Organizing Your Car- How to Bring Order to Your Sweet Ride
We spend so much time in our cars- commuting, transporting, dropping off, going on road trips, etc. Kids, and groceries, and winter gear, and other things are shepherded in and out and it is so easy for things to get disorganized! Here are some tips to help quell the chaos and keep what you need within reach.
Tip #1- Consider putting small bins in your center console- especially if it is deep! When we got a minivan (say what you will about minivans, but I love mine!), it had a very deep center console. I could imagine things piling up in there and not being able to find things. I looked around my home for small organizers and put them in the console to corral my hand cream, gloves, quarters, etc. I packed them in tightly, so they don’t shift around and I can reach in and find what I need without even looking.
Tip #2- Use the car’s built in storage. If I am not going far, I don’t tend to have too many items in my car for child entertainment. We largely stick to a few books and music CDs. I store the books in the seat back pocket. I considered getting a small basket for them to be kept on the floor, or a seat back organizer, but I decided not to because I didn’t need or want that many items in the car and I wanted to keep the floor free for wandering toddlers and diaper bags. Using just the seat back limits what can be in the car at one time and keeps things tidy and in place. (Going on a road trip? Check out my blog post on organizing for a road trip with kid’s: https://www.lgnorganizing.com/blog/2019/8/19/road-trip-entertainment-organization)
Tip #3- Use a trunk organizer if you have a large trunk space. With a large and deep trunk space, it would have been easy to throw in what I needed and let it roll around back there. But that wouldn’t be helpful for finding things or for clearly containing my items from client items that I transport! I got a trunk organizer with two large compartments and smaller side pockets to house my regular car supplies. It keeps things together and contained and is easy to put in and out and move around.
Tip #4- Make it a family habit to leave the car with whatever you brought in with you. This is a long game tip, but if you ask your family (and remind them each time) to bring out what they brought in, it will eventually become a habit. And even if it’s not perfectly executed, some things will make it out of the car and that is one less thing that needs to be removed later!
Tip #5- Clean out as you go. Whenever you are getting out of the car and have a bag going in or anticipate having a free hand, do a scan of the car and take things in. Or if you are going to a store with a trash can out front, do a quick scan for trash and bring it with you. Stray receipts, empty bags, old snacks, etc. Grab whatever you can carry and bring it inside the house or directly to the trash can, if appropriate. If you have a lot of eating in your car, consider a small trash can or bag to keep in the car. Because we don’t need to eat in the car a lot and I don’t want things piling up, I choose not to do that.
Random item I am loving- Eat snacks in the car? I am loving these snack cups: https://www.amazon.com/ME-FAN-Collapsible-Travel-Cup-Expandable/dp/B07545HPT2/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=camping+cups&qid=1580146744&sr=8-4 I fill them with a snack for the kids, and when they are done, the cups pop down flat and can easily be put in a diaper bag, pocket, or brought right into the house :)
