Car Organization for the Family
Master your family car organization, with what you need on hand, and easy systems for trash, toys, and supplies on all your summer adventures and travels!
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Trying to maintain a clean and organized car while traveling, chauffeuring, and adventuring during the summer can be just like the popular analogy of brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.
BUT it is possible to stay generally clean even while spending extra time in the car with a handful of simple systems in place. Besides the obvious of easily accessible trashcans, it’s also super important to have convenient storage options for the things everyone “needs” on the drive.
And, of course, the habit of not leaving half your personal belongings in the car every time you return home helps, too.
Car Organization Ideas for the Family
Let’s begin with the most basic things for car organization — trash and food. Two essential considerations if ever there were any.
People have a lot of different ideas about whether or not to let kids eat in the car, but honestly, to me it’s just entirely impractical to say that we will never eat a meal or a snack on the road.
Instead, I make the process as easy as possible– both super easy for the kids to eat and easy for clean-up to be streamlined.
My favorite hack for eating on the road is to keep food baskets in the car (I keep mine handy in my center console). We use these to divy up fast food, pass out snacks, and make meal baskets for longer rides.
These baskets are especially helpful during the summer, when we’re traveling further and spending full days adventuring. Sometimes I’ll prep breakfast for the drive there, and then pack something for dinner to keep in the car until we are ready to head back home. (For many/most adventure days where we live, this means at least an hour drive).
We keep a water cooler in the car to refill water bottles, my kids may change into dry clothes, and I assemble dinner baskets. I’m working on putting together a list of pack-ahead dinners for the drive home, but for now, just be sure to follow me on Instagram for lots of ideas and recs!
I always use fast food napkins or paper towels to line the baskets, which makes clean up really easy.
There’s no perfect car trash can that will magically motivate everyone to make sure they’re throwing away their trash (rather than it ending up on the floor or left on the seat).
That said, I have found a blend of reminding the kids during travel and when we get back to take care of their trash AND having big enough trash cans/bags within reach really does go a long way to keeping the car clean.
These are the three trash cans/bags we’ve used in our truck.
- Waterproof Car Trash Bag with Lid & Storage Pockets
- Easy Mountable Car Trash Can for Back Seat
- Small Trash Can with Lid & Foot Pedal
Option one is a great design, but it didn’t end up being a good fit for our vehicle where I hung it. For a while, it was hung next to the center console on the passenger side so I could reach it and easily throw things away. However, because it wasn’t convenient for my kids to reach and it took up space from whoever was in the passenger seat, I swapped it for other options.
The second option is another great design, with a completely washable interior, an adjustable opening, and velcro closure. I wanted something for my kids who ride in the third row to be able to easily access for their smaller trash, so I hung this in-between the two headrests on the back row.
Option three isn’t actually meant for the car– it’s a bathroom/small trash can. BUT, it’s currently working really well for us after multiple trips and lots of time in the car. I wanted something with a sturdy lid, something big enough to hold. more than one outing’s worth of trash, and something that my youngest kids in the second row could easily use to throw away their trash. I have it strapped to the center console so it is securely fixed in-between their seats and cannot fall over. We just line it with grocery bags for quick and clean swaps.
Five Favorite Car Storage Recommendations
I’m mildly obsessed with each of these storage/organization items for the car and not at all embarrassed about how happy they make me. (Especially number five!)
This is actually meant for tissues, I think. But, I wanted a way to keep napkins quickly in reach while driving. Instead of asking for the passenger to pass me some (request often goes unheard due to headphones), or reaching across to the glove box (not exactly the safest), there’s always a stash of napkins to pass out right above my head.
(It’s also super easy to refill, which I always do when I get more napkins from a restaurant).
This cargo storage net really helps to reduce the clutter and mess on the floor of the car. (And helps to protect books from getting destroyed underfoot!)
My kids use it to keep a book or two, hats, small toys, etc, above their heads.
This little pocket organizer is helpful to utilize a small amount of space in which things would usually just fall into and get lost under the seat. I keep some simple basic things in mine, like chapstick, a pocket knife, lotion stick, and sharpie.
We used these a year or so ago and they were helpful in keeping my younger kids’ toys and gear organized and accessible for them. Eventually, they did become clutter-magnets themselves, though, so I took them out of the car. However, I would still recommend them for longer roadtrips and drives when there is the expectation that they will have more with them in the car to stay occupied.
5. Car Trunk Organizer and Storage with Lid & Removable Leakproof Cooler Bag
I’ve used a variety of organizers in the back of our car over the years, from laundry baskets and bags to plastic drawer organizers. They all did the job well enough of keeping items we needed corralled and for that, I’m thankful.
But they also all had their pitfalls and I wanted to find another storage option that could keep everything organized without looking messy or taking up too much valuable space.
I am obsessed with how much I like this trunk organizer. I wanted an organizer that had a sturdy lid so we could stack things on top as needed. I also appreciate that if we don’t need to use all the compartments, it can close up and buckle to take up less space.
The organizer also comes with a cooler bag, which I honestly didn’t realize how much I would use. I bought some flat, stay-frozen longer ice packs and we use the cooler bag all the time for drinks, snacks, and more.
It’s honestly such a great investment for keeping the car organization and preparation this summer (and beyond)!
15 items I always keep on hand in our car ::
- Emesis Bags
- Compact Picnic Blanket
- Ultralight Chair
- Rain jackets for the family
- Hats (for sun shade and hiking)
- Flip flops (in case people forget shoes)
- Travel games (for the car, parks, & restaurants)
- Hair brush and ties
- First Aid Kit
- Microfiber towels
- Trays (currently these dry erase, magnetic trays)
- Ziploc bags
- Hammock
- Pocket knife, magnifying glass, net, whistle
- Travel Cutlery
I hope these ideas and recs help you master car organization this summer! Being prepared and organized is a great first step to fun and adventures!
More Like This:
- Adventure Day Bags
- 10 Summer Mom Hacks for Better (& Easier) Family Adventures
- Traveler’s Journal Ideas: How I Use A Traveler’s Journal to Organize My Life
- Summer Adventure Bingo
- Summer Checklists & Our Summer Rhythm
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