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let’s face it: life is messy. some days, it seems the second i clear one spot on the floor, the counter, or a shelf, it immediately fills up with clutter. in my house, any spot clear of clutter becomes a magnet for clutter. inside my closets, the problem is magnified. heaven forbid i don’t put something away immediately because it quickly becomes a stack. (who among us hasn’t said, ‘i’ll deal with it later”… and then didn’t?) due to their variety of shapes and materials, figuring out how to organize your handbags can be a particular problem. i tried to keep handbag organizing ideas in mind when designing my shortyLOVE collection. there must be a way to minimize clutter and simplify storage, right?
this situation may be familiar to you… i remember a time before shortyLOVE when, as a fledgling handbag designer, i had to contend with organizing and fitting my own widely varied bag collection (it was research!) into a standard-sized, city-typical closet, along with the rest of my wardrobe — just like everybody else. the bags, primarily leather at the time, were different shapes. different sizes. some were stiff and took up a lot of room. others were more supple, not made for standing. there were crazy shapes that wouldn’t stack easily. there was no one way to store all those very different bags. some called for shelves (which there were never enough of), some for drawers. some just got tossed in baskets.
when i think back on it now, it all seems so complicated. i had to come up with my handbag organizing ideas because clutter is my sanity killer. i need to be able to put my hands on what i need right away. over the years, it became much much easier. here’s how i kept my sanity…
so how do you organize your handbags and solve the clutter problem? unless you have extravagant amounts of storage (most of us don’t), i think the most obvious first answer is to thin the herd — if you can bear it. as a bag lover myself, i’m certainly never going to tell you to get rid of the bags you love. however, i did find that culling my collection to the bags i use the most relieved most of the growing storage pressure in my closet. how to go about that is not as complicated as you might think, but you will need to commit to the process. you can’t afford distractions. set aside a few hours to figure out how to organize your handbags all in one go.
step 1:
begin by pulling out your entire collection. set aside anything that needs repair. set aside anything you’ve had for longer than a year but still haven’t used. and, of course, set aside bags you immediately identify as items to donate, sell, or pass on to someone else.
step 2:
now that you can see what you have all in one place, start grouping bags by type: clutches, totes, bucket bags, crossbody bags, shoulder bags, hobo bags, backpacks, evening bags, etc.
step 3:
this step is tough, but it’s also one of the best handbag organizing ideas: with your somewhat organized chaos now categorized and stacked in front of you, it’s time to ask yourself the hard questions. are you ever going to repair the bags that need repairing? if not, eliminate it. do you have duplicates? why? when it comes to bags you haven’t touched in forever, why are you still holding onto them? if it’s because “i might need them someday,” believe me, you can let these go. but if you hold a bag dear because it has a history you’re not ready to part with, keep it.
step 4:
at this point, the collection should be notably minimized and you can now strategize how to organize your handbags to better fit the space you have available. this is an accomplishment! pat yourself on the back for getting this done.
a potential step 5:
there’s a chance you can’t get it all done in a day because you might need to buy a few things to get bags put away efficiently — storage hooks, hangers, bins, etc. make a run to target or the container store, or your local hardware store, or order the hardware you need online. do this now while you have the momentum before those stacks of bags start to feel like a permanent fixture. this doesn’t have to be expensive. keep it simple, not stressful. you’ll be thankful later.
finding a place for everything should be so much easier once you figure out how to organize your handbags. i have good news when it comes to organizing your shortyLOVE bags: i designed them to be easy to put away! when a shortyLOVE bag shipment arrives at your home, it arrives flat. you might expect that for a crossbody bag, but our backpacks, totes, and cosmetic bags also arrive flat. that means you can put them away flat in a drawer or bin. below are a few handbag organizing ideas that is use for my bags at home:
this how-to may not work to organize all your crossbody handbags in general, but when it comes to shortyLOVE crossbodies, you can store them inside each other — so handy for saving space! put your flattened shorthand inside your flattened amuse. then put your flattened amuse inside your flattened wonder. then, stash up the whole stack in a drawer or bin. because our crossbodies have a slim profile, they also hang well on a wide hook or even over the same closet rod you hang your clothes on without taking up a lot of room.
how to organize your accessory straps for your shortyLOVE handbags? fold or roll them up nice and neat and keep them in a drawer (with or without dividers), in a bin or even inside the bag they match up with. you can also hang them up on a hanger — just drape them over the hanger rod. a tie hanger also works well!
if you’re short on space, here’s a handbag organizing idea: use a tote as storage! because shortyLOVE bags can be flattened, they’ll easily fit into a shorytLOVE tote. what to do with the tote when you’re not using it? stash flat in a drawer if you have the room. hang on a hook — either attached to the wall or a closet rod hook will do perfectly. or drape the straps over a sturdy wooden hanger and hang it up with your clothes.
i use my shortyLOVE backpacks a lot, so i tend to keep them on hooks where i can easily grab one and dash out to the office or the gym at a moment’s notice. but if you use your backpack just occasionally, here’s how to organize it with the rest of your handbags… again, shortyLOVE bags can be flattened when empty, so if you have space in a drawer for your backpack, that’s definitely an option. you can also hook the carry handle over the hook of a wooden clothes hanger and hang it on your closet rod. do you use your backpack only as a carry-on for travel? keep it inside your luggage, ready to go!
a drawer is a solid option for storing your shortyLOVE crossbody belt bag, of course, as is a hook you can drape the strap over. but i have a friend (so full of handbag organizing ideas) who owns a couple of our belt bags, and she insists that buckling them over the rod of a wooden hanger and hanging them up is the way to go. you have options!
my shortyLOVE cosmetic bags are always in use daily, so that you won’t find them in my closet. they’re in my bathroom cabinet, on the vanity or, in my beach bag, or in my gym bag! but here are a few thoughts on how to organize with the rest of your handbags: if you only use your cosmetic bag primarily for travel, flatten and keep it in a drawer or bin until you need it. or store it flat inside your carry-on tote or backpack until it is time to pack. or keep it in your luggage, and you’ll never forget it!
because wallets and clutches are small and have a slim profile, they’re best kept in a small bin or arranged on end (like a record collection) with dividers in a drawer when not in use.
for bags that aren’t soft and nylon and hence more complicated than shortyLOVE bags, you may have to get more creative with your handbag organizing ideas. there are a million influencer videos out there showing you how to organize your handbags by shape, color, and season, and you name it — i’ll leave that to them. if that makes you happy, by all means, do it! and if consolidating and organizing your handbags makes more room for better, smarter, harder-working bags, you know this bag designer is all for it.
xo — sloane
