Ideas for Styling Thrifted Baskets

Baskets can be both functional and decorative accessories in a well styled home. Here are several ideas for using and styling baskets in your home.

Finding a thrifted basket for a steal brings me so much joy, and I enjoy adding their texture to my home, styling with baskets, and using them for both decorative and functional purposes.

I'm so excited to join the girls at Lifestyle of Love, a bimonthly hop hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407. We all love vintage, antiques and repurposing, so if you do too, you will love the ideas we share! Each hop will feature a different item or theme, and today its Baskets! You'll find all the links to visit at the bottom ❤ If you hopped over here from Angie at Postcards from the Ridge, welcome! I can't wait to see how she's using vintage baskets in her home!


Decorating and Styling Thrifted Baskets


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If you're new here, a special Welcome to you! I'm Cindy and I love to DIY, craft, shop and decorate my home! You'll find lots of recent craft tutorials as we've been renting a home for the past two years and DIY projects have been put on the back burner until we're in a home of our own again. We're still waiting for God to provide the perfect job for Mr DIY...you can read more about our journey here. I share lots of behind the scenes projects and ideas on Instagram, please give me a follow over there! I'd love to connect with you ❤ 

The majority of the baskets I'm sharing today have been thrifted over the years. The ones that are new still have that vintage vibe because that's what I love. I find so much charm in old, weathered, rustic items that have a story to tell! I'm sharing wicker, wood and even wire baskets below.

Baskets are natural organizers but they can be beautiful too, and I hope you're inspired by my ideas today! Here are 6 ways I love to use and style baskets in my home.

Baskets for plants

This large wicker basket that I thrifted has such great patina and is a great piece to corral a large, unruly plant like my Monstera. I love to add plants to dark corners as they add much needed color and freshness! I propped the basket on a vintage stool in front of my favorite  cottage white dresser.


That wood box beneath the dresser is an antique dough box that would have sat on a table back in the day. Mr DIY inherited it from his Aunt Elaine. She loved antiques and had a house filled with treasures! She was notoriously late for everything and her dad used to say, "If God called Elaine forth...she'd come fifth" 😂 I love having something of hers in our home and my favorite way to use the antique dough box is to hold stacks of quilts!

Just look at that lovely patina!


I like to add smaller potted plants to a wire basket. This is especially appealing if you have a pretty flowerpot. I found this chicken wire basket at Walmart, simply removing the canvas liner to show off my pretty pots. My African violet is blooming again, if you want to know my tricks to forcing blooms, please visit this post Tips to grow African violets


Here are a few more ideas for using baskets to hold plants.

Of course, faux flowers look beautiful in baskets too and this is a favorite way to add seasonal pops of color in my home. That stenciled hanging wall pocket was a fun project that you can see here How to turn hardware aprons into stenciled flower pockets.


Here a chippy painted olive bucket is used in place of a basket to hold summer florals.


Baskets for dishes

If you've been following me for any time, you'll know how much I enjoy collecting vintage dishes, both white ironstone as well as blue and white transferware...and now I've started collecting brown transferware too!


There's no point in collecting items if they'll be hidden away, and I love to display my vintage dishes! Adding a collection of dishes in a basket is a great way to show them off. I found this chippy white wire basket at TJMaxx years ago, on clearance. I've used it to hold a plant, stacks of pretty fabrics and now a few of my blue and white thrifted dishes!

Here's another thrifted wicker basket filled with some of my blue and white dishes.


This long, narrow thrifted basket is normally used for a loaf of bread but I repurposed it to display vintage teacups.



Baskets on the wall

Basket walls have been popular in boho and vintage home decorating for years. I haven't gone crazy with it, but any flat basket is perfect for hanging on a wall. I love this set of willow trays that I purchased years go. I've hung them to fill dead space on the wall in our dining room. The air vent is below and can't be blocked (scroll back up to the first image to see a peek), so the baskets are strategically placed to focus your eye higher.


Last year we popped into a thrift store and I immediately spotted this huge white wicker basket tray ( shop similar here) for only $4.99. I still want to freshen it up with some white paint, but I've hung it on the wall above my cottage dresser, along with a reproduction tobacco basket that I bought in a set of 3 years ago - I'll show you where I'm using the other 2 in a minute!


In our guestroom, I used the lid of  wicker side table on the cottage white shelf Mr DIY and I made. It adds warmth and texture to the wall and helps to show off those pretty thrifted floral dishes. If you want to see how I've creatively using the other two pieces of the wicker table, visit this post Cottage Guest Room with Ruffles and Vintage Florals.


I love my rustic wall mounted mug rack, and enjoy decorating it for the seasons. This chippy white basket I found at a local vintage store just needed a little fabric scrap flag to give it a patriotic vibe! You can see more ideas for decorating a mug rack at  Tips to Style a Mug Rack for the Seasons.




