Top o' the basket

Having a two-bedroom apartment has its perks.

• Cleaning is a breeze--I only need ten minutes to vacuum the whole place.
• If I get stuck without toilet paper, I don't worry about being forgotten for thirty minutes--my roommate will be able to hear me if I call her name.
• In the summer, the air conditioner has to cool only 1100 square feet. Which is really nice come August.

But having a two-bedroom apartment has its downsides.

• I have to be creative with my storage. No one likes a plastic bin in place of a real coffee table.
• There are only so many places I can put my arts-and-crafts supplies before it's obvious I have a problem.
• I can store stuff under only two beds.

Enter a small solution for a big problem. Baskets with tops!

I'm what you might call a basket-aholic. I find myself saying on many occasions, "Well, you can always use a good basket." (Please tell me I'm not the only one!)

But here's the problem. When you fill them full, then what? You can't stack them - at least not neatly. I can't display mine; I don't have the room, and a basket of glue isn't very appealing to the eye.

So then I thought about it - a top! so I can stack! and hide!

Want to do it too? Here's how.

What You'll Need

Cardboard you can cut to size

Spray adhesive

Scissors

Material to cover the top

Making the basket tops might be tricky. (And since I lost the step-by-step pictures in the Great Computer Crash of 2010, I don't have those to show you.) But here's my best step by step.

For the basket tops

1. Lay the basket, opening side down, on top of the cardboard. With a pencil, trace around the basket. Then with a ruler, measure two inches from the basket's outline. Then connect the dots all the way around. (It's like making a picture frame.)

On the two longer sides, cut across the 2-inch gap to the basket outline.

Then fold all the sides in at the basket outline. Where you've cut the cardboard, you now have made four tabs that will be glued to the inside of the rim. Use glue or staples - whatever works for you. (I did a combo of some super-stinky adhesive that worked well and hot glue.) Hint: you might use a clothes pin or binder clip to hold the tabs in place while they dry.

Let those dry a few hours. (I left mine overnight.)

Next - pick out a fabric to cover the top. (One yard covered four tops for these baskets.) These baskets are in my bedroom, so the damask matches that decor. But how fun would it be to do bright colors for a little girl or boy's room?!

Iron it or steam the fabric, if you want. (I clearly didn't.) Then lay the fabric out with a basket top on it and get a general estimate of the size you will need to cover that top. Then cut it out.

If you have some sort of invisible ink, that may be helpful. You'll need about 3 extra inches around the basket's top to cover everything well.

Spray the top with adhesive (or use any other glue you like). Press the fabric onto the top, sliding your hand along firmly to get out any wrinkles or air bubbles.

When it comes to the edges and inside, I glued those down and tucked them into the corners as neatly as I could.

I folded the outside edges like a gift basket. (Sorry for the socked feet.)

You'll end up with this general look. You could cut the extra farbic off and not worry with tucking it in, but I wanted to wrap it around and into the top so it was covered completely.

Like this!

Then pop them on your baskets and stack away!

Have you ever done anything like this? What other storage solutions do you have? (I need all the help I can get!)

Teenage Wasteland: Chest of Drawers Redo

Like the mirror I mentioned yesterday, this chest of drawers has been around for a while. If it's not already there, it's rounding the corner to 40. At some point, it ended up in William's room, and though it was somewhat beaten up, we found love for it in our heart.

We fixed a broken leg and some drawer guides, sanded off the old paint, gave it a new coat of chocolate love, and changed out drawer pulls. All in all, we think this is an amazing face lift for less than $15.

Look at this wicked fun drawer liner we found under all his clothes. It's at least early-70s. I wanted to keep it and put it back in. But he said no.

Better Bench

I'm pretty sure the wood was once part of a battle ship that fought in the American Revolution, and the nails were from 1860 (at least). Under that water-stained material was a floor rug from the 1960s (based on the colors maybe even 1950s). But alas, here it is... my refinished bench seat for my dresser! (The bench itself is a project for another day.)

BEFORE

AFTER

The bench once belonged to my great-grandmother Louise. (The dresser my grandparents bought when my mom was young.) Both have been sitting in my grandparents' storage shed since I was a little girl. (I wanted it so badly I made them store it for years.) The dresser matches/matched the chest of drawers I refinished before moving from Atlanta back to Birmingham in April. [Note to self: Look for before pictures of that so you can show the improvement!] One day down the road, I'll refinish the dresser too, but for now it's a beautiful avocado green with gold antiquing. :)

To update, I purchased hobby foam at Hobby Lobby, 2 pieces at $2.99 each. The material (which I love just as much as the great stuff from TonicLiving.com) is also from Hobby Lobby. It was 30% off, so for a yard I paid only $4.19. I still have half a yard for another project!

All in all, a great facelift and for only $10!