You can spot a bachelor house by the games room. I have one...it leads a schizophrenic life as a table football room, a library, and a board gaming den. For the boardgames I have some large pieces of MDF, covered in felt, that are tied to the top of the Foosball table. It's good in that it is 5 foot square, and can cope with any game...even one of fantasy Flights big-box specials. On the downside it's a little flexible, and does have a habit of bowing under a hardcore lean.
So over the Christmas break I intend to re-design it. I was originally going to completely re-build it using a less flexible surface, however after an hour wandering round B&Q with Gill patiently in tow I decided that it probably wasn't going to work feasibly...the wood was too thick, and too expensive.
So Plan B is to re-surface and re-enforce the existing panels. Fish has most generously supplied some new material (lots of it actually), and I've picked up 4 panels of furniture board. These will be screwed to the underside of the existing boards, and rather than the current hinges I have a collection of clips and deadbolts. I wasn't able to find any d-loops for the webbing, which is a little disappointing, however they can be affixed at a later date. I also need to add on some edging to hold it in position on the Foosball table, however again this is not vital, and I may be able to come up with some better mounting mechanism if I look around a bit...
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This actually all came together very quickly...so much so that most of it was finished on Christmas Eve, and the rest was done once I had some more screws from B&Q. The material Fish gave me is really nice...a sort of faux suede, and very dark blue. There was also tonnes of it (5 panels in all, of which I used 1 and a half)! The new version of the table is a lot sturdier than the old one, with much less flex when leant on... I shall have to get round to sorting out a Descent date to properly test it.
As I was finished so quickly I also managed to finish off the bathroom (the builders who were doing it have gone bust, and had left the door and some grouting to do). The grouting was easy, however I've never hung a door before, and while its not complex it is a bit time consuming, especially when you need to cut the door to fit the frame (stupid 70's houses with lazy workmanship...) and chisel out all the recesses for the hinges and latch. I was fairly chuffed when it fitted first time, with minimal application of a hammer to shift the hinges. The only thing left to do is a lick of gloss paint, however I'm planning on doing that just before Fishcon, so there is a long weekend to let the noxious vapours dissapate...
You're a self-taught DIY monster! Nice work. :)