I guess I never think about that since I do laundry every day but I think if the basket it self has open sides for air there probably is enough air to keep things from getting musty unless left in there for a long time . We have hampers in the bedrooms not in a cabinet at all we have international students who share a bathroom so all their stuff goes in their rooms and we have a hamper in the laundry room for us

I agree - as long as the hamper itself is open-sided, clothes should be fine. I have three "trash pullout" versions in my laundry room (one of which is designated for sweaty gym gear), only do wash once/week and haven't had any problems,.

I just spray with Febreeze when I take a load out of the basket, no issues

I would never give up valuable vanity space to store dirty laundry. A container inside a vanity, no matter the doors is going to trap odors.

Figure out a way to store a laundry basket in the walk in closet or some where in the bedroom.

Move your free standing wicker basket to the closet, bedroom or laundry room. I wouldn’t use vanity space for dirty laundry.

I think caning in what would be essentially a type of utility cabinet would be too delicate.

And having to have something recaned, even if it's cane on a role, is difficult to find someone. (Unless its stapled in from the back, maybe, instead of put in with a spline.) It took quite a while to find someone to recane two stools and even then they would not color the caning to match. --they have cushions, so no big deal.

If you are still concerned use louvered doors maybe. Or perforated metal or hardboard

Thanks to all for so many varied comments. It sounds like rattan / cane is not feasible. I am rethinking whether the hamper is the best use of the vanity space. I had decided against it, but my designer suggested it. This is a secondary bathroom used by my young adult son, who is athletic and does laundry at most once a week.

We are running a "scientific" experiment that ends with a smell test -- placing sweaty gym clothes for a week (or two) in three different locations:

1. In a plastic laundry basket on top of the front-loading washing machine in the laundry closet, which has louvered wood folding doors
2. Inside a deep wood cabinet drawer, in the hallway next to the laundry closet -- this drawer was intended to be a hamper
3. In a plastic laundry basket under the sink base in the existing bathroom vanity

Why can’t your adult son solve the problem himself? Sweaty damp clothes need to be placed somewhere to dry, then placed in a hamper until washed. I live on a farm so am well acquainted with damp smelly clothes. I do my thing and my husband does his thing. My thing is to drape damp clothes on the hamper so they dry, then tip them into the hamper. The hamper is in my bedroom closet, and I leave the door open while they dry. You can’t put damp anything into an enclosed space and expect it to dry without getting gross. Also, sometimes the problem is the material, not the habit. Some high tech fabrics that wick moisture also get stinky. Need to just get rid of those items.

One of the advantages of Not having a laundry closet or one upstairs is that our things that need to be washed go to the basement immediately, no need to have a "nice" but functional place to store dirty clothes, no need for a 2-step process to get clothes to the laundry, or 3 if you dry them out before you even put them in the hamper. Actually if something smells that bad or is that dirty it just gets washed stat. I realize the issue is your son lets it accumulate. Maybe if the hamper was in his room he would wash clothes more frequently if they smelled up his room. I know I am more likely to take care of something if I have to look at it as opposed to hiding it away.

After my husband finishes the push mow areas and weed whacking, he strips down to his undies outside and shakes his clothes out good before taking them to the laundry room. I applaud the habit. My clothes will get a bit smelly on hot days, but you pretty much have to stick your nose in there for full effect, so keeping them in a hamper does not affect the freshness of the air inside.

I think the solution will be to keep the hamper in the bedroom, but I am willing to explore the hamper-in-a-vanity option. The hamper was kept in the bedroom for a year, after my senior cat announced that she was retiring from hunting and becoming a strictly indoor cat -- a litter box took over the hamper space in the bathroom.

When the cat passed away (about a year ago), the hamper reclaimed that space, which will be overtaken by the new proposed layout for the bathroom. I have no plans to take in another abandoned feline, so no need to plan for a litter box in the bathroom.

Personally, I would want to have the hamper in the bedroom/bedroom closet - especially if it's your young adult son's clothes (in my experience, boy's clothes tend to be more smelly/sweaty - fyi - I have two daughters - but my oldest nephew stayed with us for a few months when he was a senior in high school - he was on the varsity football/basketball/baseball teams during the school year + summer basketball league).

I am actually in the middle of having a discussion with my SO re: where the hamper should be. We officially moved in together within the past year. I've always had two laundry hampers in my primary closet (it's a pretty decent sized closet - 8' x 18.5').

He would rather have hampers in the laundry room. I see the value (ease) of having them in the laundry room (something like what @BPMBA has posted) - as long as the clothes are actually brought downstairs each day. I don't think that would actually happen (on his part).

I never thought about putting it in my vanity - I have too many other items that I'd rather store in my vanity (like a dedicated space for hairdryer and brushes - where the hairdryer can stay plugged in + have electric toothbrushes stored inside a vanity instead of on the countertop).

Plus, my SO creates A LOT of laundry - I mean a ridiculous amount of laundry - so, a hamper would take up quite a bit of space. Plus, we decided to have our new vanity be all drawers - so, it would need to be redesigned.

The laundry closet is 12 feet from the bathroom. My son's bedroom is only a few steps from his bathroom. The results of the experiment are that his laundry will go either into a hamper in his bedroom or he will get a hamper on wheels for the bathroom -- but no hamper in the vanity.