Thrift store baskets can be turned into stunning, chic home decor with just a little elbow grease and a little bit of paint. Today I'll share my secrets so that you can transform your own thrift store baskets into stunning decor as well.




I started with this wicker trash basket that I picked up at Goodwill for $1.99. Well, I'd say it's a bit bigger than your average trash basket. It's 16 inches in diameter. I was drawn to it because of it's lovely, whitewashed paint job, as well as the fact that I've noticed that any and all types of trash baskets cost a fortune these days! Am I the only one who's noticed this phenomenon? I mean, even the tiniest of trash bins can cost you upwards of $20 in some stores.

I had seen a lovely photo in a home décor magazine that showed a doppelganger basket being used as a firewood storage bin. And it had handles on it. So I figured that's just what my basket needed. Along with a little more sprucing up in the way of some stenciling.


Here it is with one of my DIY stencils taped onto it, ready to be painted. I will be sharing my stencil-making method with you in an upcoming post.


I really wanted to use brass drawer pulls for the handles, so I purchased a few different types to try out. Only problem was that it's really hard to find inexpensive drawer pulls that can be fashioned to fit around a circular item, like a basket. I saw a few that might have worked but they were too pricey for me. This set was my best bet, but they proved to be too small and not curved enough. I refused to pay an arm and a leg for the pulls so.....on to the next idea.


I went back to the drawing board and started looking at pictures of baskets that I loved. One common denominator for many of them was that they were embellished with some type of rope. Nautical rope was my favorite, however, that would prove difficult to find (short of mail order for a hefty price). I decided the next best thing was sisal rope. I've seen it successfully used for basket embellishment and the price was right so it was a no brainer at that point.




I created some "handles" with the rope, and hot glued them onto the inside of the basket. Then I just added some rope around the rim of the basket for a bit more embellishment. I thought it added a nice finished touch.





I know I can use this to store many things, but right now I'm filling it with throws and pillows. It seems like I'm seeing that done more and more these days in home decor magazines and catalogs. I started doing it a few months ago with another one of my thrifted basket make-overs: How to Transform a Thrifted Basket with Paint. My family (myself included) is a bunch of couch potatoes, so trust me when I say there'll be no lack of throws OR pillows. If your house is anything like ours, you, too, have plenty of pillows and blankets piling up all around the house on couches, chairs, floors, etc. that are in need of a convenient yet stylish place to be stored.

I know that my love of turquoise and white is readily apparent here. And I'm a HUGE fan of DIY and thrifted pillows/pillow covers. Right now I really like how my new turquoise pillow looks in the basket with my white faux fur throw.


I've switched out the pillow on the chair numerous times for this photo shoot. I couldn't decide which one to use! Here's a vintage flour sack pillow.






Here's a turquoise and white monogram pillow from Target. The back of it is even more awesome, but I didn't want to bore you with any more pillow pictures!


Last but not least, here's one more combination I was playing around with. I added a turquoise mohair throw in place of the faux fur one.