I often receive questions about the organizing tools I use in my home.
While I don’t shop at one specific store, I do have one “go-to” tool that I love using whenever possible — baskets!
Baskets are a great organizing tool because they come in so many shapes, sizes, colors (and prices)! I guarantee you can find one — or five — to fit your needs.
Here are 10 ways I use baskets around my house. Most of them are from Goodwill or garage sales.
- Craft Supplies — Keep sewing and craft supplies organized and in one place
- Reading Materials — Newspapers, magazines, and books stay neat and organized
- Bathroom Necessities — Keep your toiletries organized and easily accessible
- Clothes and Shoes — Create a space for shoes and dirty laundry to prevent piles on the floor
- Extra Bedding — Make extra linens and pillows easily available for guests
- Office supplies — Keep your stamps, envelopes, address labels, and other office supplies in one location
- Bags — We store extra plastic bags in a tall basket in our pantry.
- Family items — Give your kids a place to store their personal belongings with labeled baskets
- Decorations — Baskets don’t always have to be useful, sometimes they just look nice!
- Man Basket — after we got married, I gave my husband a basket to keep his wallet, watch, glasses and other belongings in. We jokingly call it his “man basket”!
How do you use baskets in your home? What other organizing tools do you love?
Lori says
I love all of your looks and ideas! I am a total mess but would love to be like you. How do you know what basket, bin, box, etc will work best?
Thanks
Andrea says
Trial and error I guess. I’m alway moving things around and rearranging to better utilize my space. However, if I’m really trying to conserve space, I’ll reach for a square or rectangle basket vs. a round or oval one — because the square/rectangles take up less space.
Amy says
I LOVE baskets & bins ~ really any organization tool! If I were to start a new career, I would totally look into being a Professional Organizer!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope your mom likes it, too! 🙂
Melissa says
Loved seeing all your baskets. We use lots too! And love when I can find them at the thrift store. It just makes me feel organized to look at other people’s cute little organizational ideas. You’ve got a great blog!
Audrey says
I LOVE the personalized hanging baskets; so cute – and practical!
Catie says
Great ideas! I use a basket to keep all of our media cords together. (ipod, phone chargers, camera cords, etc.)
Andrea says
Catie, I use baskets for the electrical cords too. I actually thought about that after I post this…but figured 10 ways to use baskets was enough!
Thanks for the great tip.
Ashley says
Baskets are great, though, because we have lots of little hands that like to EMPTY baskets, I like totes. The clear plastic kind are my favorite since I can see what’s in them without opening them!
Andrea says
I’m a fan of clear plastic bins too.
But when I need a space to be organized, functional, and decorative — I look for a basket!
Jeni says
I have a basket in my kitchen that corrals all of the coffee-making stuff – filters, coffee grounds, sugar, sweetener, powdered creamer, etc. It keeps it all tidy and handy for my bleary early mornings!
Andrea says
Excellent idea Jeni 🙂
I’ve actually used baskets to corral kitchen clutter with several of my clients. Baskets are such a great way to hide unsightly (but necessary) items and still keep them accessible.
Thanks for the tip!
oh amanda says
Ha! The Man Basket!! I love the idea of linens in a basket for the guest room. And those magazine holder baskets are great. I need to scour the house for some hidden baskets! 🙂
Thanks for linking up!
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Andrea says
I get a lot of flack for the Man Basket…but it does work! My hubby is more likely to keep his area organized if he can just “dump” everything in one spot.
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
I’m a bit of a basket junkie myself. I try not to buy a basket until I actually have a use for it. I use baskets for books, fruit, remotes, hats — I used to use for shoes, but the baskets got too yucky. Beautiful photos.
Andrea says
I totally agree. I rarely ever buy organizing tools unless I have a specific use for them. Otherwise, they just add to the clutter!
Vanessa says
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I also have a love of baskets (well, all bins and containers really!) so I totally relate!