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dedtired

Where do you keep your ironing board?

dedtired
17 years ago

I have found the right spot for my ironing board. Right now it's set up in my bedroom, which is convenient but not too attractive.

I usually iron something most mornings before going to work. I don't want to run down two flights to the basement where I do my laundry. I have two spare bedrooms, but I don't want it set up in there, either.

I've thought of looking for an ironing board that might fold down from a closet door. Maybe that would work.

Where's your's? I really do have to iron, so going wrinkled isn't an option!

Pam

Comments (36)

  • mrsmarv
    17 years ago

    Mine is in our bedroom, too. I have it set up in a corner by a window. I get up very early for work, and the window affords me enough light without wakling DH up. I haven't found a better place for it, either. After I iron, I hang the clothes up and am ready to get dressed when I get out of the shower, so it is convenient. Granted, I don't like to have the ironong board out all the time, but at least it's behind closed doors, so to speak.

  • mcgillicuddy
    17 years ago

    Ours is in a large foyer closet. I pull it out on laundry day, set it up in the LR, and do all of my ironing for the week at one time.

  • jannie
    17 years ago

    Our house is small but has a very large closet off the family room. The ironing board and my out-of-season clothes are all there.

  • bluesbarby
    17 years ago

    I have always had a built in ironing center cabinet. In the past it was in my bedroom but in this house we put it across from the laundry closet, just outside our bedroom. Very convenient, just flips down. Looks good and has the added advantage of a timered light and electrical socket. I never have to worry about leaving the iron on.

  • emagineer
    17 years ago

    Nice to know there are still a few of us who iron, I actually enjoy doing it. There are a lot of fold down boards, but I usually do mine once a mo. watching TV. Not sure if this says I have too many clothes to wear or am lazy. Am single and no longer working, the board is behind a door in the laundry room until needed.

    Here is one that goes over the door, not as expensive as most and not sure how sturdy it may be. You can also get hardware to attach to back of boards and attach to wall or doors.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Door fold down board

  • graycern
    17 years ago

    I have a plastic holder made by rubbermaid. It hangs on the wall behind my laundry room door. It holds the ironing board and the iron, when I need to use them I set them up in the hallway.

  • willie_nunez
    17 years ago

    I designed TWO folding/swiveling ironing boards into the design of our new small house. One is in the large master closet, and the other is in the ample laundry room. The house is single-story.

  • lousit
    17 years ago

    My ironing board is hung on the wall in the laundryroom in the basement. Along with some other old things no longer in use. LOL. I am a great one for the downy spray and smooth. Or tossing in the dryer to unwrinkle. Sometimes I do get that old thing off the wall if there's nothing else working.

    Lou

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Mrsmarv, your morning sounds exactly like mine (minus the sleeping husband). I get my clothes out, iron what I need (usually a top), shower and jump into my suit then run off to work.

    I don't like having the ironing board in the bedroom because I tend to pile stuff on it and then the whole bedroom looks a mess. I'm redecorating in there and getting rid of some furniture that I don't really need.

    I never said I enjoy ironing, although one or two items at a time are okay! I'm trying to learn to take hangers down to the basement laundry and hang things as they come out of the dryer.

    Emagineer, thanks for that link. I like the idea of having a fold down laundry center, I just have to figure out where I can put it that is still convenient.

    Small houses are charming and I love mine, but they do present challenges, especially when it comes to storage and extras.

    Thanks, everyone.

    Pam

  • sandyl
    17 years ago

    I'm a single working women and I iron every morning before work and I have the type of ironing board that folds down from a closet door. I love it. I have mine in the spare bedroom. Works for me..

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Sandy, that's what I'm thinking I will try. Maybe I'll see if there's a sturdy one at Bed Bath & Beyond when I'm out today. I just hope I fold it back up. I am not neat by nature!

  • jaysig
    17 years ago

    I have mine in my closet in my bedroom. I iron all of my clothes once a week and hang them in the closet. This way I don't have to iron everyday. See if that works for you. It did for me. This way you don't have to have it set up in your bedroom.

  • organic_smallhome
    17 years ago

    Well, I guess this is weird, but: I keep our ironing board hidden between the refrigerator and the wall. I don't want to go down to the basement to iron and there's nowhere to keep the iron in our bedroom, so: in the space between the wall and the side of the refrigerator!

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Yes -- that's an odd spot! I wish I could be the type of person who would take the ironing board out, use it and out it away, but I'm not. It just stays out. If I kept in the litchen, I would be choping vegetables on it.

    No door-hanging boards at Bed Bath & Beyond. Maybe Target or K-Mart? I don't go to Wal-Mart. I have never been in one.

