Where are My Socks?

The Thistle is very small.   Well designed, but small and the contents need to be carefully designed as well.   If we don't keep it organized and efficient we will end up hating it and quite possibly hating one another.  That would be a very bad thing.

We will reduce, reduce, reduce what we wear, but still, we need a variety of clothes for a variety of climate conditions and activities.  The wardrobe is pretty much the only spot for our clothing but at the most will hang only about a dozen items.  For fulltiming that simply is not going to work.  Hard boxes or shelves will not work instead of hanging because the side of the wardrobe has 4 storage slots for things like socks and underwear.  These slots appear to be very handy and shelves or storage boxes would block access.  

In searching on line I came across Eagle Creek, a company that offers Pack-It Cubes, compression sacs, shoe bags, and more.  I've always loved boxes and bags, so this is getting fun!!   Besides, some of these items look perfect for our van needs.  The Pack-It Cubes could stack in the wardrobe and hold much more clothing than the closet bar.   I'm guessing the wardrobe would hold at least 12 cubes, or six for each of us. They come in different colors so Ed and I would not grab one another's cubes, and they are made out of very light weight tent material so they weigh almost nothing yet are strong.  There are different sized cubes, but the one that seems right for the wardrobe is the 14x10x3.  

Here is one with  a clear top for seeing inside.  

 Green for Fran

 Orange for Ed

There are also other bags that attracted my attention.   Bags for shoes to keep them tidy and well organized as well as easily within reach.

Fran's color

Ed's Color

 Compression bags for items we need, like coats, but won't use often.

Compression Bags

We have already ordered toiletry bags from L.L. Bean, allowing us easy access to our toiletries both in the van and when we shower at a public shower.

Fran's bag in  green

Ed's bag in red

It will be impossible to get the same colors from different companies so we decided to use cool colors for Fran and hot colors for Ed so we can always easily select the right bags even if the colors are not identical.

We're also thinking of small bags for glovebox organization.  One for grooming including chap stick, sunscreen, nail clippers and lotion.  Another  category for small first aid items like bandaids, tape, tissue, aspirin, bug repellent, and first aid spray.  Another for note pads, pens, pencils, and tape.  Yet another containing a sewing kit.   With a quick grab we should be able to put our hands on the items one needs close at hand while driving, without digging deeper in the van.

This is our thinking so far.  It will be interesting to see if these design solutions continue to look good or if we are onto a totally different plan next week.  The whole packing design issue is a wonderful jigsaw puzzle that is fun to try to solve.

Design is a funny word.  Some people think design means how it looks.  But of course if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.  ~  Steve Jobs