Where did you get your wastebasket?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

Arghhh! I want a new wastebasket for my living room. The current one is a light colored wicker, which doesn’t really match, and kind of small, but I’ve decided it would be perfect for lint from the dryer in the laundry room. So I’m looking for a larger one for the living room.

It’s time for all the college kiddies to move into all their dorm rooms and apartments, so I would think a little domestic item like this wouldn’t be hard to find, but I’m having a devil of a time! The grocery stores only have neon-colored plastic ones. Everything I can find in the discount stores looks like it belongs in a bathroom (polished chrome, pastel colors, or painted with seashells.) And Pier 1 and the other home-store kind of places don’t seem to have any wastebaskets at all. Baskets of every other size and description, yes, but something you tuck away in the corner the living room floor for scraps of paper and apple cores, nada. A quick prowl of the bigger rummage sales in town didn’t turn anything up, either.

So, do you have a cool wastebasket? Brag about it! Tell me what it’s like, and where you found it! And are there any obvious places to shop for one that I’m not thinking of? I’m willing to order one online, if necessary. That’s right. I’ll order a wastebasket online, if it looks cool and the price is right!

#2

Bed Bath & Beyond has a nice selection, actually.

#3

I just redid the whole house in stuff from K-Mart. Say what you like about Martha Stewart…her bath stuff is cheap and attractive.

#4

I like these people.

#5

I have this small white wicker one in my room. It’s the perfect size for small things like papers and such, and fits away neatly in a corner. Only I got it like 10 years ago with the rest of my bedroom set. I think my parents ordered it from a JC Penny catalog.

#6

The one in this room was here when we moved in. I’m convinced it was some other container. It’s metal, with lush stone fruits (plums and peaches) painted folk-art style over a buff background. It really is beautiful but it’s no waste-paper basket by birth. We also have a plain mesh wire office supply store one in another room. Those are simple but classy enough. Pier One usually has random containers that could indeed be waste-paper baskets and are in intriguing patterns and materials (mostly because once again, they aren’t solely designed for a waste-basket career.)

#7

Consider an umbrella stand or magazine bin. I like this one a lot.

#8

Check out that last link for planter boxes and umbrella stands, too.

#9

I look at Goodwill or places like that, and then stop at Michael’s for spray paint or laquer or something to freshen it up. And actually Michael’s has a huge basket selection too.

#10

I’m very fond of the wire mesh wastebasket I bought from Ikea. It’s attractive, functional, and cheap. Their site is giving my browser fits, or I’d link to it for you. Try searching on the word “dokument” and I’ll get it’ll come up.

#11

If you happen to have a World Market nearby, they have a good selection of baskets.

#12

Indeed. I got my Umbra Sway (swinging lid) wastebaskets from them.

#13

I pulled mine out of a dumpster behind my university library. I actually pulled out 4, all alike–they are the classic institutional brown-painted steel, slightly wider at the top than the bottom style trashcans, just the right size for slipping under the my industrial-steel table next to my industrial steel desk. I love it.

My tastes were warped from coming from a long line of engineers; all the offices I remember from childhood were slightly more genteel areas of workshops.

However, I have found that Target has decent, slightly-less-ugly-than-Wal-mart trash cans. Look over in the office section. Places like Office Max or Staples also have officey-trashcans that are understated and functional.

#14

White plastic. Wal-Mart. One dollar.

#15

Am I the only one who’s never thought of putting a wastebasket in a living room?

Is there a desk?

#16

I read through this whole thread to post a reply somewhat similar to yours, FilmGeek.

Am I the only person who thinks a waste receptacle does not belong in the living room?

#17

So, if you’re in the living room and you have to throw something out, you have to carry it into the other room? Or don’t you spend any time in the living room?

#18

Yes and yes.

#19

Yeah, I always throw things away in the kitchen.

It had never occurred to me to put a wastebasket in the living room (den, really).

I have no idea why that is the case. It’s just always been that way since I was a child.

#20

Me, either.

The only rooms in which there are wastebaskets in my house are the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, and office.

I like to keep my trash in as few locations as possible. When one has too many trash cans, the chances of forgetting to empty one of them and getting trash-stink is increased.

You know, when I first read this thread, I thought my family was the same, but I went to mom’s house tonight, and saw that, indeed, there was a trash can in the living room. Did I just never notice it? Mom swears it’s always been there. . . .