I love my mini van. It has been a very reliable vehicle, it’s spacious for all six of us, and best of all, it’s paid for!! One bad thing about my van is that it is a mess!! We haven’t done well at all keeping it clean…much less organized. So I searched Pinterest for car organizing ideas that would work for my family.
Trash in the car is one of the biggies that we deal with. We eat in the mini van, do school in the mini van, haul things in the mini van, and basically anything else that can be done while driving…we do. None of my kids are great picker-up-ers and since I’m only one and there are four of them…You get the idea, I’m sure.
I came across a garbage using a plastic cereal box with a bag in it. I thought it was a great idea but I didn’t have one and didn’t want to spend any money on this project so I had this pitcher that was waiting for a good use. I put a bag in it and it’s now filling up with trash in my mini van. Not to be gross or anything but we have a child that is inflicted with car sickness and I could have used the pitcher on more than one occasion for more than garbage…enough said.
Another idea I came across was to use this cleaning supply carrier to organize all the little odds and ends that float around the van. We always carry tissues, wipes, and snacks in the car but they are usually just randomly floating around the van and when we need one we are all searching under our seats for them.
This carrier fits neatly between the front two seats of the van… all its contents are easy to access.
The next idea I saw was to sew a holder for the back of the van seat. The holder had a bunch of pockets and reminded me much of a back of the door shoe holder. Then it dawned on me that I had one of the shoe holders under the steps in my basement (another organizing project coming up here soon).
It didn’t look that great but I thought I’d give it a shot. One row of pockets was ripped so I just cut that row off the side and then cut it lengthwise to fit the seat. I threw it in the washer on the delicate cycle to clean it up a bit and then made labels for each of the pockets.
One pocket for each child and a couple for extra accessories.
My final car organizing idea is not so much for the mess but for the bickering kids. My kids “call” who will sit where, every time we get in the van, soooo….I made up a schedule and attached it inside the glove box. Hopefully this does the trick.
All of these are new to my mini van…I’ll let you know if they help to keep it more organized.
Blessings,
Those are some good ideas. I'm a minivan mom too and really like that shoe holder for the back seat. Thanks!
Even though I’m passed the kids stage with my car.. it still gets messy. What a great idea with the carrier for wipes and such. I love this idea and those with small children should take note!!
Kids never change, do theY?! Mine are in their 40’s but were the same way about picking seats!!! Great ideas, mom!
I love these ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Girl you are full of ideas — I {{love}} it! Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous ideas at Craft Junkie Too — I have this featured over at my FB page this week! :)https://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Junkie-Too/162946417058976
-Tracy
Wow Carrie, I LOVE those ideas!! I have some of those in my car… (SUV lol) for the grandkids and my self… but will have to be redoing some of them for better use! Thanks for sharing hon!!!
Hope you have a wonderfully blessed day my dear Carrie!
would love it if you could share this on my link party
Natasha xxx
http://www.serenityyou.blogspot.com
What a GREAT idea and no money spent! Since my car is usually an unholy disaster…I’ll be definitely stealing some of these ideas! We’d love for you to link this to our party! http://housewivesofriverton.blogspot.com/2012/03/riverton-housewives-round-up-8.html
Great post and great ideas!
Great ideas, when my children were younger we had assigned seats and I choose who sat where, based on things like who got along well with who and an older child near a younger one so they could help. It worked great no more fighting and no one sat in the front with out permission and I admit I put the loudest child in the back!!. And to this day when they are all home they still pile into their assigned seats and they are now ages 23-16!!!!
Love this. I pinned it and FBed it. 🙂
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
When my children were young, the one who was assigned the dishes job for the week got the front seat. At that time, the law wasn’t strict about what size/aged child could sit in front. The kids loved knowing that they had ”dibs” on the most sought after seat and it made the cleaning the dishes chore less painful. Love you organizing tips, thanks!