up above in the closet?

I have eliminated some of the suitcases I used to have; I've realized I don't need that many.

I nest some, which is working OK for me. I wish I had room not to need to but there ya go!

My grandpa put shelves over the doors of the bedrooms, and set the suitcases up there. You could do something similar in closets, utility rooms, etc.

I'm wondering how bad the damp would be on the suitcases, if you put those silicone-gel dessicant packs inside them before you stashed them in the basement.

And I wonder whether it would be worth the expense to put a dehumidifier in the basement? If closet space is tight in the house, a dehumidifier might increase your storage space more cheaply than renting a closet at a storage facility (not that I'm saying you should rent one; just trying to inquire whether it would be cost effective)

If you do--as with all basement storage, you should have metal shelving, w/ the bottommost shelf a few inches off the floor (in case of flooding).

Here is a link that might be useful: dessicant packs

Looking to get rid of some of ours too. In the meantime, nesting works, and we store them in the space to access the roof. Not an attic. Most of these access panels are built into a closet somewhere overhead but ours is about thigh high with a plywood floor and a small door. Good place for things you don't need often. Right now the suitcases are in our computer room because the roofer had to check out the vents and we haven't put them back yet. Sandy

I keep a large one in the back of the closet, with a medium one inside it, both behind a shoe rack.

Thanks for your ideas, part of my problem is clutter. I keep working on it, but you leave it for awhile and the problem returns.

A section of our basement is okay, and the floor is raised. If I do a major cleanup, maybe I can fit them in a closet down there. Right now they are stored under the ping pong table!

Joanne

This may be a given, but mine are in my closet because there is not place else, BUT I fill the suitcase w/smaller suitcases, so I have two duffles in a smaller suitcase and the smaller suitcase in the big suitcase and I'm only storing one suitcase in my closet.

I keep one medium size rolling suitcase and a smaller carry-one, one inside the other, on the top shelf of my closet. I used to have more bags, but the more you have, it seems, the more you packs. Now, I can pack for a month in those two suitcases.

Ours are nestled together and stored under our bed.

By the way - do you know that empty suitcases are an ideal place to hide Christmas gifts from inquiring children's eyes? We've done this for years and have never been found out!

Janetwilson: Awesome idea!

i am a huge fan of old antique steamer trunks, they are decorative and hide tons of stuff!! we have purchased a total of 4 of them and refinished them and use them all over our house for additional storage. i have a very large trunk in my living room that i have a lamp and some pictures sitting on. inside of that trunk i have a set of four rolling suitcases nested inside of each other. the largest (outer) suitcase is quite large and i still have enough room left over in that trunk to keep some sterilite shoe boxes of memorabilia. unless i were going on an african safari for 6 months, i can't imagine needing any more than these 4 suitcases for our family of 4 people. we recently took a week long vacation and only needed 3 of the suitcases. my best advice would be to get rid of any suitcases that you haven't used in the past year or two. the best storage idea of all would be to BORROW suitcases from neighbors, friends or family and let them deal with the storage issues..lol
jiggreen

p.s. i keep the xmas toys hidden in a locked steamer trunk that sits at the end of my bed.

I don't like to travel so I never had much use for suitcases. I had one. Then someone decided I might like to travel if they gave me their old suitcases when they bought new ones. I had luggage from Grandma, my mom, my sister, my mom again, my sister again, my mom a 3rd time... it was out of control.

We now have only 2 suitcases in case we fly somewhere, stored in the attic. Other than that, we normally travel by car and duffle bags work just fine (plus they smush up to be stored in the top of a closet).

My in-laws store their large suitcases in one another's houses.

Seriously, DH and I had a big fight over suitcases when we were planning our honeymoon. I grew up getting my own suitcase as an 18th b-day present, like a rite of passage.

He was planning on borrowing his parents'. I went ballistic--was I marrying a baby?!?

Turns out, his large extended family doesn't bother owning very manu suitcases, and he's never needed one. If they need more than the one or two in their home, they borrow from one another (saves on space).

To them, a suitcase of one's own wasn't a sign of maturity or independence. But it was to me, LOL!

We have to fly if we are going anywhere. We have one larger suitcase and three the size that you could take on board if you wanted. None of them will nest. That's what I get for not buying some type of set.

When we remodeled this house we were able to create a 6 x 11 foot storage room off one of the bedrooms. The ceiling is only 6 ft. at the tallest and quickly slopes to 3 feet. You can't go very high in there.

Since I have systematically decluttered the household, I've found this is enough space for all of the holiday stuff, camping gear, golf clubs, suitcases, etc. and still have room to move around.

In our previous house we kept them out in the garage. That was really a bad choice, since they really got dusty out there. I had room in closets in the house, I just never thought to bring them in the house. Old habits die hard.

Gloria

Gloria, I just took my suitcases out of the house and put them into the garage which I had cleaned out the other day. Now you have me thinking that I should bring them back in. But we don't use them very often.

Marie, if I had given it any thought, I would have just slipped them in large trash bags to keep the dust off. Sometimes, I do wonder where I put my brain.

Our old garage was just a bad location for dust. We haul all of the grit they put on the streets during the winter into the garage. Then it dries and the car tires pulverise it. Then the wind whips it around when the garage door opens. Of course, we brought all of that into the house from the garage. I just didn't realize what a mess it was since I had lived with it so long.

In our current house, the wind doesn't attack the inside of the garage and it much less dirty.

Gloria

slipped them in large trash bags /i>

be sure not to seal them, so you don't seal moisture in.

forgot to turn off the italic

that's better

I don't travel much but I do have two suiltcases ( 18th birthday gift... and NO I will not say how old they are now!) but they were obviously quite good since they are still in pretty good shape! I keep the smaller one in the back on my closet since my kids do use that one when going places, but my big one..and i do mean big ( I think my parents were hinting that i should go to Eurpoe or something) I keep my alternate season wardrobe in. The VERY few times I have needed it I just stacked the clothes that were in it on the end of my bed, I mean what did I care I was not going to be there to see them :)

maddiemom

I have also designated one suitcase that has all the travel-related stuff stored inside it: travel make-up case and bottles, the pillow I use on planes, the security-compliant suitcase locks, shoe bags, even the disposable underwear I have left over from the last trip (from a travel catalog - it was great - no washing, no dragging around dirty underwear)! That way, when I do travel, which is now only about 3x/year, I know where all the accessories are.

Elisabeth reminded me:

I keep a small travel case in the bottom of my closet packed with personal items (shampoo, toothpaste, etc.). In case of an emergency trip (my family is out of state), all I have to throw in there is a small cosmetic bag & my medication, and grab some clothes.