Right when I think I have it under control it happens again… The toys start ruling the house. This time I blame it on Gus. I finally have most of the bigger kids toys corralled and organized in the basement (thanks to my Ikea Expedit shelving), and then all of a sudden Gus’ stuff is all up in my business.
Gus has been rolling around, scooting and attempting to crawl for a few weeks. He spends a good chunk of his time on the floor in my living room. With all his activity comes a lot of small baby sized toys like rattles, balls, and a plethora of other colorful and squishy stuff. Anyway, I need a place for it all to go.
A few weeks ago I found the exact sort of functional piece that I had been looking for on craigslist; a big side table with a drawer and space underneath for potential toy hideaways. So now I need to find that magic vessel to sit underneath my new side table and store all that baby business.
Pictured above are a few affordable options I’ve found.
▼ The first is a super inexpensive maize weave basket from Target. I really like the shape of it. It’s nice and angular (my kid of bin) and I like the contrast of the organic texture. Unfortunately, I’m not sure about the color – I’m worried it would draw too much attention to that space. Still it’s a steal for $22.99
▼ The second option is from West Elm, I really love the zig zag weave pattern on this basket, but this is the smallest basket out of the four. I’m not sure if I’d be happy with something this size. The good thing is that I could always get two different sized baskets, as they come in small, medium, and large.
▼ Option number three is one of my fav’s. It’s the round seagrass number from West Elm. This option is good for a few reasons; I like the colors, I like the shape, and I like the handles. It also would make an easy transition piece if I ever wanted to use it in another room. Unfortunatley, I’m not so sure how it will work in my living room or specifically under the table and it’s the most expensive basket out of the whole group (of course it is).
▼ Lastly, option four. The collapsible wire basket from CB2. I don’t know why, but I kind of love this one. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for this basket to be on the list, as it’s not very practical. I mean, It’s completely transparent. All those toys and little do-dads are just gonna fall through the holes AND all that kid stuff is gonna be seen plain as day. The thing is, there’s something about it that I really like, and I’m wondering if it could be more functional if I were to use some vintage linen as lining?
I’m still not sure which one I’m gonna pick. I’m not even sure if I can really get all fibery and baskety either, it’s kind of a stretch for me. What do you think, are there any winners?
Definitely the expensive West Elm basket…of course!
I like it too. I’m torn.
I like them all. My vote is either for the CB2 one with a handmade liner in a sweet fabric or the one from Target. I agree, the color is wrong, but you can paint baskets pretty easily. One of my Martha mags had a whole section on dip painting and baskets were on the list of things to try. Or you could always use spray paint.
You always have such good advice Miss Roonz. I will have to carefully consider your recommendations.
I like the zigzag west elm one, but it’s gots to fit all those crazy Gus the Bus toys!
You had to throw your two cents in, didn’t you Cam.. Now I have one vote for each basket. J/K homie. Well at least I know I can’t go wrong.
I can never decide on these kinds of things. No matter which one I choose, I end up wishing I had the other. I think they’d all look equally nice. At my house the question would be which one is least likely to disintegrate when babies crawl in, through, and around it.