Ironing Board in a Drawer

The instructions that come with this are horrible. They need to take a lesson from Ikea. To top it off, our laundry cabinets are American face-frame style (not Euro-style), so installation was a lot more complex. Fortunately, the drawer opening was tall enough at 4.5 inches and wide enough (left to right) at 21 inches so we did not have to work in a cramped space. Note that the drawer face was larger (5.75 inches tall by 24 inches wide), since it is designed to hide the face frame. These are pretty much standard measurements for an American-style 24 inch base cabinet. We started by measuring how much space there was between the side wall of the cabinet and the edge of the drawer opening. Luckily, our (standard) face frame depth is 3/4", which is exactly the size of a piece of "1-by" lumber (a 1x4, for example). Here is the installation process we used (it took about 2 hours total): 1) Use a pencil to mark the horizontal (side) center of the frame opening. And draw a vertical line down the center of the side frame. The front edge of the side rail will come to that center line. 2) Cut 2 pieces of "1-by" lumber as deep as the cabinet. We used a piece of 1x4 lumber at 22.5" long, which gave us room to use a level and easily center the board vertically in the opening. 3) Mark the center line of each of the 2 boards. Place an outer rail centered on each board, with the front edge of the rail about 3/8" over the front edge of the board. That is, sticking out enough so that the rail will be in the middle of the face frame edge. You will probably have an inch or so at the back end, depending on your cabinet depth. 4) Use a pencil to mark the board at each of the holes in the rail. It can help to pre-drill a very small hole at each spot. But do not install the rails yet -- that will be done *after* the side boards are installed in the cabinet. 5) Next we marked 3 holes to install the board (front, middle, rear), far enough from the rail holes to not interfere. Pre-drill a small hole for the screw and use a recessing-bit to enable the screw to sit flush with the board. These recessed sections are visible in the 4th photo. 6) Install the boards: Take each board and align the center line with the horizontal center line of the face frame. Screw in, making sure the screws are recessed. Then attach the rails, making sure they are centered in the opening and that the front edge comes about half-way into the frame edge. 7) Install the rear threaded rod as shown in the instructions (this part was easy to follow). Then install the ironing board onto the rails. You might have to rotate the front angle brackets back up into the vertical position. These are the brackets that rotate down when you pull on the drawer. 8) Use a spacer/wedge or something to hold the drawer face in a centered position on the opening, and mark the holes in the brackets. It can help to pre-drill these holes, too. 9) Screw the face onto the brackets lightly. Adjust the drawer face until it is centered properly, then fully tighten the screws. 10) To open the drawer, pull it forward for a few inches before dropping the drawer face down. Otherwise it will jam on the lower cabinet doors/drawers. Same thing with closing it: Push it back with the drawer face in the vertical position so as not to jam it. The drawer is stiff the first few times, but becomes better with use. The size, quality, sturdiness, and usability are well worth the work we put into installing it.

I am a cabinet maker. This thing is tough to install. The directions are very unclear. The rails need to me mounted 1-3/8 above bottom of the face frame. The problem is, when I mounted it that high, you can’t flip the ironing board up because it hits the counter. The instructions did not help much and I called their tech support. What I ended up doing was taking the sliding control arm off the bottom of it, then mounted it flush with the bottom. I’m not really happy with the whole setup, but it will do.

Very cool concept and reasonable execution. I put this in a custom closet for my wife. She is thrilled to have a handy ironing board for touching up clothes. Its probably not going to be a good choice for lots of ironing. It's not long enough to put a pair of pants on and barely long enough for a regular shirt or blouse. the design is pretty cool and once you know how to pull it out, very quick to set up or put away. The board does feel a little light at the end, but has a support that comes out under it so we've not had any problems with it. All in all we like it, but I'll hold off on a '5' due to the light construction.

Instructions for installation could be a bit more detailed. Just need to double check all measurements. Once installed it works great. Installed in utility room that has limited space. Very happy with its ease of operation. Extremely happy with it.

I don't like the way it pulls out, requires a lot of force and its loud. I wouldn't buy this again

Had to return it because it is very heavy and hard to handle.

Like what many reviewers say, the instructions are not very clear and the ironing board can be a bit stiff. We’re DIYers and were able to install it pretty easily. The board can hold a decent amount of weight so we’ll be able to iron most household laundry except large tablecloths. The shipment was initially messed up, with the unit going to an old address. Amazon account and other sites had been updated for current address but shipper (not FedEx, USPS, or Amazon) must’ve still had the old address and was not helpful in resolving the the issue. Vendor was great to work with and we figured it out. Would work with this seller again.

I found the ironing board to be flimsy and too short in length for many clothing items. I returned the item to the company using the designated label, but was not reimbursed since the company claimed it did not receive it.