Never, in a million years would I throw away a basket – or any kind of container whatsoever – before trying to repurpose it, no matter what its condition.
This flatweave basket was a favorite because of its loose shape and its generous size. It may have lost its handles during the last move but it certainly did not lose its functionality. We’ve been using it to store board games and we kept it underneath the coffee table in the family room. Over time, all of its four corners got badly torn and even though it was not looking very nice anymore, I still didn’t want to throw it away before giving it a second chance.
The fix was super easy, although it did take me a while to come up with this idea!
First I painted both the interior and exterior of the basket with a white spray paint (primer & paint) in a satin finish. Then I wrapped a large strip of faux leather around the lower part of the basket and folded the remaining piece of material underneath the basket. I hot glued the faux leather onto the basket making sure that the glue was spread evenly and that it covered most of the faux leather surface, especially the ends.
All four corners turned out nice and crisp.
The folded faux leather on the bottom part provides additional stability to the basket. Every part of the fabric is hot glued on top of the other to keep the flaps in place. I’m sure that there is a more appropriate glue for this project, but the hot glue gun was what I had on hand, and it worked perfectly.
There were more faux leather colors to chose from – I think there was black, gray and blue, but this saddle brown is perfect with the white basket and it looks better than what it did when I first bought it!
Ready to be put to use again! It can hold everything, from board games to magazines and newspapers to throws and pillows, and I’ m sure it will last for a few more years! And yes, the corners may still be ripped, but that’s on the inside and they don’t show any more!
Before ending this post, I wanted to share with you that I actually did take advantage of the so many lemons and limes that were part of the dinner table decoration last weekend by making a colorful arrangement for the family room!
