25 Tips and Tricks for Decorating with Baskets (all over the house)
How can you use baskets in your home? There are so many possibilities! Get creative ideas to use baskets for decorating and organizing your home. Plus tips for collecting and refreshing Thrifted baskets.
Are you a basket lover? There are so many varieties to love! And so many ways to use them in your home. Today is all about baskets; the different varieties you can collect, how to refresh them, and the many ways you can use them throughout your home. I think you’re going to enjoy 25 Tips and Tricks for Decorating with Baskets (all over the house).
I’m joining my Lifestyle of Love friends today, hosted by Cindy at County Road 407. We’re a group of creative bloggers who love everything vintage, repurposed, antique and farmhouse. And today we’re all sharing how we love baskets! If you came over from The Ponds Farmhouse, I’m sure you enjoyed Rachel’s basket decorating ideas; she is so creative. All the rest of the inspiration is at the end; hope you can enjoy it all!
25 Tips and Tricks for Decorating with Baskets (all over the house)
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Where to Find Baskets and What Not To Buy
Baskets come in a wide variety of forms and materials. Because there are plenty of them, they’re a great item to find when you’re thrifting. I love finding them at church sales, but you can also find them at garage and estate sales, thrift shops and vintage stores. Newer varieties can be found online, also.
If you’re shopping for a woven variety, be sure to do the sniff test. Baskets that have been stored in a musty attic or moldy basement are to be avoided. Getting those smells out is impossible.
How to Clean Baskets and Refresh
When I buy thrifted baskets, I like to know they’re clean before I use them. Woven types are easily cleaned with a vacuum and a simple scrub. Use a brush attachment on you vacuum to get in the fibers. Then give the basket a bath with dish soap in the sink. Dish soap cuts grease and will give the basket a nice fragrance. Use a soft bristle brush to clean the fibers. Then dry outside in the sun.
Metal baskets, like vintage picnic baskets and egg gathering baskets can be scrubbed up with a soapy metal pad, like THIS. But be gentle if there is a lithographed design or decals; you don’t want to lose the vintage charm. Seal with a brush or spray version of polyurethane to bring out the patina (my favorites are HERE and HERE).
Collecting Baskets
As I was looking around my house, I realized I’ve got a wide variety of baskets in many different styles and textures. (I’m sure most of you are not surprised;) Here are some of the types of baskets you can collect (and I linked to where you can find them online):
- wicker and woven baskets
- vintage metal picnic baskets
- glass baskets
- apple baskets
- wire egg gathering baskets
- DIY baskets
All of these different styled baskets can be used for decor or organization around your home. Do you have any favorites? Am I missing anything? Here’s a this-is-your-life-in-baskets tour around my home to give you lots of ideas!
(I thrifted these baskets for their Patriotic colors)
Style a Centerpiece or Vignette in a Basket
Baskets can feature a mini vignette of items, perfect as a centerpiece or worked into shelf styling. Dishes, foliage and accessories can be artfully arranged in a basket. The basket adds to the texture of the overall arrangement.
Use Baskets as Risers
Square baskets can be the perfect item to raise your accessories to the right height. Turn them upside down if needed. Turned on their side, they can feature something inside, too.
Fill Baskets with Seasonal Foliage
Baskets can transcend the seasons, depending on what you put in them. Fill them with seasonal foliage to add organic interest to your decor.
Wall baskets can be a fun and flexible accent in your home decor. Hang them on a wall, a door or a cupboard. You can easily switch up the foliage for the season with a different look.
Store Blankets and Pillows in Baskets
Large baskets are the perfect place to corral extra blankets and pillows, and look good at the same time! A big basket of vintage quilts or afghans can sit in the corner of the room, or be placed up high on a cupboard for easy access.
Use Baskets for Organization and Storage
Baskets can easily be filled with items and placed on a shelf for easy storage and organization. Whether it be socks and underwear, or craft supplies, baskets provide good-looking storage for small items.
DIY Upcycled Basket Ideas
Baskets can be an upcycled creation from old junk, or can be refreshed with crafting. An old cemetery cone was upcycled into a unique May Day basket HERE. Or you can refresh an old basket with paint and craft paper to make a sweet guest room basket HERE.
Enjoy Baskets as Art
There are so many types of baskets to be enjoyed. Work them into your styling and decor by enjoying them as art. Line them up, stack them high, turn them on their side, or amass them all together.
