My Search For an Actually Good Looking Hamper
Project 365, Day 76/365
Riveting stuff, I know, but hear me out: good-looking hampers aren’t the norm. As I design my bedroom, I know that I need to find a laundry basket that I’ll be really happy to leave out. Here’s why: my closet is not large enough to hold a hamper…and my clean clothes. My bathroom is not large enough to hold a hamper. My laundry room is long and narrow, so there’s no room for a hamper (besides, does anyone keep their dirty clothes in the laundry room? At that point, I might as well use my washing machine as my hamper…wait, is that an idea brewing?). My guest bedroom is one giant hamper for Charles, so clearly, there’s no room left for me (what is it about men?!?). He absolutely would hate me airing out his dirty laundry there (he does that for himself), so let’s pretend I never said that.
What’s wrong with my current hamper, you might ask? Well, I purchased this one from the Made by Design collection from Target, and while it’s actually pretty decent in the looks department, I have an issue with it: it has no lid. This wouldn’t be too big of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that lately, I’ve been testing the limits of how high I can stack my dirty clothes, sheets and towels, too lazy to do laundry on a weekly basis. This can’t keep happening because then I have to do four loads of laundry all at once, and spend two hours putting it all away…which I don’t do until it’s all stacked up again (at least it’s clean). It’s a bad cycle—spin cycle? Have I gone too far with the laundry puns?—and I’m ready to break up with it. And also, it’s totally fine in my design-sham of a bedroom, but once it’s all finished and pretty, I know I’ll want something a bit more design-y. I make no apologies for my snobbery.
Charles doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to break up with the floor as his main laundry basket and get my current hamper as a hand-me-down. As the closet in our bedroom is way too small for two full-sized humans with more than three shirts between the both of them, he uses the decent-enough sized closet in the guest bedroom and gets dressed in there, as well. I really only explained that for anyone thinking “but won’t you now have to deal with two hampers in your bedroom?” No. No, I will not.
So, I went on the hunt for a good-looking hamper with a lid that also seems to hold at least two solid loads of laundry, because I am also not a masochist and a tiny hamper is useless. And you know what I discovered? OMG HAMPERS ARE SO EXPENSIVE. Like…several hundred dollars expensive. What on earth?? The last so-so-looking hamper I had was from HomeGoods. It was wicker with a canvas bag insert, and I spent about $50 on it, though probably less. However, the bag inside started sagging about a year into its use, and the wicker started breaking off, so much so that shards of wicker would regularly poke me in the thigh when I was taking clothes out to do laundry. That said, I suppose I’m prepared to spend a bit more on something if it means no wicker-shards-in-thigh situations. Also, sometimes I’d throw clothes into the hamper and because of the saggy bag, it would land in the nether realms between the canvas bag and the shell of the hamper. That was fun to dig out.
Anyhow, as I was looking around, I thought maybe someone else might be looking for a good-looking hamper at some point in their life, so let me put my research to use. Again, I do not promise this to be some budget round up. It’s absolutely not, with the exception of about a handful of products here. I went ahead and split up the lot into “no lid” and “with lid” because you may have a preference, as I do. Also, not that anyone ever comes into my bedroom, but it would probably be nice not to have to run to my bedroom to close the door every time someone comes to fix the plumbing or give the A/C unit a tune-up…nobody needs to see my unmentionables potentially hanging off the side of a hamper.
Enough with that, here are some options:
1. La Jolla Basket in Natural, Large at Serena & Lily, $178 | 2. Sedona White Hamper at Crate & Barrel, $110 | 3. Makaua Hamper in Carbon at Cedar & Hyde, $145 | 4. Sporta Laundry Bin – Nature at Burke Decor, $105 | 5. Grey Shagreen Hamper at CB2, $149 | 6. Metro Chrome 2 Piece Laundry Basket Set at Burke Decor, $243 | 7. Beehive Laundry Lamper at AllModern, $266 | 8. Lidded Hamper – Natural, Large at The Little Market, $198 | 9. Tava Handwoven Divided Hamper at Pottery Barn, $179 | 10. Woven Nursery Hamper at West Elm, $129 | 11. Bamboo Wall-Mounted Laundry Hamper at West Elm, $160 | 12. Natural Hyacinth Willa Laundry Hamper with Lid at World Market, $50
1. Felt Hamper Gray – Threshold at Target, $13 | 2. Laundry Basket with Extended Cotton Handles at Amazon, $41 | 3. Purrpingla Laundry Bag at IKEA, $16 | 4. Round Fabric-Lined Laundry Basket at Zara Home, $90 | 5. Ferm Living Braided Laundry Basket at Finnish Design Shop, $179 | 6. Modular Snap & Separate Laundry Bags, Set of 2 at Food52, $148 | 7. Large Cotton Woven Basket Hamper at Etsy, $47 | 8. Cotton Rope Woven Tall Clothes Hamper at Etsy, $65 | 9. Resa Laundry Basket Dark Gray at Amara, $86
I’m not entirely sure which one I’m really eyeing. I like a lot from the first round up (with lids) but it’ll probably come down to what cabinet I end up putting on the same wall I keep my hamper, and also how much money I feel like spending at that point. We’ll find out soon enough.
Oh, also, I do this type of thing for myself all the time (Pin a bunch of things on the hunt for something while designing), so always happy to round them up visually and share here. Just drop some suggestions in the comments if you have any requests.
See you tomorrow, friends (and happy lillördag)!