Declutter Car Trunk {15 Minute Mission}

Today's mission is to declutter your car trunk, removing trash and items that don't belong so that you aren't carrying around excess items all the time.


This mission is designed to be done while working on the Car Organization Challenge here on the site, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

The steps for today's mission are pretty simple. Remove all of the items from your car's trunk or boot, or if you've got a van or SUV the storage area behind the back seats, and evaluate each item.

Throw trash away, put away in the house anything that should be there instead of in the trunk, and then only put back items into your trunk that actually should stay there, long term.

(These steps are quite similar to those we did yesterday when we got rid of car clutter from the interior of your vehicle.)

Only keep items in your trunk that you use consistently, or are important to have in case of an emergency.

To help you identify what you should consider keeping in your trunk I've created a list below to help you out.


Photo courtesy of State Farm

List Of Common Items To Store In Your Car's Trunk

I don't actually think you should overfill your car's trunk. The point of the trunk, after all, is to help you haul things around that you need to transport, from luggage on trips, to groceries from your trips to the store.

If you've over filled your trunk with clutter and stuff you don't use regularly you can use it to haul this stuff around like you should, so that's why we're decluttering the car trunk in the first place!

But, on the other hand, your trunk is a great place to store some items that you do use frequently that make your life more convenient. In addition, it is important to carry some emergency supplies with you for when you or your passengers may need them.

As with almost all of life it is a balancing act trying to deal with these competing issues.

With that in mind here are some common items that people store in their trunks. This list is merely designed to help you identify what, in your trunk, should make the cut to get added back while you're working on this mission, or to even add a couple things if needed and desired to make life a bit easier for yourself in the future.

• Car emergency kit supplies (use this printable checklist to read my full recommended list of what you should have in your car emergency kit


• First aid kit (technically listed in the car emergency kit checklist but important enough to list separately here as well)


• Donations (this is temporary, you shouldn't keep items you plan to donate in there long term, but I couldn't resist adding this, since we are decluttering 365 days a year! ;). Many people add the items they want to declutter straight to their trunk so it is immediately out of their house and when they pass by the donation center they can drop it off quickly.)


• Stroller


• Extra diaper bag supplies, like additional diapers, wipes, change of clothes for the kids, etc.


• Chairs for watching participants at sports games (we keep these in our trunk during sports season, and then remove the rest of the year)


• Umbrella and/or snow scraper (be prepared for the weather)


• Reusable grocery bags for your regular grocery shopping, to replace plastic bags


• Extra plastic grocery bags or other bags you can use to gather trash from your car

Can you think of anything else you might normally keep in the trunk of your vehicle? If so, tell me in the comments below.

Here's one photo sent in by a reader, showing what she stores in her trunk. Charlene said, "I keep my trunk like this pretty much all the time. I got the storage container last Christmas. It has my reusable grocery bags, grocery cart cover, emergency items, and blanket. I keep the umbrella stroller because you never know when you'll need it."


Top photo courtesy of Qfamily

Before & After Photos From Readers Who've Already Done This Mission

Here are a couple photos sent in by readers who've already done this mission, to get you inspired to work on this task yourself.

The before and after photos above were sent in by a reader, Karen, when she sorted her car's boot.



These photos were sent in by another reader, Brandy. She explained of the after photo, "Those mats are my winter ones. My summer ones are still in the car. Once fall gets here I clean my car and switch the mats."

Room For Storage In Clutter Free Trunk

So how's this mission going for you? I'd love to see your results, so once you've done this mission make sure to submit your photos here to show off your accomplishments. The best photos will be featured here on the site.

The photo above was submitted by a reader, Alla, who worked on this mission. She stated, "2 beach chairs and a pair of flip-flops. That's about it."

Great job Alla! I would love to see some emergency kit supplies somewhere in there car though, but overall you definitely have room in your trunk so it can fulfill it's purpose -- to help you haul stuff around temporarily, as needed.

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

Get This Vehicle Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home

Right now you're decluttering your vehicle, and there's a lot of stuff to declutter in this space.

Get your 1 page vehicle decluttering checklist, plus 32 other decluttering checklists, to help you declutter your entire home here.

I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.

In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!

Check Out These Car Organizers

I've created a round up list of over 30 car organizers in my Amazon store (referral link) that you can check out, if this article has inspired you to get your car organized. Once in my Amazon store, scroll down to find the car organizer list.

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

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