Wire Baskets

One of my favorite aisles in HomeGoods is the one that is full of baskets and storage items.  I have found through the years, and lots of trial and error, that my family stays the most organized when we have baskets to put things in.  Especially the everyday things.  This method isn't full proof.  The baskets need to be gone through quite often and things aren't usually as neat as you see them in these pictures.  However, it definitely keeps things off the countertop (somewhat) and I have an answer to all those yells of, "MOOOOM, where's the phone charger, library book, etc?" that is the soundtrack of my life.  Let's start in the kitchen, shall we?

When I hung this basket on the side of our island, I never imagined how useful it would be (or how many times it would be pinned on Pinterest!).  I think it was actually meant for magazines or papers, but I loved the way the chicken wire looked against the bead board so I asked Billy to hang it here (and he looked at me like I was nuts as he often does).  It has turned out to be the perfect place to store our paper plates and lunch bags...things we use daily.

I recently started rolling up our dish towels and storing them here, too.  I think I have mentioned before that I have a "thing" for dish towels so this keeps them more visible...and that makes me happy.  Speaking of dish towels, I just got the new Crate & Barrel catalog and they have some adorable choices there!  Do you have a favorite place to buy dish towels?  Let's move over to the open shelves in our kitchen island.

I use a wire basket to store some of my favorite cookbooks, which means there is room for the Barefoot Contessas and maybe 3 more books.  She has a new one coming out this fall.  I. CAN'T. WAIT!!

In our mudroom, we use this red wire basket to hold our library books so they don't get mixed up with our own books.  I have spent many frantic mornings searching for library books that need to be returned THAT DAY at school.  And of course it is always on the mornings when we are already running late.

In our front entryway, the mail has a place in this wire basket.  

I recently posted about this wire tiered stand in our Master Bathroom.  It is working out so well there.  I found mine in the kitchen section at HomeGoods.

Finally, another version of the basket that hangs in our kitchen, also hangs in our powder room.  It has been convenient to hold extra hand towels and rolls of toilet paper.  When we have guests over, I put a package of the Kleenex disposable hand towels in there and it works out great.

I hope you were able to find an idea for storage in your home.  Thanks for stopping by!