How To Declutter Luggage, Suitcases & Bags

Today's mission is to declutter luggage, suitcases and bags, such as duffels, backpacks, and garment bags from your home.

As always, you're not expected to get rid of items that you still need and use, but this is your day to evaluate all of the bags and suitcases you own, and make sure you're only keeping what is necessary.


To do this mission pull all of your luggage, bags, suitcases, etc. into one place and then evaluate all of it, at once.

Some of the questions you can ask yourself include:

1) Do I have enough or too much for everyone in the family to travel at once for a normal vacation or trip length?

2) Are there items that are broken, such as zippers that don't work or wheels that wobble horribly?

3) Is there luggage you actually hate using for whatever reason?

4) How often do I go on trips or travel and use these suitcases and bags?

5) How much room do I have to store everything when it's not in use?

Then, when you think through the answers to these questions, you'll have a better idea of how much to get rid of.

This is simultaneously a great opportunity to think about whether you actually need more luggage, such as a specific type of piece, like a large suitcases with rollers, or a small carry on, or something like that.

Do yourself a favor and make sure you're ready when you go on your next trip, having all the pieces you do need, but nothing extra that will get in your way.

Below you can see some photos from other readers who've done this challenge, showing ideas for what to do with the bags and suitcases you do declutter, as well as tips for storing the items you decide to keep.

Top photo courtesy of kalleboo, Flickr Creative Commons

Ideas For What To Do With Decluttered Suitcases & Bags

Once you've decided to get rid of some of your suitcases and luggage, you've got to determine what to do with them.

If the items are in very good condition, and especially if there is a full set, you may want to consider selling them.

However, donation is also a great idea, because these items are very helpful to those in need. For example, you can donate luggage, duffel bags, backpacks and bags to a local foster care agency or family service organization. Then, they will be used for foster kids or for those who are domestic violence victims.

Another idea for donation, especially if you've got vintage suitcases, is to donate them to a theater company. That's exactly what a reader, Emily, did. She sent in the photo above, and said, "a couple of weeks ago we donated these historic pieces to the props department of a local theater rather than keeping them in our basement storage as extra efficient dust collectors."

You can also repurpose old luggage for another purpose in your home. For example, rarely used luggage can hold your emergency supplies for your family, in case of disaster. You can read more about what to put into a 72 hour kit here on the site.

I'd love to hear even more ideas in the comments below with what you've done with some of the bags you decided to get rid of.

How To Store The Luggage You Do Keep

Finally, while you may declutter some suitcases and bags as part of this mission, you aren't expected to get rid of it all.

Luggage is the type of item that you don't use all the time, but just on occasion, so when not in use you've got to store it somewhere.

The more often you use your luggage the more convenient a place you need to store it. On the other hand, if you only need those bags once a year, or infrequently, don't give it a prime storage location, because you'd be wasting the space where something else you use more often could be held.

If possible, it's good to nest your luggage inside the other pieces, so overall it takes up less room.

Common places to store your luggage include:

• Under your bed;


• In a hall closet;


• In a guest room;


• In your clothes closet, either on the floor or on a shelf


• Your basement or attic

While some people store their luggage in their garage I do not recommend it if you've got pests that often get in there.

A reader, Beth, sent in the photo above, showing where she stores her luggage, which is in her extra closet, which serves as both a linen closet and storage area.

While you can use luggage to store other items in your home, like seasonal clothes or linens, I actually don't recommend that either, unless that is the only place you can fit them. If you can store those types of items elsewhere it will be so much easier when you do have to travel not to have to empty your suitcases, and leave out a mess of stuff while you're away, that you'll also have to put back up when you return.

I'd love to hear in the comments where else you store luggage in your home, if I've missed a spot.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Miscellaneous Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your home, and there's a lot of items to declutter.

Get your 2 page miscellaneous decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

15 Steps To Get Your Home Ready When Preparing For A Trip

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