Vintage Suitcases for the Home

Vintage suitcases are great to collect and use in your home décor. These old suitcases bring a sense of nostalgia and adventure as you wonder where they have traveled. They have charm and style and are a wonderful way to create a unique look. They can be used as furniture and they make excellent storage to help you be more organized. They can also be used in unique ways that may surprise you, but that you'll love.

(Suitcases photo courtesy of purdywurdy @ stock.xchng)

Vintage suitcases can be stacked to make a table or tucked away underneath them. They can simply be used as storage for things such as cd's, books, vintage linens, fabric, children's play costumes or toys, etc.

By adding legs or casters they can be turned into other useful furniture such as a table, ottoman, or pet bed. Hang one on the wall and a suitcase can even become a cupboard.

Add new pockets, loops, and dividers to the inside of an old suitcase and it can become a portable carrier for craft supplies.

Old suitcases can even be painted to help you match your own style and vision. In the suitcase shown here a vintage suitcase has been painted with chalkboard paint so it can be used as a message board or sign.

The possibilities for vintage suitcases are endless.

Get your creative juices flowing for what you can do with your old suitcases by checking out these ideas and tutorials at the websites below. From pet beds to cupboards, how to reline a suitcase or turn it into a craft center, you'll find lots of creative and useful ideas and information here.

Vintage suitcases can be found at a wide variety of places. Keep your eye out for them at second hand stores, thrift stores, consignment shops and antique stores. Those found at antique stores may be higher priced, but you also might find some older and better quality ones too. Don't forget pawn shops dealing in antiques may sometimes have old, vintage luggage as well.

Other places to hunt for old suitcases would be yard sales and estate sales. Check craigslist.com too. And if you're really adventurous you may even occasionally find some suitcases when dumpster diving.

But one of the best and easiest ways is to look online at places such as www.eBay.com or www.etsy.com

eBay is a great place to find the perfect vintage suitcase you desire.

The hunt for vintage suitcases from yard sales, thrift stores, or antique stores can be quite fun. But when you get your suitcases from such places you can be limited in your selection, if you find any at all. But with eBay you can search for the color, type, brand, size, etc. and receive gratification more immediately.

Some of my most absolute favorite vintage suitcases are the ones often identified as "tweed" suitcases. These are suitcases that are either covered with tweed or material that looks like tweed. They are often a little bit older, but even if they aren't they still give a more old vibe.

Reproduction travel stickers can be a great addition to your vintage suitcases. You can add them to your suitcases or be creative and use them in other ways, such as put them in small picture frames and use as works of art.

There are almost no books about vintage suitcases available, and the one I do know of (shown here) is out of print and incredibly expensive. There are a few books about old trunks and restoring them, however, if you care to search for them.

You can also find books about decorating and vintage items in general that may mention vintage suitcases in passing.

So in other words, information on the subject matter is scant. You'll probably find most of your info about suitcase online, and even there it is sparse.

A lot of people share great pictures of their suitcases on the photo sharing website flickr. Get inspired by some of the ideas shown in these photos. I've found a few couple people on flickr who have generously given others the right to share their photos with Creative Commons attribution licenses. So check these out for inspiration.

Flickr user "one tiny spark" found this vintage suitcase was the perfect size for her sewing machine. It hides the suitcase when it's not in use (and helps protect it from dust too). And the handle on the suitcase makes it easier to move the sewing machine around too. And it only cost her $3 at a thrift store.

Stacie had this great looking table made from an old suitcase shown on flickr. There was no mention of it, but it looks like an old table was used to make it as well. Her parents put it together for her as a gift. Shows what a little ingenuity and work with tools can do to a cool old piece of luggage.

You can read more about this project on her blog here.

If you don't want actual vintage suitcases you can get the look of vintage suitcases with reproductions. Or if you don't have room for full sized luggage look for mini suitcases or even use art that features vintage suitcases for your walls.