Car Organizing Stuff I Love
Just drove back from a Thanksgiving weekend with my wife and father-in-law, after visiting Mum in Maine. For reasons that are unimportant and uninteresting, I found myself driving another car over the weekend and immediately found myself missing certain organizing conveniences from my car, including a couple of the ones I am about to list. This is, by no means, a comprehensive list of perfect car organizing tips, just a few I happen to use and like.
EZ Pass
Sorry if that is too obvious for those of you who already have it, but if you don’t yet have an EZ Pass, what are you waiting for? I’ll tell you what: an unnecessary, unending line at the toll booths. EZ Pass is one of my favorite inventions. Worth every penny.
Sticky Pad
It’s not the Post-It sticky pad, but that flat black thing that holds my iPhone to my dashboard, even on the sharpest, fastest turns. It’s simple, effective, and inexpensive. What more do you want from an organizing tool?
3M Command Hooks
These things are all the rage in homes, but have you ever thought of using them in your car. If, somehow, you haven’t heard of the 3M Command Hook, it is an adhesive hook, that won’t damage your wall. It also won’t damage your dashboard, if you want to pull wires away from your controls. The cords from my GPS (another favorite invention) and from my tape deck (have mercy) to iPod converter, dangle annoyingly in front of my controls. I keep the cords swept to the right with the 3M Command Hooks and the cords no longer interfere.
Easy Trash Bin
There are a lot of car trash receptacles you can buy, but my favorite is free. It’s a cat litter jug with the top cut off. In my car, it fits perfectly between the car seats, front and back, back left and back right. In this photo, you can see Velcro (well maybe), which I have added to secure it. The location is accessible for everyone. It has a great structure and is easy to unload. Dog people, make friends with cat people.
Cleaning On The GO
You never value how useful it is to have a little cleaning kit in your car, until you have one. I find myself using it ALL the time. I keep a cleaning spray, a roll of paper towels, and a sponge, in, what else, a kitty litter container. By the way, I secure this kit in my trunk with a Trunk-Eez, trunk container. Seriously, you’ll thank me for this one.
Just An Envelope of Coupons
Unless you do couponing as sport, my advice on coupons is simple. First, be highly selective. Just because you are being offered a coupon for new vanilla Cheerios, doesn’t mean you should feel obligated to use it. Pick your very favorites. I like, among others, Bed Bath & Beyond, which is always good, since it never “really” expires. Second, keep them closest to where you use them. If they are online coupons, keep them next to your computer, but if they are coupons for brick-and-mortar stores, that you might reach by car, keep them in your car. I like to keep them in a clear plastic envelope in my door pocket. That way, I always have the coupon I need, WHEN I need it.
Like I said, I don’t pretend to have a monopoly on the best car organizing advice. This is just a sampling of what I like. What are YOUR best car organizing tips?
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In the past several years, I had emptied 4 separate dwellings, my grandmother’s apartment, my mother's house, my mother-in-law’s house, and my mother’s next apartment.
Intrigued by the notion of death cleaning and the painful memory of the cleanouts, I too began to consider what I might choose to leave behind.
So, what began with a trial run, (a thorough clean out of my eldest son’s childhood bedroom) I was ready to accomplish something far greater.
When my kids learned of my intention to launch an attack on the mother of all clean-outs (the basement), they worried what this might entail both physically and emotionally, So, to my surprise, a plan was hatched for a consultation with organizer, Matt Baier!
Meeting with Matt, with the support of my husband, and in the presence of the madness (furniture from various owners, cardboard in every size and shape, school supplies from a lifetime of working in classrooms, and twenty-three plastic bins containing the details of my children’s lives)... felt like the perfect storm.
As we continued to mine through vessels of pottery, glass, random art supplies, remnants of carpeting, wood, and fabric, costumes, tubs, screens, windows, and a life-size stuffed man we called Ned, Matt was busy outlining a tactical plan of action. Meanwhile, as we stepped amid multiples of objects including, but not limited to, kitchen appliance, toys, exercise equipment, electronics, glassware, three TV’s, VHS tapes, cartons of emergency meals packed since 2001, and mountain of debris that hadn’t seen the light of day in years, Matt’s resolve only grew stronger.
