A letter from a reader

At 63, I finally replaced the ugly plastic laundry basket I had hidden for thirty years

I have never written anything like this before, and I nearly did not. It is a laundry basket, after all. But three different friends have now asked me about it, so it seemed easier to just tell everyone at once.

For my whole adult life the laundry basket was the same sort of thing: a wobbly plastic bin, usually cracked at the handle, that lived shoved in a corner or behind the bathroom door where nobody would see it. It did the job. It was also faintly depressing.

Useful, or lovely. A laundry basket, I had decided, could only ever be useful.

So I hid it, the way we all hide the ugly-but-necessary things, and never thought there was another option.

I did not choose that on purpose. Nobody decides their home should have an ugly corner. It just happens, one practical plastic bin at a time.

How it happens

The useful things for the home are almost always the ugly ones. Storage, in particular, seems to come in exactly two kinds: cheap plastic that looks it, or expensive designer pieces that cost more than the laundry inside them.

So you buy the plastic, you hide it, and you accept that the practical corners of your home are simply not allowed to be nice.

And a little joylessness in the everyday adds up over the years.

What I had wrong

Here is the bit I got most wrong. I thought a laundry basket that was actually pretty would be flimsy, or precious, or wildly expensive.

It is none of those. It is properly quilted, thick and structured, so it stands up on its own even when empty and does not sag into a heap. It has sturdy canvas handles that make carrying it upstairs easy. And it is covered, all the way around, in the loveliest tulips.

Useful and lovely, in the same basket. That is the combination I had assumed did not exist, and it took me until 63 to find it.

It is called the Lily

It is from Iris & Nora, a little boutique here in Austin that has been quietly making the home a bit lovelier for a few years now.

It is called the Lily. A quilted laundry basket covered in beautiful tulips, with sturdy canvas handles, that stands up on its own. It comes in a whole collection of prints, and in three sizes, which is how I ended up with more than one.

The quilting is soft but structured, so it holds its shape whether it is full of towels or completely empty. The handles are properly stitched, so it carries easily up the stairs. And the tulips are so pretty that it looks like something from a smart home shop rather than a chore waiting to happen.

That is really all there is to it. It is not complicated. It is just a useful thing that somebody made beautiful.

What happened when my daughter saw it

I had it sitting in the bathroom, out in the open for the first time in my life.

My daughter spotted it and assumed I had paid a fortune for it at one of those interiors places in town. I let her think that for a good minute. Two friends have asked since, and one has already ordered her own.

What struck me, though, was how much a small thing changed a corner of the house. A job I used to hide now looks cheerful, out in the open, and I find I do not mind the laundry quite as much. I bought a second one for the bedroom.

Three things I have learned since

One. Structured is what makes it look expensive. Because the quilting holds its shape and stands on its own, it looks like a proper piece rather than a slouchy bag.

Two. The handles matter more than you think. Sturdy, well-stitched handles turn carrying a full load upstairs from a struggle into nothing.

Three. The useful corners are allowed to be nice. One pretty basket made me realise how much of the home I had quietly given up on, and I am slowly putting that right.

About the price

I will be honest, the price made me a little suspicious.

The Lily is $46.95. It was $93.00.

My first thought was that a basket this pretty and this well made would cost a fortune, because the ones in the smart interiors shops certainly do.

There is no catch that I have found. It is a small boutique selling directly, and they run a summer sale on the season's stock. They are made to order, so each is made fresh. I read the reviews before I ordered my second, the way I imagine you are doing now. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if anything made me trust it more. The same things kept coming up. One woman had written, “So pretty I use it as decor, and it actually holds a full load of towels. I have bought three.” That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you and I were sitting out on the porch with a glass of iced tea and you asked me, this is what I would say.

If you have an ugly plastic bin you keep shoving in a corner and meaning to replace, it is worth ten minutes of an evening to take a look.

Not because a laundry basket changes anything. It does not. But a small corner of the house being cheerful instead of hidden is a nicer way to live, and it is a very small price for that.

The sale is on now, they come in a whole collection of prints in small, medium and large, and because they are made to order the popular ones sell out.

The laundry basket is out in the open now, and I do not mind the laundry half as much.

Peggy