Using Old Suitcases as a Decorative Resource

Do you want to give your home a more sophisticated touch and reuse old elements that have fallen into disuse? Using old suitcases as a decorative resource is an interesting formula. It also means that you can recover an object that, otherwise, would have ended up forgotten in the storage room.

Items that we’ve inherited from our ancestors can pave the way for ideas to decorate our homes. We simply have to work on their appearance and functionality to provide us with aesthetic options.

For this reason, old suitcases become very interesting resources to decorate our homes. They may be in poor condition or require a good clean, but the very essence of this resource allows us to work on it from different points of view.

Using old suitcases as a table for the entrance hall

The rectangular and flat format that a suitcase has is ideal for making a table. Obviously, it can also fulfill a decorative function and on it we can place ornaments to complement the rest of the room.

The main purpose is that the suitcase itself is visible and that it becomes another piece of furniture in the home. However, it also offers a completely different perspective because it’s an innovative and creative element.

If you use supporting legs, they must be securely fixed to the suitcase and for the entrance hall, it’s better to have a table that’s fairly high. There’s also the possibility that the suitcase lid remains open. However, if you close it, it won’t take up as much space and will work better as a supporting piece of furniture.

Five ways of using old suitcases

It’s true that due to its striking appearance, we can create different decorative formulas from this resource. The most interesting thing about all this is that it fits perfectly into any space, be it your bedroom or living room. Let’s see five ways that we can use old suitcases:

1. A trunk stool: for this scenario, the upper lid will need modifying. You can incorporate some low legs and turn it into a stool, but it’ll need a padded seat on the surface. The advantage of this is that you’ll create storage space on the inside.
2. Bedside table: made by placing two suitcases on top of the other, or simply by securing a suitcase onto low legs that are at bed height.
3. Dressing table: place a mirror inside the lid, so that when you open the suitcase, you’ll have a vanity unit. Inside it, you can store all kinds of makeup and jewelry items, taking into account that the inside space should be quite large.
4. Shelving: although it doesn’t have the right format to be used as a shelf, several suitcases can be placed on top of each other. Arrange them in size, from the largest to the smallest, and build a tower structure.
5. Central table for the living room: just like the bedside table, you can make a central table. However, you’ll need a large suitcase and some low legs so that it fits better within the space and goes next to your other furniture.

The worn effect

As we’ve seen, suitcases can be worked in different ways. The important thing is that their appearance is attractive and offers an innovative aesthetic.

Being an old material, its texture and color may have deteriorated over time. Therefore, you may need to change its external appearance by painting the entire surface in its original tone.

Either way, don’t let that put you off because old suitcases have become a real reference point at a decorative level. Its worn appearance can also be an interesting feature, generating a vintage style that celebrates its original use but now serves a completely different purpose.

Using old suitcases as drawers

Old suitcases can also be used as drawers for a chest of drawers. In this scenario, the particularity is that each drawer has the appearance of a suitcase, with the handle and the locks to make it more realistic.

Equally, there’s also the possibility of using the container of the suitcase as a drawer. The upper lid could be removed and only the lower part would remain. By doing this, you can complement it with other suitcases that, together, would configure an entire piece of furniture.

Main image: pinterest.es