One of our priorities since having kids has NOT been the car. My strategy has been to ignore it for six months and then pull out the shopvac and excavate. With our 70 hour road trip approaching this summer, I’ve been watching a bunch of sprinter van conversion videos (turning a van into a motor home), dreaming about the life of ease we would lead with a kitchen and beds in a vehicle as we drove across America.

On one build for a family of five, the mom mentioned that they gave a lot of attention to storage because what doesn’t have a home ends up on the floor. 

This was a major lightbulb moment for me!Of course our car is a mess - there are literally zero places for things to go in there. 

So I went on a quest, and in just a few days we transformed our van from messy to clean and organized with things I found on Amazon and the dollar store. 

8 Simple Things For Car Organization on a Budget

1. Car Garbage Can 

2. Headrest Hook  

3. Expandable Cup Holders 

4. Mini Vacuum 

5. Cleaning Putty

6. Baskets 

7. Dromedary

8. Cookie Sheet

First, we needed to decide where everything could go in the van in order to have a chance at having it be clean. When I looked at my van, there pretty quickly became clear categories of  things covering the floor. 

• Coats, shoes, clothes

• Trash

• Diapers and wipes

• Water bottles

As an antidote, I got a garbage can for the trash, hooks to go on the back of the headrests for coats, hats, etc; a cup holder extender for large water bottles so they aren’t flying around; baskets that slide under the seats for diapers and some empty ones to block garbage from going under the seats; a cookie sheet so our dromedary water bladder can slide in and out of the car easily (we use this for washing kids off before they get in the car, rinsing dishes, or a quick drink); and a mini vacuum and cleaning putty to make tidying up hassle-free. 

With these tools, it’s become pretty effortless to keep the van picked up and tidy most of the time. 

Tune into this week’s episode to hear more about how I transformed our car to a very functional around-town space!