Hang a Wreath on a Basket
You can even hang a wreath on the front of a basket for a different look. {see 10+ Brilliant Places to Hang a Wreath for more ideas. And “A Year’s Worth of Seasonal DIY Wreath Ideas” for DIY craft ideas.}
Plant Flowers and Foliage in a Basket
Baskets can also be used outside as planters, for great texture. Simply line the basket with a coco liner to keep soil in. Attached to a vintage bike, this thrifted basket got new life with a lavender plant inside.
Serve Food in Baskets
Last, but definitely not least, is to serve food in baskets. A basket with handles is the perfect way to bring a fresh batch of muffins along to friends. Simply line the basket with a cute linen napkin that can be laundered after. I’ve been thrifting large, handled baskets to serve charcuterie cups at my daughter’s upcoming wedding. Thanks to church sales, I have a nice pile waiting with the rest of the wedding stash:)
I hope you’re inspired to gather up your baskets and use them in new ways! Or maybe you’re going to start noticing them a little more the next time you go thrifting. There are so many ways to use and enjoy them in your home decorating and organizing.
For more of our Lifestyle of Love series, see HERE.
Be sure to visit Amber at Follow the Yellow Brick Home for more basket ideas. I’m sure she’s got beautiful vintage ones to share!
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Lifestyle of Love Series: All About Baskets
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Wow Lora, so many great ideas for baskets and you have displayed them in such creative ways! You have an amazing collection of picnic baskets too.
I am glad someone understands how I feel about moldy baskets! Nothing is worth bringing a moldy basket home. The stinky smell I refererred to in my post will tolerate is usually just from being at the consignment shop or sometimes you can tell if people burned candles non-stop, but even then I have to keep them outside. For cleaning baskets, I use dish soap but also add vinegar for deodorizing. I found this works great for faux flowers too!
Love your collection of baskets!
Great tip with the vinegar, Amber. It’s like magic for anything! Thanks:)
Lora, you have once again created a post that brings joy to my heart and provides so much inspiration. Love all of your gorgeous baskets!
Thank you, sweet, Laura:)
A treasure trove of ideas here Lora! I especially love the basket of lavender on the vintage bike!! Thanks for the inspiration. Pinned.
Thanks, Cindy! Yes, I always forget to plant in baskets outside!
Baskets for your underwear, now I hadn’t thought of that. LOL! You’ve made me realize too that I need to use them more for food like rolls and muffins. I wonder if I could find one that fit a pie?! Loved all of your ideas and thanks for the cleaning tips. I don’t think I’ve ever cleaned any of mine. Now I think yuck, that’s gross! pinned again and again.
Yeah, when you see what houses some of those baskets come from (like at an estate sale) you really want to clean them first;)
As always you have a great collection of baskets and used them well. Pinned.
Yes, think I had way more than I realized!
Lora, this is like Disneyland for baskets! Love them all and you always have a fun take on creating groupings. You give me so much inspiration on how to style groupings and collectibles. That bike with the basket is one of my faves!
So glad you were inspired, Debra! It was indeed a fun post to put together. Such great ideas from everyone! Thanks:)
So much inspiration and of course your ideas are all so fresh and creative🧺
Thanks so much, Ann!
So many great ideas and so many unique and charming baskets!! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Thank you, Debbie:)
Lora, you have so many gorgeous baskets and creative ideas for using them. I love the old metal picnic baskets and the wreath on the little hanging one. Thanks for the great ideas, as always! ~ Angie
Glad you enjoyed it, Angie! Thanks:)
Thanks so much for the extra tips on how to clean smaller baskets, Lora. Sometimes I find the cutest little basket at an outdoor antique event and get it home and it smells like musty mildew so I’m excited to know there’s a way to save them without damaging the reeds. I don’t have any metal baskets but I will definitely be on the lookout after this post. They’re such fun vintage finds! Big hugs, CoCo
LOVE!! I do love a good thrifted basket. You have quite the collection of beautiful baskets, Lora! The fall photos you shared just got me reallllly excited for fall 🙂 All super fun, amazing ideas, as always!
Hey Lora,
I love all your basket ideas. Just when I think I don’t need any more, I get inspired to go thrifting. lol. Great post.