Thursday, November 3, 2011

Wire Baskets

They have charm and utility. Form and function: the perfect design formula...

behold, the vintage wire basket!

(photo credit: Muraca Design, Inc.)

This vintage, locker basket is just the fit. Hang it up or place it on a shelf. Wire baskets store onions and potatoes in the pantry and organize crafts and office supplies. Metal baskets go every where from bathrooms to laundry rooms. Buy it here at my Etsy Vintage Shop and start your own organizing project.

Love this office: wire baskets look great hung on the walls with the mix of empty frames. Not sure why the fire extinguisher needs to be so close to the work area??

(photo credit: Country Living)

(photo credit: Decorology)

I used this green, vintage basket to hold extra toilet paper in my daughter's bathroom. Found at Old Luckettes Store.

(photo credit: Muraca Design, Inc.)

Nice spa feel from Apartment Therapy.

(photo credit: Apartment Therapy)

Sideboard made into double vanity. Love the vintage wire baskets underneath.

(photo credit: Decorpad)

(photo credit: I heart organizing blog)

(photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens)

(photo credit: Decorpad)

(photo credit: tumblr )

(photo credit: Design Sponge)

Basket upcycled to coffee table.

(photo credit: Country Living)

Learn how to make this amazing pendant lamp here.

(photo credit: Ashley Ann Photography)

More wire / metal baskets from Muraca Design Shop.

Vintage metal wire wall shelf:

(photo credit: Muraca Design, Inc.)

Vintage industrial metal tray:

(photo credit: Muraca Design, Inc.)

laundry room

(credit: House & Home .com)

One of the most beautiful homes I've visited was in Baton Rouge, LA. It was an older, stately home, maybe from around the early 1900's. It was the home of an LSU professor and his wife. Their children had grown up and moved on, but they remained in the large home. One of my very favorite rooms was the laundry room. It was off the upstairs open hall; small and charming. Mary showed me how she had hung her bachelors and masters degrees from college on the laundry room wall because she spent so much time in there. I thought that was perfect.

(credit: Southern Living)

Like the kitchen sink, we spend a lot of time with our washer and dryer. I have always liked doing laundry, weird I know. There is something zen about it to me; the sorting, the folding, the putting of things in order. I had come across a wonderful video, a book promotion, by Karen Maezen Miller, who writes about the spirituality of everyday life. She is also a Zen Buddhist. Thus the zen-laundry connection. She talks about the connection with laundry to that of knowing ourselves, before we are "fluffed and freshened".

(credit: House & Home .com)

Ok, so I find the laundry room to be zen space, but then again, I find all space to need order and beauty.. taking us back to design. The laundry room is just as design worthy as a foyer or a living room. Like any room, it's about form and function. Who wants a laundry space that's functional only; drab and unpleasant. On the other hand, who wants to do laundry in a showcase, where the glass jars of detergent are located precariously atop an unreachable shelf? The laundry room deserves both form and function, a space where the ordinary, everyday tasks are celebrated and the here and now is noticed.

We may not all have a vast laundry room, or we may even have a laundry closet. But maybe an inspiration picture or two will spawn an idea. I have yet to even frame both of my bachelors degrees. This year they are both getting framed and hung in my laundry room.