Baskets, Baskets, Baskets...

Baskets, Baskets, Baskets...

Written by Celeste Bohlmann

Basketry is an ancient craft pre-dating pottery or stone carving. Few actual examples exist because baskets are made of biodegradable materials, however for historians, ethnologists and anthropologists, they carry the history of a place, its culture and socioeconomic heritage from one era to another.

While baskets were traditionally used for harvesting, storage and transporting goods, the use of baskets has since grown and now has multiple functions. These includes a variety of purposes, including cooking, processing seeds or grains, tossing gambling pieces, rattles, fans, fish traps, and laundry.

As a society moving towards more eco friendly and sustainable ways of living most of us have realised how useful baskets can be. Besides it serving its purpose of storing the goods we need it to, it has become an essential part of our daily lives. Baskets are now being used to bring a look and feel into our homes while serving multiple purposes. Let's take a more in-depth look at how baskets can serve more than just the above mentioned purposes in your home. After all, we all use baskets in the home right?

As mentioned above baskets are now used in our homes to create different moods. Take a look at our Basket abeca round black string. It is perfect in texture and depth. This beautiful and unique basket is perfect for next to the fireplace to store those throws and extra blankets when those gold days hit. Imagine having this in your lounge with all your blankets, holding a warm cup of coffee in your hands while curling up on the sofa with your favourite show on Netflix.Absolutely heaven right?

Baskets are the perfect storage unit for kids toys as well. As we move away from using platic everywhere in our homes we have started to experiment with more eco friendly and sustainable alternatives. Using a basket in a bigger size is the perfect way to do this in your childs play room or bed room. Not only does it add to the rooms mood but also gives your child a more relaxed environment with its gorgeous textures. For smaller chilldren you can always use a basket with a lid or for the more grown up kids a normal large basket will definitely do.

The ideal section in any home that needs some love and attention is definitely the bathroom. Toiletries are generally bought in bulk and somewhat small in size. Using smaller and different size baskets will make the worlds difference in not only the pleasing and smooth feel of your bathroom being neat and tidy but also in the more logical and multipurpose side. When selecting baskets for the bathroom keep in mind wooden baskets are perfect for holding dry items, such as toilet paper, towels, and cleaning products.

One of the most popular ways to use a basket is as a planter for your beautiful plants. Not only does it create a smooth, eye pleasing appeal but it also adds that much needed texture in your environmentally friendly home.

When it comes to using baskets as planters there are 3 tips to remember :

• Be sure to use a plastic saucer to catch all the water, to ensure that your basket does not get damaged.
• It is very important to once a week remove your plant from the basket to ensure the soil dries.
• And the most important one, be sure to check the size of the basket before purchasing, as the plant will need enough space.

Baskets are the way forward as they are made from a variety of different materials such as rattan, grasses, bamboo, vines, willow, reeds. Wicker baskets are typically made from rattan which is a rapidly renewable material natural to the forest where it is harvested. Since rattan grows very quickly, requires little water to grow and is almost always grown pesticide-free, it is an eco-friendly material.

With an ever growing society choosing to be more conscious of our decisions we have certainly grown into the new ways of being health and making responsible consumer decisions. It is all of our responsibilities to look after our beautiful planet. Even if it is one basket at a time.