CAR CONVERSATIONS
The recent road trip my husband and I took with our kids had us in the car together for over 34 hours over the course of a week and a half - and it got me thinking about the spaces we surround ourselves with, in addition to our homes.
I really was reflecting on the inside of our car, as I spent a lot of time in there. When we left for the road trip - I had everything in its place. We had a bag for car activities, a bag for diaper necessities, a bag for snacks, a cooler, a spot for coats and the travel stroller. Mostly everything in the main cabin had a place. By the time we were on our way home - our car looked like an episode of Hoarders (okay, just kidding, it wasn’t that bad) but we had random clothes, diapers, snacks, odds and ends that didn’t make it back in the right suitcase all over the place. It was chaos. Part of the stress was likely just the weariness of the end of a long trip settling in - but I really believe some of the exhaustion was our disheveled car interior, at least it was for me!
Next time I will be a little more intentional about putting things back during our trip, but today I wanted to chat about some car organization that has really made my life easier - or some things I am aspiring to do. Let’s dive in!
Center Console Storage: Before about a year ago, my center console storage was a black hole. An endless collection of disaster - random things, crammed into any open space I could find for the I-might-need-this-someday-but-won’t-remember-I-have-it area between the front seats. Then, I got inspired. I saw on some social media post that you could use 4x6 plastic photo boxes to store items. Brace yourself before you see this beautifully organized photo of my center console now:
And the best part is? It’s sustainable. It has been that beautiful for months. Besides the random item that gets added on top of the stack, my center console is organized, and everything is easily accessible, and it has been a game changer. I absolutely love it.
Here is the link to the boxes I got if you want to give it a try!
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2.Grocery Bag Storage: One day, I saw this gal walking into the grocery store with a small plastic storage box with her reusable grocery bags neatly folded inside. I have no idea who that lady was - but she is my hero. I absolutely LOVE that idea versus the chaos that is reusable bags in my car. On a good day, I can get all the bags stuffed into a single bag, and then toss that into my trunk. Someday, though, I want to be the plastic box grocery bag lady.
3.Glove Box: Ah the glove box - the distant cousin of the center console. Although this compartment at one point in history was for your driving gloves and car manual, for me it was another space I would pack full of things on the chance I needed them. After being inspired by my center console though, I have some guidelines for the glove box. While the car manual and other necessary car documents live there, sunglasses for my family do too, and that might be about it. If it isn’t, I need to get whatever else is in there out, because I don’t remember it is there.
4.Trunk Organizers: While I love the idea of these (and have one of my own that left me heartbroken when it didn’t end all of my cluttered trunk woes) I think you have to be extremely intentional about what gets stored in the trunk organizer, and what items are just pretending to be needed but actually need to be relocated to the garage, house, or second-hand store. This, along with every storage space in your car is just going to look different for everyone, and all depends on the season of life you are in! So tread carefully when curating your car’s trunk as it should really only be for necessities - or empty - so you can transport stuff as it was meant to do anyway.
Welp - I enjoyed this side-quest of car interiors, and I hope you did too! Do you have a favorite car storage solution that has actually worked for you and your family? Drop a comment below - I am all ears!!
If you want help creating a home that is Intentional, Beautiful, and Yours - in the midst of daily living and your life season - check out my Signature Workshop. It’s designed to help you create a home that highlights your heart for your family, and I would love if you checked it out.
