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Even though our closets hold some of our most important possessions, we inevitably end up neglecting them. So we’re asking clever homeowners and renters to share their time-tested organizing methods that really (really!) work in our new series, Reclaim Your Closet.
Why is it that you never notice a wrinkle until you’re pressed for time to get out the door? Which gives you mere minutes to run to the closet and wrangle the ironing board, let alone wait for the iron to get hot. Design blogger and DIYer Stefana Silber, however, no longer knows this sense of panic.
When Silber spots an unwanted crease, she simply opens her husband’s closet door and—whoosh!—down flips the retractable ironing board folded neatly inside. The $85 tool is a must for anyone who is prone to ironing on the fly or simply doesn’t have room to store a regular-size board, period. It also just makes the chore simpler: The board can rotate 180 degrees, so you don’t have to struggle with flip-flopping your clothes. Plus you just need to know how to operate a drill to install it. Ahead, in her own words, Silber shares her experience with the hidden Amazon gem.
It used to be that I would iron a large batch of clothes (mostly my husband’s shirts) on a full-size board right after doing the laundry while watching the TV, which I can see from our laundry room–slash–kitchen. But because my husband no longer wears dress shirts, that routine has changed. I find that I use the retractable board more often as needed. I can quickly do a touch-up—mostly on my clothes—if they arrive wrinkled in shipping or after I wash them.
The small folding board, which took probably 10 to 15 minutes to install, can fit at the bottom of the cabinet without any need for reorganizing clothes (I keep a small iron next to it). At the same time, it’s tucked out of sight, meaning I still have a pretty closet aesthetic when the doors are closed.
