garage? (I don't have one of those; thank God I have a storage closet in the apt. bldg. basement)

attic?

When I lived in an apt. w/ no storage bin and only 2 closets (each a clothes closet), I kept some bulky stuff under the clothes in the closet or on the shelf up above, and some under the bed. Ironing board leaned against the wall behind the bedroom door, or on an end of the clothes closet,

And I didn't acquire some of it, either. I didn't have space, so I didn't even start w/ some stuff (like a canner).

There's a lady at my church whom I admire for many reasons, one of which is that she gets rid of everything. She would use one of those irregularly shaped Wilton cake pans, and then give it away immediately. (I had a Barbie cake pan, and I used it once. I would never use it again--I really think those should be rented. How many times are you really going to make a Thomas the Tank Engine cake?) Her theory is, if I don't need it within 4 months, I get rid of it.

Maybe she'd keep the ice chest--but maybe not. She'd probably just buy a cheap-o polystyrene foam one each time she needed it.

Of course, you might use an ice chest more than she would, so it would be worth it, and you still wouldn't know where to store it.

Maybe the ice chest becomes a laundry basket? Maybe there's a section of a room (a corner?) in which you can put a big set of shelves w/ a curtain over it, or you can make an extra-deep wardrobe in?

When you have no storage closet to speak of, where do you keep stuff like
ice chest, - in the garage
ironing board, - in the laundry area by the dryer
roasting pan, - in the kitchen bench
canner, - never had one!
& those irregularly shaped Wilton cake pans? - in a kitchen cabinet

We built in an ironing board in the laundry room ...... I still keep the big one in the one closet downstairs for when I am sewing draperies. That may go.

Roaster goes above the upright freezer. The 4 canners (yes, I do use them all!) go in the basement off season -- in the pantry, during the season.

Ice chest is in the garage.

And I would toss the Wilton pans. Even if you love to bake -- you can make wonderful cakes without the pans by using square, round, and rectangular shaped pans and cutting them into shapes. My grandmother always made us piano, guitar, Raggedy Annie, train, doll shaped cakes and cut them. They were always adorable.

Cathy

What's an ironing board? :-)

If I had to iron occasionally, I'd probably get one of those tabletop models, rather than a big one. From what I've seen in others' houses, the big ones tend to get left up and become clothes racks. The small one could probably fit into a closet or under the bed.

Where do you keep those other items now?

TS, Your friend from church is my hero!

I keep a beverage party tub in the guest bathtub along with a case of air conditioner filters.

The ironing board is attached to the back of the same guest bath door.

The twelve coolers are stored in the garage on a special shelving unit.

Here is a link that might be useful: Behind Door

Wow Mustang!! 12 coolers? Throw alot of parties? LOL!! (insert winking smilie here)...

Well, we have 2 coolers, a large one and then a 28qt one. The large one is in a closet doing double duty as a storage bin. The small one poses as a short side table next to the computer. There is a stack of computer paper on it along with some of my favorite CD's. Both coolers can be brought into use quickly not only for picnics but also in case they are needed as emergency fish tanks/transport tanks.
I used to own an ironing board but since I hardly ever used it I gave it away. (where the heck is that winking smilie when you need it?) It was one of those smaller ones that you could shove behind the door or under the bed when not in use.
If you use those oddly shaped cake pans then by all means keep them. In the kitchen cabinet with your other pans. Same with the roasting pan. Nest the pans laying flat or standing on their sides, whatever works for you!
How big is this canner? (Can you tell that I have no idea?)

I've been keeping the ironing board behind our bedroom door too. Drying racks under the bed, big ice chest in the laundry room (when you have kids in soccer, you use an ice chest a lot!), turkey roaster in the bottom kitchen cabinet at the back where I have to dig for it, Wilton pans are in the bottom kitchen cabinet in the corner where they are really hard to get to, along with the canner. I only kept the ones that make multiple things, like the open book pan, a roundish one, and a couple of others, although I used to have tons of them.

The problem is we have spiders, and I don't mean just a couple. The exterminator said this is a really bad year with all the rain we've had, but that I need to get EVERYTHING I can off the floor. Yikes! I have tons on the floor, and some of it can't be put anywhere else. But I was just wondering where some of you put some of this big stuff. Oh & we have an ironing board that hooks on the back of the door too, but I don't like ironing on it. I like having the ironing board close to my sewing room too.

