Using stacked suitcases for storage can turn a decorative accent into a functional object. If your home is deficient in the closet department, a stack of suitcases can fill the void. Use them to store winter sweaters (in proper storage bags and with cedar chips, of course) during warm weather and bathing suits and sundresses in the wintertime. If you're a sentimental mini-hoarder like me, suitcases can serve as beautiful storage boxes for keepsakes like wedding invitations and birthday cards.
You can find vintage suitcases at estate sales and flea markets, and there are lots of interesting examples available on Etsy (including Image 6). Stores like Grandin Road (image 7) offer brand new suitcases with vintage styling for non-crazy prices. (Jayson Home & Garden has classic vintage suitcases (image 8), but for crazy prices).
Images & Sources: 1 hihohome; 2 Apartment Therapy Chicago; 3 Apartment Therapy Chicago; 4 Houzz; 5 If The Lamp Shade Fits; 6 Aspendreams on Etsy, vintage Samsonite luggage set for $300; 7 Set of two rattan suitcases at Grandin Road, $149; 8 Vintage suitcase from Jayson Home & Garden, $695
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They also could contain vacuum-packed seasonal linens.
I am a huge fan of alternative storage. I ofter use misc. containers to store wayward items in, sometimes forgetting what is where. Remember to take not of it somewhere so that if you forget you have a paper trail to remind you.
Chad Feltrin
www.ChadFeltrin.com
Suitcases do make great stash spots for those un-wanted things you refuse to toss!
I adore the second photo. What a wonderful way to use a tiny, often over-looked, space!
I've got one filled with my drafting art supplies (sketch books, markers, triangles, rolls of paper) tucked under a credenza in my apartment. Visible storage but it blends in nicely with the rest of the decor.
The two things I see over and over on AT that I just can't like are the stacked suitcases and the babydoll heads used as planters or decoration. Green--yes. Practical---yes. Depressing--yes for me. #8 $695?
My husband owns 3 vintage suitcases and though they are not stacked they are in his office being used as storage. He has one on top of a cabinet, the other on top of his bookcase, and the third beneath his seating.
Aesthetically-pleasing, not-so-secret storage. Fantastic.
I have also found a number of "vintage" (60's and 70's era) suitcases at thrift stores.
okay, i agree that it is cool looking, but the functionality of storing things like that seems doubtful. imagine you put something in the bottom suitcase of say, five. every time you would need to get it out would cause small trauma.
Yup. I was thinking exactly what mashamsk was thinking. Every time you needed something you'd have to unstack everything. It looks good, but would be too much of a pain for me.
I use them for seasonal clothing storage - it doesn't make sense to use any but maybe the topmost for anything needed often. Bonus: they're easy to deal with when moving!
I like them for storing off-season clothes, and have bought a few at salvage shops. However, I recently got an unusually pretty, tin-covered(!) suitcase....that has an awful musty smell. Can't pinpoint it, the lining looks clean but it just stinks. I've tried putting in newspaper, cedar chips, baking soda but no luck. Can't store anything in it because the objects pick up the smell. Any better suggestions? I really don't wanna give up on this piece because it is so beautiful on the outside.
I was just thinking today that I need to get a trunk to stow away all of my art supply clutter. On the hunt now....