Home-Made Simple

Imagine being able to walk through your family room without tripping over toys. Or having a place to put shoes so the morning rush out the door runs a little more smoothly. Sound like an impossible dream? It's not. Baskets are great ways to keep essentials handy without having them underfoot, and they still look nice and organized. Here are some room-by-room ideas for using baskets to help organize your life.

The Entryway/Foyer/Mudroom

No matter what you call it, or even if you don't have a name for where you walk in the door, you know too many things end up on the floor. Use baskets to:

* Collect shoes. You'll also collect dirt, and everyone in the family will be able to find their shoes in the morning rush. Remember this when you have tripped over little (or big) shoes one too many times.
* Collect mittens and scarves in the cold weather and umbrellas in the warmer weather.

The Bathroom

Use baskets in the bathroom to keep the place neater—and save you the embarrassment of running out of toilet tissue.

The Bathroom

* Roll guest or hand towels in the bathroom and put them in a basket. Even kids can roll a towel. It will keep the bathroom neater for guests too.
* A small basket on the back of the toilet tank is a great place to keep an extra roll or two of toilet tissue. A quick glance and you'll never be surprised to find the tissue is empty. This is also a great chore for a little helper.
* Arrange reading material. Someone always seems to leave a magazine or ten in the bathroom, and a basket will keep it looking neat.

The Kitchen

Our kitchen counters seem to be magnets for everything. Baskets are a great way to keep essentials neat and make healthy snacks immediately available and appealing.The Kitchen

* Use baskets to neatly arrange fruit or other healthy snacks on the kitchen counter or table. It will look great and keep healthy snacks a focal point.
* Use baskets for bread, snacks, mail, homework papers—just look at what usually ends up on your counter to see what might be a good candidate.

Family Room

* If you have kids, you probably have toys. Especially with younger kids, you want the toys to be accessible, and you also want to reinforce the little ones' ability to start picking up after themselves. Baskets are a great way to make all of these things happen.
* Liven up a room with plants in baskets. This will make your potted plants look neater too.
* Use a large basket to hold blankets. Family RoomThey're perfect for snuggling on the couch, but you can't expect little ones to fold something that's bigger than they are. Putting them in a basket keeps them where they belong and neat.


* If, like in most households, a new week brings a new remote, then designate a small basket just for the remotes. Anyone caught not putting them back where they belong has to listen to the story about "way back when, before we had remote controls and had to get up to change the channel..."
* Magazines and newspapers can threaten to take over a room, but a basket (recycled weekly) is a good way to keep them accessible without feeling like every living space or tabletop is buried.
* FlowersYou name it. Use baskets to make seasonal accents. For spring and summer, potted bulbs and flowers are often on sale and add so much to the room. Use a basket to cover up the inexpensive plastic pots and group a few containers together for a delightful room pick-me-up.