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For a long time, I thought car trunk organization was impractical. Reusable bags, emergency supplies, old receipts, extra clothes, random purchases and things I kept “just in case” slowly built up until opening it became mildly stressful. I realized I wasn’t storing things because I used them. A lot of it came from wanting to feel prepared for any situation on the road.
So instead of doing another big cleanout and hoping it stuck, I spent about $35 on a few Amazon organizers and gave everything a place. A few hours later, my trunk looked bigger, cleaner and surprisingly easier to maintain.
I realized my problem wasn’t that I owned too much, but that nothing had a designated place in my car. Loose items like groceries spilled out every time I turned. Grocery bags rolled around, recyclables migrated and small errands created new piles. I even discovered a bag of bananas a week after I purchased them, hidden neatly and overripe under my seat because the grocery bag had upended.
I already love the idea of gently decluttering, especially a 12-12-12 approach, where you throw out 12 items from your home that are no longer used, donate 12 things and return 12 to their places. My goal was to do something similar for my car. Once I got organized, I began following a 2-2 approach to stop feeling overwhelmed each time I got behind the wheel. I throw out two things and place two items where they belong in my car every week.
What really got me going was the idea that one day my family might have to sell my car if something ever happened to me, and I didn’t want them to deal with the chaos. I ran across the idea of Swedish Death Cleaning a while back, and it’s been such a revelation for getting your things in order before you head to a heavenly highway.
Once I finished decluttering my car, I felt such a sense of peace as my cortisol levels returned to normal, and I am so much more positive about my mobile space. It was even fun to think outside the box about how to bring order without breaking my budget.
Off the bat, these are my favorite finds for bringing order to your car, trunk or even a closet at home that needs a map to find anything.
Most of the loose things in my car easily fit into this storage compartment system. I used one section for reusable shopping bags, one for emergency items and one for cleaning supplies and random practical things. The leakproof pocket turned out more useful than expected because sunscreen bottles and hand sanitizer always seem determined to leak.
The biggest win was containment. Things stopped sliding around, and I knew where everything was.
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I really like this one because the compartments are adjustable. Instead of assigning categories permanently, I resized sections as need. Grocery areas get more space, while hardware zones require less. It also folds up easily, so it doesn’t become another bulky object to remove when your car goes for a wash. This one works especially well for awkward items that never seem to fit standard bins, making it ideal for me as an equestrian who constantly has riding boots, saddles and balls of baling twine in the car.
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With two 75L bins, you can’t go wrong, and I adore how convenient these baskets are as my “grab and go” solutions. Anything that needs to leave the car quickly fits in here, from library books, returns, packages and reusable containers. After a sports day, I simply unload everything in the sturdy baskets instead of carrying items one at a time. Because it collapses, it doesn’t create clutter when empty.
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Since I love plants, I often have new additions to my garden hanging out in my car until I get them settled at home. I never realized how useful a crate would be for this purpose. Unlike softer organizers, this gave structure to heavier items and gardening supplies, bottled drinks and bulky shopping stayed upright instead of turning into trunk bowling participants. Since the crate folds flat, I keep one behind a seat for when I need it.
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A basic storage basket that is squashable and cheap is surprisingly helpful. I’ve stored anything in it, from groceries to extra warm jackets and my horse Rami’s bridle and halter to spare dressage tests and an old-fashioned road map in case my GPS fails. Since these come in a range of colors, you can also color-coordinate. I now have about three blue ones for hobbies and two green ones for plant-related paraphernalia. Plus, since these baskets are waterproof, they are ideal for storing rain boots, umbrellas and tarps.
Get Rectangular Storage Basket on Amazon
Not every good car trunk storage idea needs Amazon.
A few free upgrades made almost as much difference to my trunk:
One of my favorite rules became simpler. If I forgot an item existed for a month, my car probably didn’t need to store it.
If you’re still unsure of how to bring order to the chaos of your car, the answers are here/
For general use, I’d choose a collapsible compartment organizer. Adjustable sections make it easier to adapt, rather than buying separate containers.
Group items into categories and limit each to one container. Compress soft items and remove duplicates.
Every two weeks worked well for me. Small resets feel easier than waiting until the trunk can’t close anymore and then feeling overwhelmed by chaos.
The surprising thing wasn’t that my trunk looked cleaner. It was that driving felt calmer, too. I stopped opening the trunk and immediately wanting to close it again. I stopped carrying six versions of the same “just in case” item. And when someone asks for a ride, I no longer think about whether they’ll see the mess.
Turns out my trunk never needed more space. It just needed boundaries.
