A design wall is an absolute must and can easily be made. My design wall is an old piece of wall paneling cut down to 4 feet by 6 feet and wrapped in flannel. My dh screwed it directly onto the wall and I use it constantly!

I would turn that "dust collector" pool table into a cutting table/ironing station! Couple of pieces of plywood piano hinged together, cover with batting and some nice fabric stapled to it and presto chango... When the pool players come for a visit, easy to take the cover off and make it back into a pool table! You will love your little FW, I had one I sold a couple of years ago. Still miss her :)

yeah, keep that pool table I did exactly what qltgrose did, it made a great cutting space.

Interesting...so is the whole table is an ironing surface? I have a big piece of particle board in the form of a ping-pong table I could possible do that with. How many layers of batting? I will have to do some negotiating to take it over - me vs. the kids.

I also have a frame that came with a bed purchase...I thought I would try the design wall idea. It is very rectangular and tall. Size....it is 20 inch by 60 inches. I could staple a fleece backed table cloth on it and hang on the wall. Should it hang 60 wide like a landscape or stand 60 tall like a full length mirror would stand....

Thanks for all the ideas.

Pool table
 

I dont know how large the table is, but I would get 2 smaller pieces and I would use 1/2 or better 3/4 in or more plywood. You may have to come up with some sort of center support underneath? Maybe a stack or 2 of books? You could cover one for ironing and cover the other with some self stick vinyl tiles and use it for a cutting space. On 2nd thought when I mentioned before the piano hinges, to hook them together, if the table is big and the lumber is heavy, best to not attach them, too hard to handle! That would be easier for the kids to remove as well when they want to convert back to a pool table.

The big boards I have made for my house sit on ironing boards. I got a 28x40 precut plywood board and covered with some fluffy old poly batt, stapled that down, then did the same with the topping fabric. The 2nd one I made the topping fabric with an elastic casing, so it can be removed for laundering. They do get messy after a while. If you staple the batt/ fabric down, I started with opposing corners first, then went to opposing centers, ends, etc. before filling in on the sides with more staples.

My design wall is 2 huge sheets of foam core board. I covered it with gridded flannel If I had more free wall space, I would rather have it mounted on the wall, so if you have the room, I would do that. Make it as large as you can though. Mine are not large enough when working on a big quilt.

Good luck! Please send photos when done! Would love to see it.
Jody:thumbup:

Keep the pool/ping pong table ...the ping pong surface is great for a cutting table. Move it closer to your area and move the round table over to the "family" area instead. Great swap and you'll love the bigger cutting/pressing surface.