Decorating with baskets
Baskets may be the unsung hero of decorating. Not only do they serve so many purposes but they also add texture and an earthy aesthetic to a room. From rattan to seagrass to water hyacinth to wood, there are so many materials available that all add their own unique warmth to a room. Baskets can be incorporated into almost any decorating style and they can be used in so many ways. Below I’ve shown some ways that I have used them in my own home.
One of the most inexpensive ways to incorporate baskets into your home is to use them as decorative containers for house plants. I keep a variety of sizes on hand like the ones below and just hide my plant container inside. I remove the plant before watering but you can add clear liners to the bottom if you want to water them in the basket. These particular ones are handwoven from natural seagrass which is one of my favorite materials. It lends a casual coastal vibe that works with most every style.
Baskets can be hung on the wall for art. Here I’ve shown the use of a large tobacco basket hung above a sofa as the large art piece in the room. The look works well here in this eclectic casual family room but also looks great with the whole urban farmhouse trend. The one in the photo is no longer available but I found a similar color and size from Ballard Designs shown below. It is 37”square and to hang above a sofa, you need one that large. You could also do a grouping of 3 different sizes like this set (18.5”, 20” and a 23”square) from Amazon for a more affordable option. Both of these are in a warm brown color family. If you prefer more of the gray wash color, I also found this great option from Amazon for less than $50.
In this family room, you can see another use of the tobacco basket(see, it looks great in both styles) but I also want to point out the coffee table basket. Properly proportioned coffee table baskets are perfect for displaying a collection of related objects and/or for hiding clutter. I use this large one in our family room to organize books and magazines AND to hide the ugly remote controls;) People ask me ALL THE TIME about where they can find one of these baskets. I actually got lucky and found this at a TJ Maxx years ago and I have not been able to find another one just like it in this size until just recently. After much searching, I found the medium Crawford Basket from Ballard Designs to be the closest size to mine. (It is 26” long whereas mine is 30”). It is made of handwoven rattan(actually sturdier) instead of seagrass but should substitute perfectly. It is linked below. If you have a smaller coffee table, this Water Hyacinth serving tray(19.5” x 14”) from Pottery Barn would work beautifully as well. A round tray is another good option if you are doing a grouping of things. Something about grouping things in a tray gives order and tidies up a space.
Like I mentioned earlier, baskets are great for hiding ugly plastic plant containers. Here I used a large round basket to display a fiddle-leaf fern. This combination is quite popular right now and can be done very affordably. I bought this smaller fiddle-leaf from Lowe’s for around $20 and the basket was around $20 too. You will need to add a plastic liner to the inside bottom of the basket for watering. You can find those at any garden store or on Amazon. Below are a few similar baskets that work wonderfully for this.
With the huge Home Edit craze I think everybody is suddenly organizing all of their closets. I started a little organizing myself but it is still a work in progress. Those clear acrylic containers can really add up and don’t hold as much as I need for all of my clutter. I found that these baskets from Michael’s do the trick for me. They add texture, hide clutter and are under $8 each.
Don’t forget about colored baskets! They are great for displaying in groupings as wall art. I found the one below while traveling. I bought several with plans to hang them as art. For now, I am using this one for a pop of color in the living room and to display our current shell collection.
Something in my Amazon cart now are these tissue baskets. I was thrilled to find these and at such an affordable price! I don’t know about you, but in addition to hating remotes scattered about a room, I hate seeing ugly tissue boxes. I think I’ll order one for every bathroom and the family room to fix that problem. There were some great options in square and rectangular sizes. I’ve linked them below.
As you can see, there are so many decorating options with baskets. Even basket wraps for your Christmas Tree stand! I am currently loving the basket lighting pendants I’m seeing in so many designer kitchens and you can never go wrong with a Moses basket in a nursery. A few more uses that I didn’t mention above are baskets for toy, toiletry storage and laundry storage. At our last house, we had cubbies in the laundry room and I bought four matching baskets from West Elm to display. They served as functional laundry baskets but they were pretty enough to put on display. I found so many unique options available while writing this post. I’ve linked several below for inspiration.
What’s your favorite use for a basket?
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