Lazy SusansAmish Wicker Rotating Organizer Baskets

A lazy susan is a turntable; ours is a woven basket on one. The tray is rattan reed handwoven over a hardwood bottom about a half inch thick, with 3 1/2 inch sides so the jars stay on when someone gives it a spin, and it turns on a swivel fixed to a wood base that never moves: only the basket turns, so the table under it stays unmarked. It comes in two sizes, 10 inches across for a small table, a cabinet shelf or a nightstand, and 12 inches across for the dining table, where the butter dish, the jam and the salt and pepper all sit within a quarter turn of every chair.

Both are woven by Old Order Amish families on the Iowa-Missouri border, and signed on the bottom by the weaver. They come in Plain, Wine & Blue or Wine & Green trim, the color woven in as dyed reed rather than painted on, and an engraved brass plate, protective feet, a hand-sewn cloth liner and a lift-off wood lid are optional on each. Like every basket we sell, a lazy susan carries our lifetime guarantee and ships free.

The 12 inch is the everyday size: it holds the condiments for a family table, the spice jars in a cabinet, or the fruit bowl's worth of apples and oranges on the counter. The 10 inch fits the end table by the recliner with the remotes and the reading glasses, the bathroom counter, the pantry shelf with the vitamins and the pill bottles, or a small round table for two. A tall bottle stands inside the 3 1/2 inch sides.

With the lid on, the 12 inch becomes a covered turntable for the bread or the crackers; without it, it is the serving piece that brings the pickles, the sauces and the napkins to the table in one trip. The lazy susan is the round cousin of the rest of the kitchen baskets, the napkin basket, the recipe box and the casserole carrier among them, on the kitchen baskets page.