Suitcase Living

If you have been reading my posts you know we have moved out of our Uptown, townhome and into a larger family house in the burbs. While our town home was in the process of selling and we were in the process for looking for another house, we lived with our good friends. They hosted us for a little over 40 days. Who willingly agrees to roommates for a couple months? They did and we greatly appreciate them for it. They made the moving process a bit easier.

Suitcase Living-Clothes & Shoes

Getting to our new house has definitely been a process for us. It first off involved living out of a suitcase for over a month. Yes, I said over a month. Crazy and super hard if I say so myself. How do you pack over a months worth of clothes in one suitcase? What do you even go about packing, especially in the bipolar Colorado weather? If you ever find yourself in this situation, I have a few tips:

1. Pack a little bit of everything. By this I mean, pack a few dress, few pairs of pants, few tops, etc.
2. Pack clothes that can be layered or paired differently. I packed a few different cardigans and shirts that I could make numerous different outfits with minimal pieces.
3. You can do wash. While I know it’s not desirable to have only 2-3 workout outfits or sets of PJs, it will save you room for other items. Remember living out of a suitcase is only temporary, so you don’t be cycling through these outfits forever.
4. Pack versatile colors. Packing versatile colors will allow you to wear pieces to more than one events or outing and will help with shoe options.
5. Roll your clothes.
6. Pack a few pairs of shoes that can be paired with multiple outfits. Don’t pack the fuchsia or leopard print heels that only go with one outfit.

Suitcase Living- Bathroom Stuff

Packing my bathroom and get ready stuff was a little less hard, however I did forget a few things. Items to remember when packing bathroom supplies for over a month:

• Remember all your shower supplies. I had a cheap plastic target bin that I packed up all our shower stuff in. I felt like we were in college again with a  shower caddy, except it was a bit more adult sophisticated.
• If you wear contacts, remember extra pairs of contacts, don’t put them all in storage.
• If you have multiple different brand products for the same outcome, example: body lotion, pack the fuller of the items. This way you won’t have to go out and buy more and you save on room.
• Don’t forget those random bathroom items like: q-tips, cotton balls, face rounds, etc.
• Don’t skimp too much. I definitely cut out some of my favorite products but I did so with the thought that they weren’t necessary. While you do need to be able to live comfortably, you don’t need a full suitcase just for your hygiene for your temporary living.

Suitcase Living- Random Items

There are definitely a few things I needed that I didn’t pack. I totally forgot about some of the random events and things that one needs. Items I forgot that I had to buy:

• Umbrella-I brought a rain coat but for some reason packing an umbrella completely passed me, and of course it’s rained pretty much every week we lived with friends.
• Wedding Event Outfit- I wasn’t thinking about wedding events I had when packing. I had a dress fitting, and while you may say it’s not necessary to have a cute wedding appropriate outfit on to go try I your wedding dress, I beg to differ.
• House Closing Outfit- Again you may not think this is necessary, but for every big event in life I like to have a cute outfit. I purchased some adorable white flow pants with a tie bow on them from Vici Dolls (linked here). I highly recommend checking them out.
• Hangers- I don’t know what I was thinking here, that I wasn’t going to hang any clothes up. I ended up having to make Target run to grab some so I could hang up some of my clothes.
• Reusable Grocery Bags- I love reusable grocery bags. Not only are you helping to save the environment, but you can fit more groceries in one bag. I am all about taking one huge load of groceries in the house with a few bags, than trying to carry a hundred random bags in the house. I purchased another reusable bag our first week living with friends.

We are now in our house, but looking back on this experience of living out of a suitcase for a month was definitely an eye opening experience and one I won’t forget. Numerous good memories were made with our friends. It was an adult college house, if that makes sense? Have you ever had to live out of a suitcase for over a month? What are some tips and tricks you used?