Unequivocally, meeting Matt was the lifeline we needed to pull us up from the weight of what we no longer needed in order to pass it all on to those who could benefit from donations.
So with a plan in place, come that Wednesday, a team of three remarkable women arrived at 9:30 a.m. to bring order from the chaos, in two short days.
The process from day one would have been impossible to imagine. But these three incredible workers managed to remove everything from the basement in systematic stages, but not before passing each and every object, large and small, through my hands for my simple proclamation: keep, donate, trash or sell. Although daunting in scope, with each passing minute, the sorting really was simple, fast and surprisingly painless! Granted, I was a motivated purger, so nothing gave me more happiness than shouting: donate with as much gusto as I could muster!
These women were absolute angels. They were physically and mentally strong, determined to complete the work on time, and committed to organizing and reorganizing with thoughtful intention and microscopic precision to the work of sorting and discarding. In no time, as the basement grew unbelievably spacious, these three, then assembled new industrial shelving to accommodate clear, labeled bins (all provided by Matt) to create a visually consistent and clean appearance to this new system of organization
Through it all, Matt and his crew demonstrated common sense, sensitivity, practicality, wisdom, efficiency, an uncanny ability to problem solve and think on their feet, professionalism, most of all, kindness.
Included in the package was the capable Junkluggers crew. They arrived to haul it all away from my backyard: first to their charity center, then, to a consignment shop and finally to the dump to deposit my trash.
What a relief to watch them pull away with most of my basement firmly ensconced in the bed of their truck.
One week post clean out, I process the experience a little more each day. The sense of well being and gratitude I feel is immeasurable.
Thank you Matt!
We decided to use Matt Bowers organizers based on recommendations and meeting with Matt Bowers himself.
All of our expectations were met and more. His team of experts were great. They were true professionals in every aspect of the word. Always on time, very knowledgeable and experienced and very accommodating. All through the project they were very attentive to our needs and opinions. And not less important were always punctual and industrious.
Our house is so much more functional now and better organized while we managed to get rid and donate a huge amount of stuff that was just occupying space.
We highly recommend Matt Bowers Organization
Noni and Giora Davidai, New canaan CT
Matt and his team were very professional, responsive to my needs and were able to accommodate my aesthetic into their work. But most importantly they were fun to work with and I felt completely at ease discussing my challenges with them. They truly listened. I would recommend them for any project without reservation.
After several other moves, one of which we were only given a 24-hour notice to move all household items into storage, items were just boxed without labels. Since we had no idea where certain items were, duplicate items bought and used. Along came another move, and we continued to box and move those items again. Finally, we needed to combine similar items to reduce the clutter! The team worked so well, always exceeding my expectations by getting this massive project done! It is wonderful to be organized again and able to find items with ease.
The process with the Team is simple, and you work at your own pace. No one will pressure you to get rid of items. Also, there is a great option to donate items. We were fortunate to have boxes and boxes of kitchen items, household, and bathroom items neatly organized or donated to a charity. We can not thank the team members enough for all the work that they did.
We find so much more clarity with an organized home. The flow of our home is peaceful, and we no longer staring at clutter or rearranging boxes to get them out of view!
Matt's company came highly recommended by several local Realtors. At first, I was a bit concerned about the pricing seeming very expensive; I quickly realized that it was worth every penny and soon became a seasonal client.
The team arrives so prepared and professional; they know just what to do and I can be as involved as much as I choose; or not all. They just get the job done.
Just as an example, I had over 15 file boxes of papers and Matt's team organized and reduced it down to only 4 well organized drawers.
Our personal items were sorted, organized, donated or stored neatly throughout the house.
Matt's team was a life saver for my family. I would highly recommend their service; The results are well worth the investment.
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