Baskets baskets everywhere!

Not always having much money to invest in organizers to hold all my stuff I would pick up baskets.  They were great and could be found cheaply at used stores, yard sales..just about every where.  Have a pile of stuff you just don’t know what to do with?   Put it in a basket and it can be left out while  looking  so much neater and nicer.

With baskets being so inexpensive, I had them in every room of my home.  Baskets held CDs, DVDs, VHS, beauty products, toys, utensils, small tools, jewelry, winter hats and gloves.    I even stored my spices in a basket in the pantry which made finding a spice faster than digging and kept them off the counter…..there didn’t seem to be any thing I couldn’t store in a basket.

I also had baskets for holding food on holidays,for holding bread normally with a pretty bread cloth to keep it warm, a basket of candy displayed for Easter, even a basket made into a Lazy Susan for use on my table which held condiments.  People can really be ingenious when coming up with new uses and designs for baskets.

My boys also had baskets, but rather than the wicker variety, they opted for metal baskets, these didn’t look so “girly” to them.  Anything they couldn’t figure out what to do with went in one of these baskets.  They stored packets of gum, keys, their hacky sack, you name it it went in a basket to avoid being told to clean their room better. My clutter tamer had become theirs as well, although it didn’t serve the same purpose, their baskets were literally a a catch-all, anything that went in may be lost forever.

The problem with the easy availability and low-cost of baskets is that it allowed me to continue to ignore the fact that I had too much stuff. The only comfort was knowing I wasn’t the only one who had found a way to make their homes look better by using baskets.  Here’s  one home which uses baskets in a much more pleasing manner than I ever  accomplished in my home.

Then last year, I began the process of getting rid of every thing that didn’t make my life better, that didn’t work for me any longer. Out went all the things that were just taking up space, things I hadn’t used in a couple of years or more.

Once I was done purging my home of all the clutter, I found myself with many empty baskets.  I held on to many until after I made the move into my new home.   I knew I wouldn’t have much storage space in my new apartment so I  held on to all my baskets, knowing they could be used for storage, where there was  none.

I am happy to say I have only 5 baskets left.  With kitchen storage almost non-existent I use two in the kitchen.  One to hold my cloth napkins.  It sits on my tiny fridge for easy accessibility.

An other holds my dish cloths, towels, and pot holders, and even my two most-used spices.

I have one basket which sits under my bathroom vanity and holds my rags for cleaning.

One basket slides under my bed and holds my dumbbells, can’t live without exercise equipment no matter what size apartment I live in. Click here to see more on exercise equipment in a small space.

The last one holds the various toys and books for my grand-children when they come to visit.This one slides perfectly into an open space in the desk. Lighting wasn’t great, but I’m sure you get the idea.

How many baskets do you own and use to store all those little bits of life you just don’t know what else to do with? What is the most unusual item you have ever used a basket for?