Exciting news everyone!  There’s a new baby at the house.  Not one that coos or will eventually crawl and talk.  Nope.  I’m talking about one that has shiny new wheels and lives in the driveway.  Yes, the boyfriend got a new car and boy is he in love!  The new toy is about four weeks old now and I’ve never seen the bf polish something so much in the almost two years we have been together.  I may, or may not, roll my eyes every time I catch him.

Given his new love, I knew I could use this opportunity to help him organize it.  He’s not always enthusiastic when I ‘suggest’ decluttering improvements but I know he wants to keep the new baby as pristine as possible (while also lugging around a bunch of ‘I might need these one day’ items).  Side note on those ‘one day’ items: on our first visit to a local dog park, a dog got her paw stuck in one of the lattice structure benches (worst design ever for a dog park, LA!).  The dog was in distress, the owner was in distress, and the dog’s paw was beginning to swell and bleed.  Someone called the police, but they seemed to be taking forever.  Luckily, the boyfriend had a trusty bag of tools in his car for ‘one day’ and was able to cut the bench and free the dog.  So, he’s basically a hero and I obviously fell in love with him even more that day.  Now I feel like a terrible human for rolling my eyes so much.

As I helped him find a system that would work best in his new car, I thought it the best time to provide my steps for getting your car organized while showcasing what worked for him.

Step 1: Identify what NEEDS to be in the car

The first step is to identify what needs to be in the car based on your situation and how you use your car.  If you are single and tend to drive alone, do you really need three umbrellas?  Given we basically live off the gps on our phones, do you really need that paper map of a state that isn’t even yours?  Are 5 pens (3 of which are dried out) required?  In contrast, if you are a pharmaceutical rep who spends countless hours in the car, often eating lunch on the run, you might need a stash of napkins and hand sanitizer kept in the car.  Decide what is the minimum you need in the car and remove everything else.

Step 2: Designate a place for everything

Anything that survives step one needs to have a designated location in the car.  Nothing is more nerve racking than looking frantically for your registration while a cop is staring at you.  Or frantically looking for the ice scraper while freezing your booty off in February.  Some suggestions:

  • Keep all important papers together in a plastic bag or pouch in the glove compartment. This includes your proof of insurance, current registration, and inspection documents, along with any owner manuals.  Do NOT keep your title in the car as that should be kept at home in a safe place.
  • Reserve the console for only necessary items (charging/auxiliary cords, sunglasses, parking passes, mints, a small container of tissues, one pen and a little notebook, etc.)
  • If you have younger kids, a box for non-perishable snacks, a roll of paper towels, car games (or other distractions), and hand wipes are a must. Keep these in a container or bin on the floor behind the passenger seat for easy access at a stop light.
  • Keep your umbrella(s) in the door compartments.
  • Keep anything else in your trunk.

Step 3: Contain items within the trunk

Think of your trunk as a kid’s playroom and contain yo stuff!  I don’t know about you, but I really hate the sound of things rolling around in my trunk.  Items that need to be in the car but don’t need to be accessed while driving (besides an umbrellas), should be kept in the trunk.

I’m really a minimalist when it comes to my car.  I don’t haul a lot in my trunk besides a small emergency kit, a shammy, windshield wiper fluid, a bottle of water for emergencies, and reusable bags for shopping.  Everything besides the reusable bags fit in cubbies that are essentially for the pop-up third row of my SUV (that I never use).  The reusable bags are folded and stored within one reusable bag.  That’s it.

My boyfriend on the other hand, totes around much more than I do (see note about being a dog hero above).  For him, I found this trunk organizer off Amazon that was sturdy, could hold all his stuff, and could buckle into hooks built into the trunk.  Each side can even collapse individually so it’s customizable based on the amount you need to contain.  Less sturdy ones that collapse and open easily are great for transporting occasional items like groceries so that your oranges don’t roll around the trunk when driving home.

Once the car is organized, it’s time to maintain that order.  My car might not always be the cleanest on the outside, but you won’t ever find leftover trash or empty bottles in my car.  Every time I get out of my car, I take with me anything I brought with me that doesn’t live in the car.  That includes my empty coffee cup, or water bottle, or protein bar wrapper.  Doing it as you go makes it very manageable.

If clearing out your trash after every ride doesn’t seem possible (perhaps you don’t have the hands when you have a baby to carry, plus a diaper bag and groceries) then keep a trashcan in your car.  A cereal storage container is a decent size for the car.  Use a command velcro strip to adhere it to something in the car so it doesn’t roll around.  Then, make it your mission to always clean out the trash when you are filling up at the gas pump.  If you have an electric car, then designate a single night every week to clean out the car (at least).

Now, your car might not be brand new, and you might not ‘visit’ it in the driveway like someone I live with does, but take some time this week to declutter it and designate a spot for your necessities.  Sitting in traffic is torture in and of itself, so you might as well create a little sanctuary for yourself.

As always, I hope you found this post interesting, informative, inspiring, or entertaining (I’ll take any one as a success).  If so, please let me know in the comments section.  Also let me know if there is anything you’d like to see on this blog by writing me at feedback@theorganizingblonde.com.

 

XOXO,

The Organizing Blonde