Strap happy laundry basket

 

What we have here is your standard, three dollar laundry bins from Target - not exactly the most attractive storage solution.

  Here they are now after a few yards of jute webbing/strapping and it couldn't of been any easier.

Step 1:

Gather materials.  You will need a laundry basket, jute strapping, scissors, and your glue gun.  Make sure to select a laundry basket that has wide enough spaces to accommodate the strapping.  For each basket you will need approximately 4 yards of strapping.  If you wanted to get really creative you could spray paint the baskets a decorative color, I chose to go with the existing white.

Step 2:

Start weaving.  Simply thread the strapping through the holes, spacing is completely up to you [I skipped every two spaces] and staggered the rows so that the white plastic spines didn't line up exactly.

Step 3:

Secure the strapping with glue.  Since my basket is going to be used for off-season clothing storage I decided to just glue the ends down.  However if you are planning on using this for toy storage, daily laundry, or something where it will be handled more I would suggest gluing the strapping down every 4 inches to ensure it is very secure.

Glue right on the plastic spines, pressing securely.

 When you get to the end, trim the excess and glue down the end.  Jute strapping does not fray so there is no need to worry about that.

Once you are done you will have a unique storage solution that costs less than $7 basket.  I think they are a fun alternative to your ordinary woven basket and they fit my budget a lot better.  Here they are in their new home.