  • cortina
    17 years ago

    I have a built in board in the master bath. Don't iron too much, and the bathroom door has to be closed when board is down. Not alot of room, Small House , but it works out fine for the two or us. I just iron as I need.

  • cathyll
    17 years ago

    Got a built-in one on eBay fairly cheap;even w/shipping it was cheaper than the ones I've seen at Home Depot.

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    My goodness, my last post certainly was filled with typos. I hope you could understand my hieroglyphics.

    I will check out Home Depot. I have to go there for fertilizer anyway.

  • jenathegreat
    17 years ago

    Mine is a fold-down one hanging on our bedroom door. (Our closet door is a pocket door, so it can't go there) Behind the bedroom door is a laundry sorter, and on the wall above that is a metal iron holder - it would hold a regular ironing board too, but I just hang the newly ironed shirt from it.

    Because it's behind the door, the ironing board has to be folded up before you can easily open the door to leave the bedroom - great incentive to keep me from piling things on it like I used to do with a regular board!

    I got it at Target, it's about $20.

    I do have a full-sized ironing board in the guest room closet. Guests sometimes use it, or if I'm feeling ambitious I'll pull it out and do a lot of ironing while watching a movie.

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    But if I hang it on the bedroom door, doesn't that mean I can't close the door?

    I'm sure I'll keep a full size board around for larger items.

  • emagineer
    17 years ago

    dedtired....hanger hardware used for most of the storage door items fit fairly well and you can open close door. Then again, it depends upon the door, if it is really tight fitting could pose a problem. I haven't ran into a problem with any of my doors.

    My ironing board is on the back of the furnace closet door, think I bought the hanging unit from target for 15...iron sits on top of it. Daughter has her board out forever, maybe one of those drop downs would be a good holiday gift. It takes up so much room being out, but doesn't seem to bother her. Knowing this, the fold down could be down all the time too.

    There are some storage units which are screwed into the door rather than hanging. and most doors have enough room when open that using the back isn't an issue. I had shoe storage on the back of mine in another home and always opened/closed fine.

  • piper1014
    17 years ago

    It aggravates me to set up or take down an ironing board, and we've never had the room to just leave one up. We bought one that hangs over the utility closet door -- easy down, easy up. Got ours at Lowe's, or maybe it was Home Depot. Closet door doesn't shut quite all the way, but close enough. Actually it's getting closer to shutting -- think it must be wearing a slight groove in the door frame.

  • emagineer
    17 years ago

    This post prompted me to get a fold down for my daughter. I was at Target yesterday for other things, but wandered the aisles and they had a fold down for $17. The thing is
    "heavy" and larger than I remember, decided to get one for me too.

    Okay, I tried it. Hangs snug over door and folds down/up easily. If you have a door handle on the same side as board, it needs to be slid over towards the door hinges, but still doesn't pose a problem with closing door. Depends upon how snug your doors are.

    The board is a tad cushy, sort of gives a bit when ironing on it. I don't think this would be an issue for the daily ironing...will have to see if it works well for my once a month duty. Certainly a good size for most items. You wouldn't want to give up the standard board, as this one couldn't be used for really large flat items. For $17 it is definitely worth the convenience and a try.

    The only negative is no place for the iron when folded up. Guess you could get an iron holder to hang at top of door too.

    I would be interested in how it compares with other's in a higher price range. The product is a "Target Brand" but is distributed by Home Products International.

  • Pipersville_Carol
    17 years ago

    I iron on the dining room table, on top of a towel. Seems to work fine.

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    It definitely sounds like it's worth a try for $17. I'll go over there soon to pick one up. Here's my other quirk. When I iron, the pointy side of the board has to be to my left. So I guess I will have to fine a door that allows me to iron from that direction.

    My next problem will be where to throw the clothes that I'm too tired to hang up! I'm used to tossing them on the end of the ironing board.

    The dining room table? I could turn the dining room into an ironing room. I tend to iron on the floor and dressers, on a towel, when I traveling unless a board is supplied. It does work pretty well.

  • ladyamity
    17 years ago

    What a timely topic! I just got my Over-The-Door ironing board holder/iron holder from Amazon this past Friday and Saturday I got busy figuring out which door to hang it on.
    Just by my washer is a door to another room but it was perfect to hang the Over-The-Door hanger--out of sight for the most part.

    The hanger is made of some type of heat-proof metal so that I can put the hot iron in it's slot right after ironing instead of leaving it to cool on a table.

    I actually wanted a wall-mount (screws and plastic anchors) ironing board hanger but then realized with this small house there's not a whole lotta wall room left that isn't already being used for something else.
    The over the door hanger seems to be the perfect solution both for the board and the hot iron.

    If I had my druthers,since I seem to be always either ironing or sewing something, I'd have a special room with the ironing board (and my sewing machine) set up permanently, always at the ready. But having a small home, that's not feasible.

