How HGTV Stars Hide A Pool Table In Plain Sight (While Adding Functionality)

If you have a pool table in your home, you know this large piece of furniture can cause some challenges in designing the flow of a room. A standard pool table typically occupies about 4-by-8 feet. This size is only slightly larger than that of a standard rectangular dining table, which typically is 36 to 40 inches wide and about 78 inches long for six to eight seating areas.

In Season 4, Episode 4 of 100 Day Dream Home on HGTV, designers Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt took advantage of the similarities of the sizes of these two items to create a dual-purpose space inside the kitchen of a new farmhouse design. They were able to hide the pool table in plain sight, while giving the furniture versatility in how the homeowners chose to use it.

Although people typically try to incorporate the pool table into design ideas for a home game room instead of the dining room, the homeowners in this segment wanted the pool table readily accessible due to fond memories of having the entire family around this heirloom, which wouldn't be as easy in a game room. The challenge was to give the pool table functionality as a dining area most of the time, yet make the covering readily removable for easily playing pool. The HGTV designers accomplished this through decorating the dining table a certain way while also designing the room to allow space for game play.

In the episode, the homeowners were preparing to move to a new home. They wanted a design in the dining room that would accommodate a pool and dining table combination. The homeowners had already built four wood panels that fit perfectly over the top of the pool table, creating a surface to serve as the dining area. The panels had small legs on them that rested against the surface of the pool table to ensure stability. The four panels slid tightly together and covered the blue felt of the pool playing surface, so it was not visible while eating at the table. The homeowners stained the wood panels the same color as the wood frame and accents on the pool table, making everything appear as though it matched, which further hid the pool table.

To accommodate this beloved piece of furniture, the Kleinschmidts made sure that the overhead lighting in the dining room was perfectly centered, which is the recommended location for pool table lighting. When choosing light fixtures for your dining room, they also should be centered on the table – so this design decision filled both purposes for the furniture perfectly. The HGTV designers also provided plenty of free space and clearance around the play area, helping them accommodate the use of billiard cues around the pool table without worrying about hitting a wall while playing.

If you have a pool table that you want to disguise so you can use it for other purposes, you could follow the wood panel design featured in the HGTV video, but you also have some other options. One of the easiest things to do is grab a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood and place it over the top of the pool table. It should be thick enough and sturdy enough to keep weight off the felt to avoid damaging it. You could cut the plywood to fit if you don't have a standard-sized pool table. You may also want to use two or three plywood sheets slid together over the top to make them easier to move later, so you can play pool, then use a large table cloth or create a fabric skirt that almost hangs to the floor to cover everything and doesn't allow people to see the pool table frame underneath.

If you don't yet own a pool table but you're thinking of buying one, you could purchase a model that offers different surface panels that provide multiple gaming options. Some of these items ship with separate surfaces for table tennis, air hockey, foosball, board games, and a dining or crafts surface. Understand that many of these multi-purpose conversion models are going to be smaller than the standard pool table, including some models that are 6 feet in length or shorter.