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If you spend a lot of time driving you know how easily clutter can collect your car, and that’s especially true if you’re shuttling kids around or eating meals on the go. While it’s easy to neglect your vehicle, you’re likely spending a lot of time in it and it should be as functional and organized as any other space you occupy. Here are some ideas for making your car a pleasant, clutter-free zone.
1. Decide on the essentials - Because we're only in our cars as we transition from place to place, it’s easy to toss things in for a specific purpose and then never remove them. Take everything out of your vehicle, clearing out the floor and all the storage spaces, and look at what you’re carting around. You can probably weed out a lot of non-essentials. Just like in your home, the less you have to organize, the easier it is to keep it tidy.
2. Assign everything a place - One important rule of organizing is to assign everything a home, and this is especially important in a confined space like your car. Take the essentials that you identified in Step 1 and decide where you will store them. Consider what needs to be within easy reach when you’re driving and place those things in the most accessible areas. Paperwork and emergency items can be stored out of sight in the glove box or trunk.
3. Add storage solutions if needed - If you have a lot you need to store in your car but nowhere to put it, add an organizer that hangs over the back of the front seats. This one has plenty of pockets for drinks and snacks and even a clear pouch to hold a tablet for back seat passengers.
4. Divide your spaces - Adding dividers to the storage spaces in your car can help to keep them tidy. I like to use a purse organizer to keep all the odds and ends in my glove box from rolling around and making a mess. Upright trunk storage is helpful for keeping groceries and other items you’re hauling in place while you’re on the road.
5. Address trash - If you or anyone in your family is eating in the car you’re going to have to deal with trash. Plan ahead with a designated trash can - a sealed cereal container works great for this. When you stop for gas use that as your cue to empty it out.
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Make it fab!
Carrie