Over the last couple of years, it’s gotten to the point where I’m carrying quite a few notebooks around the house with me. Even if I’m not using every single one of these notebooks constantly, I know I might want to, so I like to keep them close at hand. And then I want to keep a bunch of pens handy… and my phone… plus my reading glasses… and a chapstick… and some other stuff… til I realized I couldn’t just be juggling all these things every time I moved from one room to another. I needed a bag. And it turns out folks on the internet have already come up with a name for such a thing: the house tote, also known as a house purse.

But before I realized there was a word for it, I spotted a solution for my little problem, and it was already sitting right in my utility closet.

This little bag was a free extra that came with a Duluth Trading Company tool bag that my partner bought for carrying pottery supplies. I knew these little bags were used by contractors to hold nails and screws or other small bits, but I had to do a little research to figure out that they are called “parachute bags.” (Duluth calls theirs a “part-achute bag.”)

This one is made with a squarish shape and it actually worked surprisingly well as a tote for my notebooks, pens, phone and glasses, because it’s quite small and the inner divided compartments keep everything upright, visible, and accessible. I could even keep my chapstick handy in the outside pocket.

The shape of the inner compartments wasn’t 100% ideal for my purposes, but it basically worked. The only thing that was a little annoying was carrying it around by the single central loop handle– it’s made for hanging on a belt, so it doesn’t feel quite natural to just grab with your hand. I wasn’t terribly bothered by it, but my partner thought it looked really awkward, and decided to give me a much nicer bag as a Christmas present: the Soolla Studio Bag.

Now this is a really great art supply bag. It is so sturdily constructed and has pockets and slots galore. I stuck all my pens in the outside slots and loved how easy it was to access them. There was plenty of room inside for all my goodies, plus I started adding whatever magazines and books I was currently reading. The bag very comfortably held a hardcover book, a paperback book, a magazine or two, all my notebooks, phone, glasses, and chapstick… and I could have stuck a water bottle and a bunch of other stuff in there too.

And therein lay the problem: it was a little TOO spacious. Despite all the pockets, none of them was quite the right fit to keep my notebooks standing up like they did in the Duluth bag, so I had to fish around for them in the bottom of the large central area. Having my pens and glasses in the outer pockets made the sides of the bag flop over if the main compartment wasn’t full– the Soolla bag is made of a wonderfully soft material that feels very durable, but isn’t meant to have a stiff structure except for the bottom. And all the slots and pockets were just a wee bit too deep for my chapstick so I kept forgetting which one it was in. It’s a really nice bag, but it’s meant to be stuffed with art supplies. It just wasn’t right for my house tote needs. (I’ll definitely be re-purposing it for something else.)

I was poking around various websites, looking at other totes and parachute bags. Most of the totes looked too big. Parachute bags are great for markers and pens, but most of them seem to have smaller compartments than the Duluth version. And because they are round, they aren’t ideal for notebooks even if the pockets are big enough. I even started noodling around with some ideas for designing my own perfect house tote, but couldn’t imagine where I’d be able to get such a thing made.

Then I went to L. L. Bean and saw the Mini size Boat and Tote bag.

I’ve used their larger size totebags for years– they are so light and durable, they’re great for many purposes. I’d never used a small one, but I realized that this tiny size was exactly what I needed as a house tote. It measures about 7″ x 10″ x 6″. The canvas is stiff enough not to flop over. And though it lacks any pockets or compartments, my stuff stays pretty well organized inside without getting lost. The one problem was the chapstick and pens, and I considered buying some sort of purse organizer to give me more compartments, but I realized that I could take a pen case I already owned and use that to hold some pens and my glasses, and its little inner pocket made a perfectly accessible spot for my chapstick. The handles on the L. L. Bean bag are short enough that if I stick a hardcover book in there, it gets a little crowded. A full-size water bottle might also get a little cramped, but my micro size Hydroflask fits just fine. Overall, I’m quite happy with this solution.

I found a few similar options that look like they might be worth a try. Most classic canvas tote bags don’t come as small as L. L. Bean’s “mini,” such as Land’s End’s small size, which measures 13.5″W x 5.5″D x 9″H, but otherwise it’s quite close:

This Tuobo bag from Amazon looks like a good size, and it has some compartments, as well as the option to carry it with a shoulder strap:

The IwIeIaIrI (where do they come up with these names???) small tote bag looks similar:

Now that I’ve started using a house tote, I’m not sure I’ll ever stop! I may even add some more supplies to it, like small scissors and one of my favorite glue sticks, and maybe some index cards and extra bookmarks. Aside from having an easy way to carry all my notebooks and pens, it’s just nice to feel like I have all my little necessities within arm’s reach at all times.