What I Found!!

As I was searching for a piece of sandpaper to re-stain and seal my purse, my eyes fell upon this long-lost item that my WH and 2 oldest sons had searched for for 90 minutes this past weekend (that's their story, and they're stickin' with it)... What in the world am I planning to do with an electric Stanley Sharpshooter, you may wonder? Well, the answer is clear. T is for terrific:
This little gem (above) came with our new dishwasher. It was wrapped around the outside (the top of the T) and the little part coming down was folded over the top. That was to keep it from getting scratched during transport, I think. Buy a $500 economy-sized ironing board pad and get a free dishwasher. LOL! Not really. But that's what it's about to become. It's a thick, yet compressed piece of what looks like 1-inch thick quilt batting.

I've been coveting other ladies' ironing stations. It's true. I know you never would have thought.

I have had several sightings of the board I wanted, but I wasn't willing to pay much for it. You know how you see something and file it away until everything comes together. That time has come. I saw Judy Martin's board, then Lisa's, then Taniwa's. I wanted to make better use of the space I had and get a larger board w/o the tapered end on a "regular" ironing board. Lots of storage underneath would be a plus, but very little expense must be involved. There was one other contributor to my great plan, but I can't remember who she is. She has a pic on her blog of a lovely pink-ticking covered board with drawers underneath, with directions on how she made her board.

Here is the way my ironing area was before. Ignore the drawers on the brick hearth (they were purchased after I moved the design board). My little design board was leaning there until a few days ago (when inspiration struck). Our former kitchen table you can see on the right side of the picture is the table where my children do the majority of their non-computer school work. Inevitably, someone would bump the ironing board as they went through and the iron would teeter, then fall off once in a while. That might be why the quilt angels took it home last week. At the far end of the room is my sewing machine and computer on the L-shaped table.

Maybe it was an unconscious desire to spare my new iron the same fate. Maybe I knew more storage would help this room. Maybe...






This picture shows the test run of the new plan. We never light the fireplace down here anyway. So it was a waste of space. I have a home business, hence the filing cabinet with the priority boxes on the right side of the hearth (with WH's shirt, patiently awaiting the iron). I didn't pretty the view up for you. This is real life.

For sake of the test, I merely folded up my regular ironing board and put it on top of the two new 3-drawer plastic dressers I purchased just for this spot. I had a light bulb moment as I was ironing last week. My I Spy stash drawers on the far left was only an inch or two shorter than my ironing board when it was on the floor. If I could get more of those drawers (I couldn't, but they had the wider ones same depth, yippee!), I could add storage and have a larger board.

My WH cut a board we already had in the garage into the shape you see lying against the hearth. The only thing between me and the completion of my plan was finding the electric staple gun. It was elusive for a while, but I cheerfully report its discovery yesterday.

Tune in again after I get it covered and in place. I figure if I need to iron a large quilt top and let it hang over the back, I can take my new big board to the laundry room and place it on top of my regular ironing board, where it will live henceforth. Another plus is that I can place my iron up on the wooden mantel that you see in the picture.

Purse update next.

~Joan