    Here is a link that might be useful: This is what I got from Amazon dot com

  • wantoretire_did
    17 years ago

    Actually, my ironing board is in the second floor shower, which we found out leaks like a seive. Don't need it often, so visitors can use the downstairs shower until we get the upstairs one secure. We are both retired, so have very little use for the board :-)

    Carol

  • dedtired
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    An ironing board in the shower?? That's funny. I still haven't made it to Target, but I will soon.

    Maybe that's the answer -- retire so I don't have to iron so much. Sigh -- that's five years away.

  • emagineer
    17 years ago

    dedtired, just an update on the "over the door" ironing board. My daughter tried hers and the problem with this option is the door moves while ironing. It would need to have a door stop to work and even then the board still moves. So....has to be a better way. Maybe too cheap and got what I paid for.

  • susanlynn2012
    17 years ago

    Perfect Post since a friend was here and was helping me with my laundry room to neaten it up and told me my ironing board behind my door was too low on the wall blocking the central air and the central heat and I need to not be using a tennis racket holder for it but get something more sturdy.

    In my other place I had it not secured on the wall but leaning on the wall behind the door and when I leaned on the door to get better hold of a big storage box, the ironing board sprang open. It knocked me down. I gave up that night working and thought that was a sign to go to bed.

    went to bed with the worst headache. I got up in the middle of the night and passed out hitting my head so hard against the floor! I had a concussion and had to get a Cat Scan. My headaches lasted for over 6 months and they were bad headaches.

    So now I have string tied around the ironing board making it difficult to take on and off as well as having it secured in this racket holder.

    I need to iron my wrinkled clothes but I hardly ever use it now. It is old, so maybe this is a perfect time to buy a smaller one that closes easier and a better holder for it and then maybe I will iron again. :)

    I will update everyone. Thank you for this post!

  • supercat
    17 years ago

    I'm paying attention to your post, lynn2006, as I also store my board behind a door to my 2nd bedroom/computer room/ironing space. And I'm in the process of getting over a concussion I sustained Thanksgiving Day when I took the turkey out of the bottom of the fridge and smacked the side of my head full-force on the freezer door handle when I stood up. I had a black eye for almost 3 wks plus intermittent nausea and headaches. Don't really need to give myself another blow to the head right now, so I think I'll be finding another spot ASAP.

  • susanlynn2012
    17 years ago

    Supercat, I am sorry about your concussion. Yes, I forgot about the nausea also.

    I used to iron a lot before this incident, now I am almost afraid of the ironing board.

    I need to find a better spot also for the ironing board or to buy myself a small table top kind that does not spring open. Maybe that is why those ironing board holders are good as long as there is no way the ironing board can spring open.

  • dayleann
    17 years ago

    Holy cow, I was thinking about getting a fold-down for convenience, but have changed my mind, because I just know that would happen to me. Hope you guys are ok.

    My first response to this was "ironing board?". I only buy clothes I don't have to iron, because I know I won't.

    Then I remembered, I DO have one. It is in the back of the little closet under my stairs, and I get it out maybe once or twice a year. It's a nice one I got for $5 at a yard sale. I generally only use it when I am sewing, and actually then mostly as table space.

    If I just HAVE to iron, I usually just get out my rectangular quilting board and put it on the table. Works fine. It's probably more convenient than a fold-down, come to think of it, since I can put it where I want.

    Dayle Ann

  • FlowerLady6
    17 years ago

    This is a great subject. Like 'Organic Smallhome' mine is beside the refrigerator and the wall. We made the cubby hole for refrigerator big enough for this purpose. Before it was just leaning up in the spare room. Where it is now I have lots of light as I iron right there in the scullery. I enjoy ironing now because of the environment.

    Lynn ~ What a horrible thing to have happen to you. Do hope you are feeling much better as each day passes.

    FlowerLady

  • gwendolynne
    17 years ago

    We have a really bizarre triangular linen closet outside the master bedroom. The shelves are not very deep (and therefore mostly useless for putting folded things on them, which is why it seems to hold non-linen items or hubby's shirts that are shoved in awaiting ironing...) but this leaves enough space for one of those wall-mounted ironing board/iron holders from Ikea. Having it there has made the triangular closet much more useful, since we now have enough space for the vacuum on the floor and the ironing board on the wall instead of them both fighting for floor space.

  • supercat_gardener
    17 years ago

    I'm doing much better now....no more nausea!. I still have to find a permanent place for the board , though.
    I'm trying to store my clothes better..ie, giving them more space on the closet rack and in the drawers, so they don't wrinkle as much and thus need less ironing. But that presents it's own set of problems in a small house w/limited storage space.

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