When there is literally no closet anywhere, I've been known to tuck the ironing board behind an open bedroom door. The iron needs to be in the same room, so I usually have a small space on a closet wall for that.

I've been storing my current ice chest in the back of my car for bringing groceries home during the summer months. The best part of that is that it has an insulated soft cover, and a hard plastic bin that fits inside that. If I need a little extra room, I can pull the plastic bin, fill both with ice and keep things cold until I get home. It does double duty, which is important especially if it's going to take space in my car.

Roasting pan gets stored in my baking center, holding items like graham crackers and chocolate. I use it like a tray I can pull out because of the handle. When I need it, I know where it is. (Again, double duty!)

Cake pans all go together, stored on their sides. I have a lot of these (rounds, springform, bundt) so I actually have dedicated storage space in a kitchen drawer.

I have a canner floating around in the basement but if I had to put my hands on it, I'm not sure where it is. My basement scares me and I've been avoiding it. It's on the list of areas to tackle before the snow flies.

Claire, that's a great idea for the roasting pan. Thanks!

My dream home has a room with lots of shelving just off the kitchen. So far, my dream house is only a fantasy. It also has a sunny bay window with hooks in the ceiling for plants.

I think that when you have a small place, you have to get creative with storage in a way that only you can figure out (we can't see what you have for space). Like your baking pan/tray - that's a great idea. I have very little space in my kitchen (and the rest of the house!). So it took me a few years to figure out that I needed to free up some cabinet space by hanging pots and pans above and next to the stove. I made a nice rack with pegs and put key rings on the ends of my pots and hang them, a collander, a large cover and cooling racks on there. I have a narrow shelf above for display/storage. I put the narrower pans hanging on a cabinet next to the stove, behind a doorway. Only a few inches of space, but fine for this use. And doing this freed up a lot of space for larger pots trays and other things.

I would look around and see where in the house you do have some empty space - be creative, up high - I put a high shelf next to our front door for hanging coats below and storing hats, etc above. It could just as easily be used for storing a cooler or large pans - this room is connected to the kitchen. I also put shelving in the office, with a very high shelf for a cooler and extra kitchen storage for things I don't use that often (again, the office is right off the kitchen) But my vacuum is hanging out either in a hallway downstairs or in my bedroom upstairs - only a couple closets here, too!

I sort of like the "cooler in the trunk" idea. That would certainly help from bringing home groceries. And, if you needed to load up the trunk w/ other stuff, as long as that stuff was small enough, it could sit inside the cooler instead of outside it.

And, the cooler could transfer to inside the car if you were transporting a bulky load.

I agree w/ RJVT--we can't see your space, so we won't have much in the way of *real* help.

And, of course, you may not have an attic, garage, or basement. (I know I've gotten grumpyw hen I've said, "where should I put this," and someone has said, "why don't you put it in the garage?")

I store the DR-table leaves under the bed (I considered storing them behind or under the sofa, but there wasn't enough space). An ironing board could go in any of those places, but I know I'd never get it out of there, bcs of the bending. It would also get dusty, which would be bad for an ironing board (I'd hate to have to clean it before I could use it).

A tabletop one would probably lean against the wall of a closet easily.

If you have a tall shelf unit (wardrobe, bookcase, china cabinet) you could pull it out from the wall just enough to slide the ironing board behind it.

I have both a real ironing board, and a tabletop one. I find that I use the tabletop one most, but I do sometimes need a bigger working surface, or I want a separate one bcs my table is being used as a cutting board. I'm lucky to have a closet that I can stash it in, up against the wall.

Good luck w/ those big, odd-shaped things!

My Boston apartment had 9-foot ceilings but the kitchen cabinets were only standard height, so where there is often a gap of about a foot (or a soffit) above the cabinets, these had two feet of space. I kept the picnic cooler on top of one of the cabinets.

If you are storing something high, it is best to keep it empty. If you store something like a picnic cooler low, you can also put things inside it. Perhaps you could drape a cloth over it and use it in place of a trunk or chest, as a coffee table or at the foot of a bed.

FWIW, I keep the ironing board in the bedroom closet, because I use it most often for folding laundry. I have a pair of hooks that can be used to hang it on the back of a door, but the closet doors here are all sliders or folders.