensive method around.

I use this for mine also. I have a blank wall in the back hall across from where my washer and dryer are. The rolling laundry bin sits there so I can easily move it when I want to use more space. I have a painting hanging on the wall, I just work over it or take it down if it's a problem.
DH placed 4 screws up by the ceiling so that I can hang the kind of hangers with clips on them. I have 3 of the tablecloths from the thrift store for 50 cents each. With 2 clips on each hanger, they hold the tablecloths securely. The flannel backing holds squares and even fairly large sections well but a whole top I simply clip into the hangers at the top also.
If I am doing a small project, I can only hang one tablecloth, but can do up to a king easily and have about 7.5' to work with from floor to ceiling.

Thanks for the info on were to look for the vanishing design wall. My sister n law told me about this but she forgot were she saw it. I like the idea that it can be put up and only have to bring down when needed. Floor space here is limited.

Here's a nifty suggestion from a quilting friend. If you know of someone who works the voting polls, you can ask them to give you one of their "booths". The cardboard booths are thrown away after use. (Can you believe it?) Laid out flat, they are large enough to be used as a design wall. Cover it with flannel. It can be easily stored away under a bed, in a closet or behind the couch as it folds in thirds. Your project stays nicely put and it's cost friendly. I plan on getting one of these as soon as I can.

There is a board sold at places like Home Depot that are called sound deading boards they are 4'x8' and about 1/2 inch thick we use them in our class rooms as cork boards and they are way cheaper.

Just saw a video recently that suggested that you use "craft felt" not the soft kind, I guess. She said it was rather rough and helped to grip the fabrics but could easily be folded or rolled up to put out of the way. She put it on her wall with a stapler and said it made such tiny holes it didn't need any fixing when she took it down. I use the flannel backed tablecloth, which works pretty good.

Saw the price for the pull down vanishing design wall and I would rather spend that on fabric! I think I will go with the foam board and cover it my self. Using the foam board will allow me to pin into it if needed. Thank you all for your great suggestions.

I love my Block Butler.

Thanks for posting this question. Very good ideas. I was also interested in the answers. I have seen on a quilting site that someone used a window pull shade that was sticky on the one side so you could customize it to match the room. They had applied flanned to the sticky side. They also said that it was very portable to take with you. Projects stay on it & no worries about folds in projects.