Baskets have a reputation for being the thing you buy when you've given up on actually organizing a room, and honestly, you land on it right. That's the whole point. A good basket is a permission slip to shove something out of sight and move on with your life.
The ones worth having get better looking with wear, which is rare enough in this world that it deserves saying twice. Woven seagrass or water hyacinth goes a shade warmer and more golden the longer it sits in a sunny corner, especially if your room gets that late afternoon light that turns everything the color of a good whiskey. Cotton rope ones soften and slouch a little, which is a feature, not a flaw, they start looking like they've always lived there. Keep them out of direct damp, vacuum the woven ones with the brush attachment instead of wiping them down, and if a cotton one gets a mark, spot clean and let it air dry flat so it doesn't warp. The day it's delivered, check the base. A basket that wobbles on a flat floor was made in a hurry, and it'll only get worse once you load it with throw blankets or your kid's seventeen stuffed animals. Run a hand around the rim too, for anything that's going to snag a toddler sleeve or a cashmere sweater, because it will, at the worst possible moment.
Sizing is where most people mess this up, me included, back when I brought home a basket so small it held exactly one throw blanket and looked like a garnish next to my sofa. Measure the actual space first, not the vibe of the space. For something sitting on the floor next to furniture, you want it roughly knee height or a touch under, so it reads as part of the room instead of a stray object someone left there. For shelves, measure the depth of the shelf minus a couple inches so it doesn't hang off the edge like it's about to jump. And buy for what's actually going inside it, not what you hope will go inside it, a basket "big enough for blankets" that's really only big enough for one blanket is a special kind of disappointment.
If you own zero baskets right now, start with one good sized round one in a natural woven texture, nothing dyed, nothing with a pattern fighting for attention. It goes almost anywhere and lets you build color around it instead of competing with it.
Put the first one in the living room, next to the couch, and thank me later.