An Organized Car!

Let me tell you this.

Mike loves a clean car.  I love organization.

Why we hadn't married the whole clean-organized-car concept sooner, is a mystery.

Regardless, I think I've made some huge leaps in creating little systems that are keeping our car tidy and organized.

I think what helped was when I sat down and brainstormed both the problem areas of our car and what we need from our car (aside from, you know, transportation).  :)

First thing I had to figure out... Maddie.

The girl loves to draw in the car.

Inspired by Pinterest, I grabbed an extra diaper wipes case and lined up her crayons.

Then I loaded up a clipboard with lots of computer paper and slid both things in the pocket in front of her seat.

It's been this way for a while and so far, is working out great (she even refills her own paper when she runs out).

Next up was creating an emergency box to keep in the trunk.

I loaded a plastic container with first aid essentials (in the cute cloth clutch), a fully-charged camera, and umbrella.

I also grabbed some resealable bags and labeled each with a kiddie's name.

 Each bag is filled with necessities for Maddie and Grayson.

I included an extra shirt, pants, undies/diapers, light sweater, socks, and even a hat/rubberband.

Should we ever be stranded, or should a kiddo have an accident, we're set (and I put clothes that are just a touch bigger than their current size so that they'll be okay in there for a while).

Another issue I face is my front seat.  It seems to just slowly pile up with things that need to be returned, things that need to be brought inside, or things that need to be delivered to people or the post office.

A collapsable basket solved my problem.

It sits in the passenger seat and is super easy to move to the trunk when we need the seat for a person.

Otherwise, it holds everything that needs to be dealt with and keeps it compartmentalized.  When I need to bring things in, it's a quick fix of just carrying in the basket.
This particular basket was actually from Joann's Fabric store!

 

We also seem to accumulate a fair amount of juice box straws, stickers that are no longer sticky, or broken toy pieces... all while driving.

And... another Pinterest inspiration!  I grabbed a plastic cereal container from our pantry, lined it with a plastic shopping bag, and we have an instant trash can.  Maddie can easily throw things away and it's a breeze to toss the bag and add another.

Toys.

Grayson is a boy that loves to play with toys when we're driving.

A plastic shoe box in-between both car seats allows him to grab toys and also lets Maddie hand him toys.

Plus, they aren't strewn all over the backseat this way.

And finally, the trunk.

I use cloth shopping bags 99% of the time and they have a tendency to start littering my backseat.  Each one got folded up and placed inside one of the largest.  When I need to return used bags, I just fold them up and slip them in.

I also realized that all we need in our trunk is our emergency box, reusable bags, and single stroller.

If we have a special occasion and need something else, it's easy to load it from the garage.  But it's silly to cart around unnecessary stuff, like our double stroller that we only use on rare occasions.

 So there you have it!

An organized car that works for all members of the family!