I picked every single thing in my house. Except the laundry basket. This is a letter about the one I finally picked
Six things this quilted basket does right that twenty-odd years of plastic never managed, from a woman who hadn't given her laundry basket a single thought until she saw her friend's.
Megan Hayes · Customer · Knoxville, TN · 5 min readI'm 59, I keep a neat house, and I'll start with a confession. Every single thing in that house was picked on purpose. The curtains took me two weeks to decide on. The throw pillows went through tryouts. Even the welcome mat had a shortlist. And the laundry basket, the thing I look at every day of my life, is a cracked plastic tub I grabbed at a big-box store around the turn of the century that simply never left. I never picked it. It showed up, it stayed, and I'm not sure anyone in America has ever really chosen their laundry basket. So this isn't a review. It's a woman who finally chose one, explaining why.
The basket I'm writing about is the Barkside Magic Laundry Basket from Ella & Finn Boutique, a small husband-and-wife studio that quilts these in small batches. I first spotted one in the upstairs hallway at my friend Carol's house, stacked with towels and standing there as neatly as a piece of furniture. When the studio later asked if they could share my letter, I said yes, as long as I could be completely honest in it.
Mine, in my own upstairs hallway now. I figured Carol's was just for looks. It was full of towels.
Here's what twenty-some years with the plastic one taught me. A laundry basket only ever lives two ways. Hidden away when someone rings the bell, because honestly it's embarrassing. Or on display by accident, cracked handle and all, because you were halfway through folding when company showed up. Somewhere along the line I just accepted that the ugliest thing in my house would be the one I touch every day, and that was that.
I chose the curtains, the pillows and the welcome mat. The thing I actually handle every day just showed up one year and never left.
This basket is the first one I've ever owned on purpose, and after a month of filling it, hauling it, wiping it down and folding it away, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. It popped right up and hasn't slouched since.
It stands up on its own, even when it's empty
The quilted sides keep their shape whether it's packed with towels or holding nothing at all. No sagging, no collapsing into a heap in the corner. Empty, it just stands there looking intentional, which is not a word I ever expected to use about a laundry basket.
Full or empty it stands there like a little piece of furniture. The plastic one went out with the trash that same week.
Donna R., Chattanooga, TNThe design goes all the way around
The whole pack of dogs wraps the basket, so there's no wrong side to hide against the wall. Wherever you set it down, whichever way it lands, it's facing the right way. My plastic one had two sides too. Ugly, and uglier.
The dogs up close, with all that quilting behind them. It faces the door and people ask about it.
There's no bad side to turn to the wall. The little black terrier faces the doorway and every guest says something.
Linda M., Greenville, SCThe handles are actually sewn on
Two sturdy canvas handles, stitched right into the basket, that a full load of wet laundry hasn't bothered one bit. They don't dig into your fingers on the stairs the way a cracked plastic rim does, which anyone who's carried a week of towels down two flights will appreciate.
The rim and one of the handles. Sewn on properly and easy on your hands.
Carried a full load of wet towels down two flights and the handles didn't so much as strain.
Karen T., Roanoke, VASoft and quilted, but it wipes clean
The quilted fabric is soft to the touch, but it shrugs off the everyday splashes a basket gets next to the sink, wipes clean with a damp cloth, and can go in the wash when it really needs it. Pretty things are usually fussy. This one isn't.
It sits by the bathroom sink and gets splashed all the time. A quick wipe and it looks brand new.
Sharon P., Lexington, KYIt folds flat when you need it out of the way
It's light, it folds down flat to slide under the bed or onto a closet shelf, and then it pops right back up. When the whole family comes for Thanksgiving and every corner is spoken for, the basket cooperates. The plastic one never cooperated with anybody.
Folded it flat under the guest bed when my son visited with the dog. Popped right back up afterward like nothing happened.
Patricia G.Three sizes, and dozens of designs
A small for the bathroom, a medium for the bedroom, a large for the family wash. And the Barkside Magic is just one design of dozens. There's one with a row of long-nosed dachshunds in little knitted sweaters that I've had my eye on for the guest room, which is apparently how this starts.
Mine, and the sweater dog one I'm pretending I haven't already decided on.
A medium for the bedroom and a small for the bathroom. The prettiest useful things I own.
Debra K., Columbia, SCThis basket, next to the one that just showed up
Nobody buys a laundry basket on purpose. That's the whole problem. One appears somehow and stays for decades. Here's the difference, side by side.
Cracked rim that pinches your fingers
Hidden in the spare room when anyone knocks
Sags, splits and yellows with age
One ugly side, then the other
Never chosen, never liked, never left
Sewn-in canvas handles, easy on the stairs
Stays out, and gets asked about
Stands up neatly, even empty
Design that wraps all the way around
Chosen on purpose, finally
About the price
Right now the small is $49.95, down from $165.95. The medium is $54.95, down from $182.95, and the large, the family-wash size, is $59.95, down from $199.95.
I'm careful with money and I won't pretend I'm not, so I'll just pass on what the studio told me: they're a small shop that sells directly, and they're clearing out this year's designs to make room for the new collection. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you is that at that price I didn't deliberate long, and Carol has since bought the large.
I don't trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Over 11,540 customers, rating them 4.8 stars, and plenty of them wrote more than a line, which sounded like real people, so I kept reading. The same six things I just walked you through came up again and again, in other women's words.
On duty by the washer. The plastic one went out with the trash after twenty-some years, and nobody shed a tear.
If your laundry basket also just showed up one day and stuck around, this is the one I'd put in your hands myself, while the design you want is still there.
Megan
BARKSIDE MAGIC LAUNDRY BASKET
- ✓Stands up on its own, even empty
- ✓Colorful pack-of-dogs design that wraps all the way around
- ✓Sturdy, sewn-in canvas handles
- ✓Soft quilted fabric that wipes clean and washes
- ✓Folds flat and stores away when you don't need it
- ✓Three sizes, from $49.95 · dozens of designs in the collection
- ✓FREE US shipping & 30-day free returns
Studio Clearance on now, making room for the new collection. The popular designs go first.