Painting Baskets

 

Over the years, I’ve collected baskets for different uses.  They’re a great way to corral things that might not necessarily have a specific home.  Kind of like a junk drawer, but prettier.

But sometimes, I end up moving them around.  And when they’re in a new place, they sometimes need a new look, too.

Like this basket for fruit on the kitchen island.  I love the little cloth liner, but whenever I looked at the basket, it seemed too orangey next to the color of the floor. So one day when Kate and I were at Michael’s looking for some things for her craft box, I thought of the basket.  I decided to get some gray craft paint and give it a makeover.

Here is the basket:

 

It’s just the right size for a big bag of apples, which is the kids’ favorite fruit.

 

It was very easy to paint.  I just set it on an old towel, took out the liner, found an artists paintbrush, and painted. 

To give it some dimension, I used a light tan color paint here and there, on top of the barnwood gray.  And that was it!

 

 

It was so simple, and took only a few minutes to paint.  Yet I think it has a much softer, pretty look now and it goes very nicely with the white plates.  I set 2 silver candlestick holders next to it, since I haven’t been able to find a better home for them, and they all look happy together.

 

 

What do you think?

 

I liked it so much, I painted another the same way. 

This natural colored basket recently has a new job holding napkins. 

 

 

Here you see the bottom of it, because it was the only part I didn’t paint. 

 

And here it is with its new look.

 

Now I find myself looking at other baskets around the house, wondering if I should paint them, too!

 

Last, but not least, I thought you might enjoy seeing how the kids like to help me when I am taking pictures of newly painted baskets. 

 

 

Definitely cuter than a painted basket!