Debbie Travis Laundry Baskets

As is the case with many couples these days, when my husband Graham and I moved in together a few years ago, we found ourselves owning two of everything. Two toasters, two microwaves, two coffee makers…the list goes on. Almost three years later, we’re still trying to compile two single person’s households into one couple’s home.

Somehow in the confusion of moving in together, we ended up keeping his laundry baskets. Not that there was anything wrong with them, really. They just weren’t designed for the sheer volume of laundry that this particular couple needs to do. Graham’s line of work requires him to get his clothes disgustingly dirty several days each week and I’m an avid gardener with the charming habit of wiping dirty hands on her pants.

Needless to say, hauling multiple loads of laundry in and out of the house on the trek to my beloved clothesline at the back of our yard means those bachelor laundry baskets have been getting a workout. That is, until yesterday, when the cracked plastic pinched me as I carried it out to the clothesline. Being pinched on my way through the kitchen isn’t out of the ordinary in our house, if you know what I mean, but this pinch hurt and was not followed by a cat call or whistle in my general direction.

I headed out to our local Canadian Tire and picked up a couple of new laundry baskets for me to lug our heavy, wet laundry around in. No bachelor in his right mind would choose these Debbie Travis laundry baskets. (Debbie Travis is Canada’s answer to Martha Stewart.)

First of all, they’re pretty!

“Why’d you pick that colour?” Graham asked when I brought them in from the car.

Admittedly, they are a little bit girly, but it was the only colour available: a pale, pearly pistachio green, with cream, reinforced handles. The thick rim of these baskets won’t be cracking and pinching me anytime soon. And the price was right at $9.99 each.

Secondly, these baskets are deeper than most traditional plastic laundry baskets I’ve seen, measuring a full thirteen inches deep. I bought two to replace the three old ones that were falling apart, since they are much larger. The design is more modern, too. There’s a cool retro bubble pattern on all four sides, which is much more decorative than the typical boring mesh.

Guests at our home over the next few weeks might be surprised when I dream up an excuse to carry the laundry around while they’re visiting…these are just too nice to hide in the closet, unlike their “single guy” predecessors.