Baskets on the table

I almost didn't purchase this thrifted utensil caddy, but I'm so glad I did. It has a beautiful vintage patina and it's incredibly well made and sturdy...love that little handle! I'm using it both as decor and function on my  Summer Blues Pastoral Tablescape. I added mason jars in the slots to hold the utensils upright, and striped linens that match my table.


Baskets on shelves

Shelves, cabinets and hutches make wonderful spots to both showcase a basket, fill a dead spot and hide clutter! The built in bookshelves in our living room are hosting multiple baskets that serve all three purposes. Those large baskets at the top fill the space, look sharp and hide a lot of decorative clutter! I used the remaining two tobacco baskets on the shelves below to add some warmth to the white shelves, and the baskets below hold a vintage tattered quilt and an ironstone bowl and candle.


Don't be afraid to mix and match basket types in one location - the textures look great together.

On the pine hutch in my dining room, I've placed two thrifted picnic baskets on the top to help fill in the dead space and add visual interest. The vintage inspired campfire marshmallow and cracker jack tins that I made continue the vintage patriotic theme that you find inside my primitive hutch. Do you spot the little clay marshmallows? You can visit the post linked above for the step by step tutorial!


Hanging baskets

Hanging baskets can take the place of a wreath on your door or a mirror, or be used to hold other accessories. Here are a few ideas in my home.

When I spotted this narrow hanging basket at the thrift store, I immediately thought it would be great for candle storage! I hang it on one of my two hutches, or sometimes the ladder I have leaning on the wall in our dining room. It's so cute isn't it? I filled it with all the DIY drippy tapers that I made.


This same hutch door has also been decorated with a hanging basket filled with florals. You can see more here.


I love hanging a basket on a mirror because it reflects the florals used and makes them appear even more substantial! This vintage white wicker basket is a favorite and I use it all over my home. Did you spot it on my patriotic coffee bar holding a mason jar and flag?


This summer I used my mom's old wire canning basket to create a charming outdoor chandelier on our back porch. If you want to make your own, find the directions here. Millie is living her best life, sporting her no-sew summer bandana!


I could go on for days, but this post has gotten quite long and I want to give you time to visit my friends and see how they're using baskets in their homes! Rachel of The Ponds Farmhouse is next on our baskets tour and she's sharing ideas for creating wall decor with baskets. You'll find all the links and ideas below.

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Comments

  1. Cindy, I can’t resist a good thrifted basket. You’ve inspired me with some new ideas. Great post.

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  2. There are so many gorgeous ideas in this post, Cindy, I seriously don't know which one to pin first! I love that you guys have an Aunt Elaine piece. She sounds like a hoot and such a special way to honor her too. Thanks for all the fabulous ideas and hope your summer season as been amazing. Hugs, CoCo

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    1. Thanks CoCo, it's been fun visiting all the posts! I think I've seen multiple baskets that I would love to own, cause ya know I need a few more 😉

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  3. Cindy, You have so many pretty baskets, and I love how you've styled them all! Your dishes and hutch look beautiful too. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. Enjoyed seeing your uses for your lovely baskets!! Thanks for sharing!! Enjoy the rest of your week!
    Hugs,
    Deb
    Debbie-Dabble Blog

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  5. Amazing ideas and I love love love the teacups, dishes, and candles in their baskets. Adorable!

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  6. I love your style! Shopping with you would be so much fun.

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    1. Thank you Melanie, I am always up for a day of shopping, just ask Mr DIY 😉

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  7. We can always use more, right Rachel! Thank you!

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  8. Oh my word! I can't get over all of your fabulous baskets and ideas. The plates? I'm soooo doing that! I used to have a basket full of platters and finally added them to a shelf. Well now I am going to put some plates that have been hidden away in the cabinet. And the candles in another fun basket? Yes please! Your baskets are styled perfectly. Love every idea. pinned again and again.

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    1. Aww thanks Cindy, I love your enthusiasm and am so happy you're inspired by my ideas ❤️

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  9. Cindy, I don't always comment but I want you to know I read every single one of your posts. I ALWAYS come away so inspired! This post is chock full of fabulous ideas.

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    1. Laura, that truly means so much, more than you know! This has been a challenging season. Thank you 🤍🤍

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  10. Hi Cindy, you have so many great baskets and ideas. I think my favorite is how you've used them to display dishes. Your blue transferware grouping is gorgeous. So much inspiration here. Pinned!

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  11. I could have kept on reading! Each picture is full of inspo! I love all of your baskets but those little marshmallows!!!!!! So cute! I love the idea of teacups in a bread basket too! Pinning away!

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    1. Thank you so much Amber, your comment made my day ❤️

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  12. Loved all your basket ideas, Cindy. You have a beautiful collection & it was so fun to see them throughout your home, for every season.

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