DIY Space Saving Ironing Board

I moved into a new studio space this month! While planning the layout of my new workspace, one issue I ran into was that my ironing board didn’t have a great home. Right now I’m ironing in batches so I will only need to have it out for an hour or two at a time. After I decided I wanted to have two large work tables on either side of the room, the ironing board made a lot of sense between the two tables. Enter - the drop leaf ironing board! It folds flat against the wall when I don’t need it saving me space!

One of the most satisfying DIYs is one that is quick, easy, and functional. It took less than an hour from start to finish and it folds flat against the wall when it’s not in use. I love that it saves me space and storage for the ironing board is built in so when I need to iron I don’t need to fumble around with setting up the legs and breaking it down. Part of me wanted to design a completely custom drop leaf style system, but then I googled and found out I could simply order drop leaf shelf hinges. After building myself a second table from scratch, I was tired and decided simplicity would be best for this DIY. 

To make a DIY drop leaf ironing board, I used:

Two drop leaf shelf hinges (I purposefully bought hinges longer than the wood I had so that I could feed fabric over the other side of the ironing board as I moved through large pieces of fabric)

I used these brackets from Amazon in the 16" size

• One board 1”x12”x48” (you can make this as long as you want for your space or use any suitable scrap you have in hand)
• Cotton quilt batting
• Cotton fabric
• Staple gun and staples
• Drill, screws, and drywall anchors
• Level
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Measuring tape/ruler

For this project, I already had a board on hand that was 1”x12”x48” so I just used that. I also already had the cotton quilt batting and fabric. For an ironing board, I wasn’t confident polyester batting would hold up to the heat because I don’t have a lot of experience with it. The only purchase I had to make was the shelving brackets! 

Alright let’s get to it! 

Step one:

Attach quilt batting to your board. 

I used three layers of batting. I laid them all out and moved around the board stapling as I went. To create even tension, I found it best to staple once in the middle on each of the four sides first. Next, I stapled in between each of those staples and repeated this pattern until the batting was attaching evenly. It should be smooth and fluffy without any lumps or wrinkles. The batting was stapled to the edges of the ironing board. The fabric cover will be stapled to the underside. 

Step two:

Measure and cut the fabric for your board. 

I eyeballed this, but for this size board my fabric was about 16”x52” - adding two inches to each side to allow the fabric to wrap around and underneath. 

Step three:

Staple the fabric to the board.

I followed the same stapling pattern of one staple in the middle of each side again, but this time I stapled the fabric to the underside of the board for a clean, wrap around edge. 

Step four:

Measure out where the top of the drop leaf hinges will sit on the wall. 

In my studio, the best space was below the window and I knew I wanted the board to rest at a comfortable standing height. I knew I wanted the hinges to be close to the ends so there would be room for fabric to feed out the back while I ironed. The hinges sit about 5” in from each end. That meant the space between the hinges was 38” accounting for the width of the hinges themselves. Using a level, pencil in the top line where the top of the brackets will hit (mine are 36” high). Mark a perpendicular line out where the outer edges of the brackets will line up to ensure your brackets are perfectly straight. 

Step five:

Mark out where the screws will go and predrill your holes. Attach your shelf brackets to the wall.

If you are screwing into studs, use long wood screws and screw your brackets into your predrilled holes. If you’re screwing into drywall, you’ll want to insert drywall plugs first before you screw in the brackets. Those are installed by drilling a larger hole, hammering or screwing in the plug, and then lining up your bracket and screwing into the hole in the plastic plug. These can be found at any hardware store and usually come as a set with both the plugs and screws. I held up the brackets, traced in the places where the screws would attach, and then predrilled and inserted the drywall anchors.

Step six:

Screw the ironing board onto the top of the shelf brackets. 

I used short wood screws and popped it on close to the front edge of the brackets. This left a gap at the back like a standard ironing board so I can feed long yardage over the back while I iron!

Step seven:

Enjoy your new ironing board!

All in, this took me under an hour from start to finish. Since I’ve been making a lot of masks right now, I tend to iron in spurts so being able to pop up the ironing board as needed has been perfect. I also appreciate how much space it saves. Since my drop leaf ironing board is right next to both a table and a window with a spacious ledge, I have several places to store my iron when I am not actively ironing. I keep a few essentials on that ledge - like a spray bottle filled with water for stubborn wrinkles - and an ironing ham. 

This quick and easy drop leaf ironing board suits my needs perfectly right now and I imagine it would work well in any smaller crafting or sewing room or studio where you want a spacious ironing board but want an easy way of storing it when not in use! Another thing I’m excited about for this is that it will be easily reusable in future studios. All I will need to do is unscrew it from the wall and keep it attached to the board and screw it in at the next place!