When it comes to being DIY enthusiasts, we’re consistently shocked by how many aspects of life our creative skills truly come in handy for. We were thinking about this recently because we were packing for a large vacation and we couldn’t help thinking that there had to be better, more space efficient and innovative ways to pack certain things! That’s why we’ve had our eyes peeled lately for ways to pack a suitcase that requires a little bit of simple thinking outside the box.
Just in case you’re equally as interested in trying out some new, more creative packing techniques as we were, if not more, here are 15 of the best ideas and concepts we’ve come across so far!
This might sound like common sense, but we honestly think you’ll be surprised when you notice the difference between packing on a whim and packing after you’ve made a detailed and scheduled list of everything you’ll need, just to really make sure you have everything you need when you arrive on the other end! Skyscanner has some suggestions for you for things they always like to include on their packing list.
Like most of us, have you been through the nightmare of opening your suitcase after a long car trip or airplane ride and discovering that one of your liquid toiletries has exploded all over the bag and the clothing inside? Beyond that, many of the bottles these things come in are strangely shaped and a little awkward to pack. That’s why we were pleased to come across this guide from The Beauty Department that suggests a few better ways for packing liquids so they’ll fit better and won’t spill on your clothes!
If you’re like us and you love taking all kinds of accessorizing options with you when you travel so you can look your best throughout your trip, then we have a feeling you’ll find this jewelry packing technique from Mom Spark quite interesting indeed! They show you how to layer your necklaces between sheets of cling wrap to prevent them from tangling in your bag.
There are all kinds of ways to pack your shoes if you really get looking around the far reaches of the Internet but this particularly affordable method outlined on WikiHow is one of our favourites, particularly because we have so many pairs of sparkly shoes like you see in the photo that will shed glitter all over our clothes! They suggest putting them inside a dollar store shower cap to keep them together and separate them from your clean clothes.
Perhaps you’re going on a nice summer vacation and you’re intent on bringing a sun hat or two because those are your absolute favourite kind of accessory in warm weather, but you’re concerned they’ll get squished in your bag en route? In that case, you simply must take a look at the way A Pair and A Spare DIY filled the inside of the hat with small clothing and packed in layers so it fits in and around your other things, rather than getting squashed on top or underneath.
Perhaps the things you really want to take most on your beach vacation are your favourite maxi dresses, but they’re made of a material that wrinkles rather badly and you want to keep them looking their best so they’re ready to put on right away when you arrive? Then we think you’ll appreciate this tissue paper rolling technique outlined nice and simply on Wendy’s Lookbook.
Perhaps your trouble isn’t with making everything fit nicely in your bag but rather with keeping things organized similarly to your busy trip, so you don’t have to rifle through trying to find things and mess everything up? Then we’d definitely suggest trying out this technique from iHeart Organizing that involves organizing your outfits in zipping mesh laundry bags and packing them in order by day, with all the pieces for each day together and easy to grab.
Just in case most of your trips happen in a professional capacity when you travel for work but you’re not yet feeling like a professional at packing your business suits without finding them all folded, crushed, and creased when you arrive, here’s a fantastic guide from GQ for strategically folding and placing your suit jackets so they experience as little creasing as possible.
No matter how you try, are you convinced that folding your clothes flat and laying them into your suitcase is taking up more space than it should so you’re wondering whether there isn’t another way to make things fit? In that case, we think you might find this folding concept outlined in more detail on eHow very interesting indeed!
10. Organizing clothes and liquids with big plastic bags
Just in case you’re feeling rather interested in the idea of organizing your clothes and other things in bags like we mentioned before but you don’t have the kind of zippered bags we mentioned and there’s no time for you to pick some up, here’s a guide from Real Simple that talks a little bit about how they used a similar process but put certain things in large Ziplock bags instead!
11. Pack clothes without wrinkles using tissue paper
Did we catch your attention with the idea of keeping things as smooth and unwrinkled as possible with tissue paper but you’re not going to be traveling with maxi dresses any time soon? Well, luckily for all of us, they’re not actually the only thing you can use that technique for! Travel Fashion Girl shows you how they folded tissue paper into their shirts and other clothes and found it just as effective for battling suitcase creases.
Like us, are you actually finding that one of the biggest challenges is finding a good place for your smallest things, like socks and underwear, because they always end up either buried or taking up weird space in the middle of the bag? Then we’d definitely suggest taking a look at how Business Travel Life made us of the inside of their shoes for storing small things more space efficiently.
Of course, your large checked baggage probably isn’t the only bag you’ll pack and bring for your next trip! Making sure your carry-on makes sense, is accessible, and is nice and space efficient is important as well. That’s why we were so pleased to come across this resource from The Blonde Abroad that makes all kinds of suggestions for useful things you can safely put in your carryon on a plan without over or under packing and making things harder for yourself.
We’ve already shown you the cling wrap technique for packing necklaces without ending up with a tangled mess upon arrival but, now that you’ve got those things wrapped, where do you put all those little accessories in your bag? Well, thanks to Individually You, there are all kinds of suggestions out there! We particularly like the idea of packing small accessories like earrings ad so on into the insides of your shoes, along with your socks and underwear like we suggested before.
Of course, packing for yourself and packing for a trip that your kids are coming on can be a whole different experience because the needs are so different. That doesn’t mean, however, that some of the techniques you’ve seen so far on our list won’t work for your little ones too! For example, we really appreciate All Four Love‘s suggestion of packing outfits with all their pieces together day by day. During a hectic morning of getting everyone ready on your trip, you can just reach for the right bag and have everything you need!
