Imagine filling your home with stylish accent pieces that will also help you organize. French Country baskets, with their variety of shapes, can find a spot in every room to hold the items you use the most. Available in various sizes, they make a grand display with premium craftsmanship that is worthy of their heritage while providing a sturdy place to keep clutter hidden away. Their appeal is also in natural crafting with wraps, braids and weaves that highlight their unique shaping. The concept of this French basket styling refers not to one particular design era but points more to a cross-section of regional lifestyles. Once known as French Provincial, which referred to the Provence region, this style can mean so much more. Refinement in designs that reached rural European marketplaces is blended with the more rustic crafting of the lower classes in earlier times. Today, that brings us a rich new way to decorate steeped in a merging inheritance of multiple influences. It is almost impossible to resist any beautifully crafted French style basket. When made from rattan, they offer beautiful variations of nature inspired rustic colors. The variations depend on the time the rattan vine is harvested, which then determines the variations in color. The French Provincial baskets were originally designed for specialty purposes like tall rattan baskets with narrow structuring. Originally designed to accommodate walking canes, they can now hold umbrellas or other items that may become unruly if left untethered. Baskets with wider mounts and tapered sides are also popular in hobby or professional craft areas. They can hold yardsticks, fabric rolls, holiday papers and even blueprints. Large French baskets can hold just about anything and still be decorative. Cradle designs with high rounded ends and center handles become the perfect place to keep yarn skeins. A Dual-handled produce basket looks as if it has just come from an orchard filled with ripe apples or pears. Premium rattan construction and a range of designer weaves also make baskets tidy toy collectors. In living spaces or in bedrooms, their open tops allow for easy tossing. Rounding up loose items at the end of a day becomes a simple task. This European style basket can also take a turn in offices or work areas. In a bedroom, they can capture footwear or handbags. At an entry, they can contain a jumble of gloves and hats. With widespread appeal, French baskets, in all their beauty and natural color variations, exemplify simplicity and more in their wide range of styles. You can select one, two or a few and find many ways to use them throughout the home.
