Old House, Built in Ironing Board...Anyone Else Have One of These? archived

I had one in my kitchen. Totally useless. I ripped out the ironing board and installed little shelves to turn it into a kind of spice closet. I keep spices and little kitchen doodads in it.

I have one in the wall behind the refrigerator.

We've got one in our butler's pantry. And since my modern new-fangled ironing board has only been used once in recent memory, I fully expect that the charming antique built-in one will go the way of the DoDo once we get around to nuking the kitchen :bigsmile:

When I lived in an apartment I had one in the kitchen and I loved it...Saved me the space of having a regular one...where do you keep your ironing board now? Mine is set up in my bedroom and I hate it but it is the only place I can iron, except in the summer I put it in the basement where it is cooler...

There's one in our basement, near the utility sink and washing machine. I've never used it, but it is there, inside a shallow opening, covered by paneling.

For what it's worth, the house was built in 1933. I don't know if there was always a washing machine in the basement, but that's where it was by the time we bought the house in 1980. There had only been the first owners, and the second set (who bought in 1955) before us, so I'm assuming it has been there for quite a while.

I wish I had one.

I actually used it last night, which made me wonder about it. My regular ironing board is in the basement, just didn't feel like going down there. I am wondering if and when I go to put the house on the market, will the new potential buyers laugh and point? Cannot afford to redo the kitchen other than basic face lift. Who knows, as Shanaban intimated, maybe it will be an advantage. Ya' never know.

what's ironing?

Cody -Our homes did not originally have washing machines.Washing was done by hand in the basement laundry tub or the kitchen sink. Then it was hung on the yard line or in the basement. For large items like sheets,towels,tableclothes and my father's business shirts we had the weekly laundry man.He'd pick up and deliver the next week. Trying to wash by hand is not easy. Thank goodness for washing machines.

Every now and then I see a house on the market that doesn't have a washing machine or hookup for it. It's interesting to see how the space is used instead.

You can still buy these things at HD and Lowes....if you wanna go retro.

I have one in the basement -- also various built-in pantries. I use it once in a while, very cool. My house was built in the late 1930s.

Saw a house recently that had a similar closet space in the dining room ... it's presumed to have been built to store the extra "leaf" tops for the dining room table.

My house has the original gas stove that was used for boiling the laundry water in the basement. It also has the remnant of a bell or buzzer that was used to summon the "help" to serve at dinner in the dining room floor. The house was built in 1917.

The house I grew up in (not in Maplewood, built in the late 1920's) had a built-in, fold-out ironing board in a closet in the kitchen, and I remember my mom using it. They got rid of it when they redid their kitchen. I love the concept of the contraption, but I hate ironing.

I've recently seen a house where the ironing board closet's been converted to a place to hang keys and other small items. The idea of using it for a spice rack is wonderful.

We had one in our house in Maplewood and it was converted to spice rack, too. I never iron now, just spot ironing on little board put on top of bathroom sink. My mother never used the fold out ironing board, too small for the heavy duty ironing they did back then. Used sprinkling can and all. I can remember being taught how to iron. First hankies and pillowcases moving up to the correct way to iron a dress shirt. Maybe that's why I don't iron now. Too much detail work.

Galileo, I'm aware of that! Grew up in an old house in Brooklyn where there was a wringer-washer in the basement and clothes got dried on a clothesline. I remember running out to get the laundry in before it rained if a storm came up quickly.

But the wringer-washers were around in the 30s and 40s, even if driers weren't. Whether or not there was one in this house, I have no idea.

One thing about those old washers was that you had to be very careful feeding the clothes through the wringer to squeeze out the water. I remember Nana once got her fingers caught and it was really painful for her.

We installed one in our laundry room decades ago and I always use it. Those stand-alone boards are always space takers - you have to set it up, put it down, etc. I just love my built-in - but, then again, it is not located in my kitchen!

I love the idea of the ironing board closet. I've seen them and wished I had one...even if I would only use it once in a blue moon I'd love to be able to flip my kids beds into the wall too! It would produce more awake time space in their small rooms

Corey

I wish I had one too! I hate having the ironing board hanging around and it's so bulky to move around.

I won't buy an ironing board to add to my already overkill with "things" house. I lay out a towel on the floor to iron ...whennnnn I iron I do always wish I had a board I could pull out from the wall and make it disappear when I'm done.

Corey

I got a closet hanging ironing board. Hangs on the inside of my bedroom closet door. I keep my iron on special shelf on the floor of the closet. It is so convienent, whenever I need to iron (maybe 1-2x a week) I just flip it down and plug in the iron. No big board that takes up room in an inconvenient area.

When we re-did our kitchen, we put an ironing board in one of the pull-out drawers. The kitchen designer tried to discourage me, saying I'd never use it... but I have to say- I LOVE it!

I hated having the ironing board in my bedroom. Now I go downstairs in the morning (don't have to worry about waking up my husband), make a cup of coffee, and can easily pull out the drawer to iron.
It also makes ironing tablecloths much easier.

It looks similar to this:
http://www.crownpointcabinetry.com/organize/ironingboard.html

For those of you who are still ironing, go get a garment steamer! It's a life-changing experience.

Hey, if you want to see some cool modern units go to:
www.nutone.com

Click on Ironing Centers; Deluxe

Hot Iron storage, spray storage, electrical outlets, lights, all the toys needed for that now and then need for a quick press.

Oh, I install them.

Later,
George

There is nothing like 'breaking starch" canismajor

Corey