Rustic Ladder with Vintage Wire Bicycle Baskets

As one of 30+ bloggers participating in the Thrift Store Décor Challenge this month, I am excited to share how I took this wooden rustic ladder found at a junk shop and turned into a decorative shelf by adding some vintage wire bicycle baskets. When you get to the bottom of this post you will be treated to some serious creativity so please hop around to each blog and get to know us.

Rustic ladder with vintage wire baskets and memo board


Thrift Store Decor Upcycle Challenge

The Rules:

  • Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
  • There’s no monthly theme.
  • There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Amanda | The Kolb Corner    Maureen | Red Cottage Chronicles   Kim | Made in a Day

Dru | Polka Dot Poplars    Erlene | My Pinterventures    Colleen | Life on Kaydeross Creek    Pili | Sweet Things

Shirley | Intelligent Domestications    Debra | Shoppe No. 5    Marie | DIY Adulation

Chelsea | The Johnsons Plus Dog    Jes | My DIY Envy    Lindsay | Crazy Organized

Molly | Just a Little Creativity    Ashley | 3 Little Greenwoods    Kimm | Reinvented    Michelle | Our Crafty Mom

Jeannee | Shepherds and Chardonnay   Sue | A Purdy Little House   Sara | Twelve on Main

Claire | Pillar Box Blue     Chelc | Inside the Fox Den    Kim | Farmhouse Made   Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled

Sherry | Savvy Apron    Jennifer and Vicki | 2 Bees in a Pod    Lora | Craftivity Designs

Megan | C’mon Get Crafty   Denise | My Thrifty House   Toni | Small Home Soul Ann | Duct Tape and Denim

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!


Rustic Ladder with Vintage Wire Baskets

Confession: this rustic ladder is my “Plan B” project for the this month’s Thrift Store Décor Challenge and I am kind of happy my first project wasn’t ready just yet. I’ll have to share it with you next month.

Rustic ladder with vintage wire baskets and memo board

I am not sure if I am more proud of the fact that the total cost of this DIY project was $12 as compared to the insane prices I’ve seen for decorative ladder shelves on Amazon {aff link} or the fact that it was assembled in 2 minutes. Not kidding.

Rustic ladder with vintage wire baskets and vintage clock

I literally walked in the door from work at 6:00 pm and told my husband I needed his help with a “quick” DIY project and he chuckled as usual because he knows my history when it comes to “quick” DIY projects. Thank goodness he is a great silent partner because it took me longer to find where I stashed these wire bicycle baskets than it took for him to attach them to the old ladder.

Before pic of rustic ladder and vintage wire baskets

I found the wooden and well weathered rustic ladder last summer at a junk shop for $10 and bought it with the intention of using it as a blanket ladder in my living room. It served it’s purpose well over the last year but I picked up these vintage wire bicycle baskets for $1 each at the flea market and I had the idea of attaching them to the wooden ladder to help organize and store my junk collection.

This corner of my living room was a little bare and needed something to go along with the memo board I made from a vintage frame for the last Thrift Store Décor Challenge.

Rustic ladder with vintage wire baskets and faux plant

The top of the wire baskets is slightly wider than the ladder rung so my hubby attached them with zip ties on the bottom of the wire baskets. Once I filled the baskets with books and “stuff” you can’t even see the zip ties holding them onto the ladder.

Rustic ladder with vintage wire baskets and memo board

Since we started this post with a confession, I’ll end it with another confession. I am addicted to wire baskets and use them all over my house and have a stash in my basement. I have a wire bicycle basket in my Farmhouse kitchen that holds my cutting board collection.

farmhouse kitchen cutting boards

 I have this wire basket that is approximately 18×18 in my living room being used to hold a small vignette and decoratively disguise a wad of power cords in my TV stand.

Wire basket vingette

DIY Rustic Ladder with Vintage Wire Baskets from My Thrifty House


And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

44 comments

  1. Kim says:

    Girl. This ladder has me all heart-eyed. Those baskets are perfection, and the goodies IN the baskets are perfect!!! I love this so much 😀

  2. Molly says:

    Wow! I wish I could find items this awesome around here at a good price, I’d scoop them up in a heartbeat. I need something like this for storage by my desk in my office. You’ve inspired me to be on the lookout now, thanks! Pinning!

    • Denise Bryant says:

      Thanks Molly. I thought about using this in my office too…as a magazine rack or mail sorter. For now it’s serving a decorative function.

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