No. 2 - Good Junk

It seems that using vintage luggage is a tradition with us.  We have used them in decorating every 7gypsies booth since the beginning.  We love the way they look and can be used as a table or riser, opened or closed, they are always a good display piece.  

We also love them in our everyday life - 

Here's a few of the suitcases around our houses...

My studio

My living room

Paula's family room

 The round case holds some of the mini books paula has made over the years.

Since that last picture was taken of part of the entertainment unit, the little brown case with the broken handle has moved to the living room where it was needed to raise up a lamp after paula picked up this lamp shade at Anthropologie.

My living room, that's a lot of suitcases!

Paula is going to Art and Soul next week in Las Vegas.  She packed a vintage train case with her supplies she will need for classes.

 love the little book to take notes

 even storage for paintbrushes

 This train case has a second compartment below.  Perfect for vintage cigar boxes that hold ephemera and tools.

There was even a couple at my son's wedding last year.

We were asked a couple of questions about suitcases.  Even though we have a lot of vintage luggage we don't really see ourselves as experts....but we will give it our best shot anyway.

Question #1

What do you do with luggage that has a less than desirable smell? - 

answer - 

We don't mind if they have a little bit of a musty smell....just part of the appeal.  Although if it was really bad you might try Fabreeze or something similar.   Spray it on and let air out in the sunshine for a day or so. 

Update: We got an email this morning from Tammy L. about getting rid of the musty vintage suitcase smell.    "I love the old suitcases and trunks as well, but sometimes they leave a lot to be desired as far as odor.  Here is what has always without fail worked for me.  First take newspaper and squish up into balls enough to fill the suitcase then take a paper plate and squirt toothpaste in the center.  Set the plate on top of the newspaper and shut the suitcase up.  leave closed for a couple days and tada minty fresh suitcase.  A couple of times I've had to do this twice but usually once does the trick.  Just thought I would share what has kept me from passing up even some of the smelliest yet beautiful suitcases out there." 

Thanks Tammy! I am going to try this!

Question #2

What paint do you use to paint a suitcase?

answer - 

One of the pictures of painted luggage came from "A Beach Cottage".  We found in a different blog post some information on how they painted theirs.  You can find it here.  Looks pretty simple!

Inspired at Costco, who knew?

Have you seen the latest issue of Where Women Create?   I picked it up Monday night at Costco of all places (love that it's 30% off the cover price there). I knew I couldn't pass it up when I saw the FABULOUS studio of mixed media artist Gail Rieke.

But it was when I opened the magazine and saw the entire wall that I was truly amazed and inspired.  My first thought, "I want that".   The wall is like a giant mixed media piece of art.
I was so inspired by the photo that I just couldn't stop looking at it, thinking about it, dreaming about it.  How can I do something like that in my house?  Where could I put it?  How many suitcases do I already have?  Can I talk my husband into building it? All valid questions when one is so inspired, right?

If you go to Gail Rieke's website you can click on 'studio' and see the full picture or better yet, buy the magazine so you can see at it, as well as more of the space.

So, I emailed Deb and said, "have I got an idea for Wednesday's blog post...suitcases!" 

After that conversation, Deb went on a hunt to find ideas using suitcases in decor (this is really only half of what she found) to share with you today.  So, now I am sending you over to Deb so she can show you what she found. 

Between Paula and I we have probably close to 45 vintage suitcases, so apparently we like the way they look and all the fun things we can do with them.  They serve double duty not only looking good in our houses but they also are a great place to store all our good junk.  Here are a few ideas we found that we hope will inspire.

Suitcase painted with chalkboard paint-

via A Beach Cottage

appropriate start, right?

Paint the table and suitcase the same color - 

via Songbird

via Indenfor & Udenfor

A table that uses luggage as a pedestal, genius.

Via Syd & Harper

Love this trunk from Restoration Hardware

 also from Restoration Hardware

via Rossana Orlandi

I have always love this idea found in a long ago issue of Country Home magazine.

Stacks, stacks and more stacks....

via Pinterest

via Creamy Life

via Lucyina Moodie

via Prize

via Apartment Therapy

via Anthropologie 

via Apartment Therapy

So do you have suitcases in your decor?  I am sure we are not the only ones!  On Friday we continue our quest for suitcases by showing you how we use them in our own homes in episode  No. 2 of Good Junk. See you then!

label by Chelsea Parsons via Jessica Sprague