Summer means a bit more time than usual in the old family minivan for me. Back and forth. Back and forth. I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of time for the sake of summer enrichment and fun camp experiences, but I am darn well going to put those few minutes in the pickup line to use. I got to looking at the huge black hole of a center console, so handy but such a disaster. The tangle of cords and other “just in case” items was making me crazy. This is the story of how I organized the car during one of the busiest weeks of the summer.

Fortunately for me, HomeGoods is on the camp commute route, so I popped in one day looking for something that kind of felt like a dishwasher cutlery tray. I was hoping for a caddy to help me arrange everything standing up, rather than piling in. I found three possibilities, and bought them all to try.It’s not always completely obvious which tool will be the best for any organizing job.

This 6-compartment job offered the most flexibility. And I really liked that I could assign the hairbrush it’s own spot!

Remember to take the labels off of your organizing tools. It just looks so much nicer, and usually, they come off cleanly when the item is new. A few years from now? It probably won’t be so pretty.

This fits perfectly in there, with just enough room for my vanity pack (the teal blue case) and a small black makeup bag that I repurposed to hold all the cords and connectors.

Yes, I know, you can’t even see most of this in the before picture. That’s the point! Everything was always hidden under whatever big thing was on top. But now I can find anything at a glace, which is sometimes all you have at the next red light.

The other two makeup organizers got returned to the store within a week. It’s no good buying organizing tools if you end up with more clutter!

Ahhh. Honestly, my car doesn’t always look like this. It’s usually got a purse and a chip bag on the front passenger seat. But now, at least, when I need a cord or some hand cream or a quick hair fluff before an appointment, everything is easy to find in my center console.

Is your car as organized as you want it to be? Have you found something that works to organize your car’s storage spaces?