NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

Painting (sort of ugly) wicker baskets

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Here’s something I never knew – You can paint (sort of ugly) wicker baskets and make them look prettier.

I bought these (sort of ugly) wicker baskets from Target online back in 2008. They were the perfect size for the storage area in our bathroom of the old house. Here’s something you should know about me – I refuse to put my bathroom items in drawers or cabinets. I demand baskets – so I can just throw all my makeup in one, all my hair stuff in one, and then throw them back on the shelves and no one is the wiser that it’s totally chaos in those baskets because the counters are clean.

The (sort of ugly) baskets actually worked really well there. I didn’t even think they were sort of ugly.

But, then, we packed up all our junk and moved 5 miles to our current house. And those baskets didn’t really work anywhere. They certainly didn’t match our teeny tiny new black and white bathroom at all.

And there certainly wasn’t room for all of them. So, I bought a few black canvas baskets for our new bathroom to house my stuff.

And the old baskets were kind of relegated to wherever I could hide them. A few lived in the extra bedroom closet. (And I just realized I never posted a tour of the extra bedroom before it became the nursery.) A few baskets lived in the entryway. But, I was never happy with the arrangement.

So, I determined that they would live in the nursery. The television hutch my dad made had been repurposed as a storage unit in the nursery. (Ryan added the shelf for this purpose.) And I knew that baskets would be needed. But, the honey oak wasn’t wetting my whistle, if you know what I mean.

There was already a lot going on in the room, and honey oak wasn’t right for the collection. Then, I spotted these baskets at Home Goods when we were in the Lake of the Ozarks. (Why, oh why, is there no Home Goods here?)

That’s about when I thought about painting those (sort of ugly) wicker baskets I already had. Navy blue would be kind of perfect for the room. And what was the risk? Nothing.

So, I primed the baskets with spray primer and then applied 3 light coats of satin navy blue spray paint. Because of the texture of the baskets, I had to paint them from the top and the bottom. (I painted them right side up first. Then, after they dried, I flipped them over and sprayed them again.) This ensured that everything got covered really well.

After a little patience, I had practically new baskets. And they aren’t ugly at all.

The blue goes a lot better with the room, and the existing liners look fine. (Although patterned liners may eventually find their way into the room.)

The best part, I didn’t have to buy new baskets. (I actually painted three of them. One is in the closet for now.) Now I may have to paint the remaining three baskets a fun color to go in the entryway.

The power of paint. It’s a miracle.

What do you think?

Comments

  2. They look great! So nice to know they don’t turn out “ugly”! I have some that need painting as well so I’ll put them on the list!

  3. Nice – I love the look of the baskets painted blue in this rooms! You are right – it looks so much better! I would not have thought to paint them.

    Thanks for visiting Romance on a dime and commenting awhile back!!

  4. I have amassed such a collection of white painted baskets leftover from my wedding. My mom thought I was crazy, but in 2010, white baskets were all the rage, and more expensive than natural.

    Ahh, what you think of to save a couple bucks

    LB

  5. Hey! I have those same (sort of) ugly baskets. Never even thought to paint them, but it’s (sort of) genius! 😉

  6. They are ugly no more!
    I’m with you on using baskets in the bathroom…way easier and neater too.

  7. They look awesome. Spray paint is a wondrous thing.

    P.S. I can’t wait for the Home Goods to open less than 10 miles from my house. Expect loads of instagram photos. You should really come for a visit. There’ll be 3 Home Goods in Indy once this one opens. *End gloating*

  8. a miracle i tell you. seriously. paint= amazing. and i love the updated look on the baskets! baskets are so expensive, especially since you always want multiples. So anything that saves you from buying more is amazing!

  9. Uh, I think miracle is a bit of a stretch (;0))but they do look fantastic in the space! I love baskets for stuff too so the clutter is contained.

  10. amen! I just finished a bunch of spray painting projects myself. The baskets did get a new, whole better lease in life with the gorgeous navy blue. 🙂

  14. They look awesome! I’ve always been a little bit scared to paint wicker…I’ll have to give it a try, I’ve got some wicker laying around that could use an update!

  15. I have some 1/2 painted baskets in my garage now….I really should finish painting them.
    Thanks for the motivation that they can look nice again!

Trackbacks

  1. […] Above the shoe cabinet, we put in 2 IKEA floating shelves that lived in the office of our old house. Don’t they look like they were made for the space? The width was so perfect we may have scraped the walls putting them in. At some point, I may do something pretty with them. For now, they hold stuff that didn’t have a home. And that awesome copper sign that I picked up in my home town. Also, those baskets are begging me for some spray paint. Ala these baskets in the nursery. […]