apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

super well styled -- occurred to me that see-thru laundry baskets could look pretty gross, unless you have sweet calico aprons and the like in them.

I have two wire baskets of this type that look like they're from the 1940's or so. They actually make beautiful end tables when the basket is folded down and covered with a glass top.

looks nice, but the question I always have about these collapsible things: When is your laundry hamper ever not in use? The two hours between finishing the laundry and changing for bed?

amy, that's exactly what I was thinking. If only my laundry were as color-coordinated as that.

I'd be tempted to put a circular glass top on it and use it as an end table.

@Bruised - do you think it would stay open with something flat on top?

I would think the collapsible aspect would come in handy if you were using it while hanging clothes on a line outside. You wouldn't have to bend over to get them, you could wheel it up and down the line with you, and you could collapse it and hang it up to keep leaves from getting stuck in it. It also looks like it might have two hooks on the side to hang your clothespin bag from.

That said, I'm sold on it as simply a hamper as well. I use a giant rice bag from the 1940s from my family's now-defunt restaurant to keep my dirty laundry in right now, and it would be lovely sitting in there. But wire forms, especially structural ones, generally win my undying love, so I'm biased.

I'd like to meet these mythical people who go through times when they don't have laundry... or are they assuming that you have a hamper elsewhere and just use this for transport between hamper and machine and laundry line?

you can frequently find old ones of these on ebay...this is a very old design. There are usually at least 4 of them up at any given time.