I now have 2 full-sized ironing boards. The newest one is about 30 years old. The newest one is from the 1940's. It's made of wood and is nice and sturdy. The other one wasn't rickety or anything - it just had no character. The vintage one belongs in my loft. I knew I would find one eventually. Actually I found two. The first was at a consignment shop in Newnan. It was nice, but it was priced around $70. That was definitely over my budget. I was content to wait. But I sure did keep thinking about it and picturing it in my ironing corner.
Surprisingly, I didn't have to wait long. I found my vintage ironing board in a little shop in downtown Senoia. I paid $27 for it.
An ironing board that wonderful just couldn't have an ordinary cover. I wanted a cover with some personality. I found my cover on Ebay. It's made by Hestia House. The seller is imadomesticgoddess. She has a number of fun prints to choose from. She also sells on Amazon and Etsy.
In the photo below, I moved the ironing board near a few other things in the loft to show how the colors play off each other. I'm still puzzled at how the fabric on the papasan doesn't photograph true to color. It is really much more vibrant than it looks in the photo.
The loft keeps getting better and better. I certainly am enjoying it and ironing, in particular, is much more exciting now.