Monday, May 9, 2005

Mobile organization

With so much time spent on wheels, it pays to invest in storage gear.

JOANNE MAMENTA

The Tennessean

You spend so much time there, get it organized.

Our cars have become our mobile homes. Many commuters spend more time in their cars than they do at home. Add to commuting time the hours spent driving children to school and activities, running errands or using the car for business and the vehicle becomes Central Command.

That's fine, except when a neighbor or colleague stops by to talk to you and looks in your car and sees piles of paper scattered on the front seat, juice boxes and fast-food bags lying on the floor and last season's athletic wear thrown across the back seat.

It doesn't have to be like that. Several manufacturers have come out with an array of products to organize your car.

There are front-seat and back-seat organizers, cargo-trunk containers, collapsible bins for the floor, visor organizers and glove-box organizers.

Most items are made of durable, strong fabric that you can toss in the washing machine when they get dirty.

Trey Adkisson, a purchasing manager, bought one of these organizers for his Lexus LX470. He never knows when he'll be out in the field and need something from his office. So he bought an organizer from Duluth Trading Company, which specializes in products for the building and trades industries.

Called the Cab Commander, it holds file folders, Thermos bottles, building plans, a 25-foot tape measure, flashlight, clipboard, cell phone, camera and maps.

There also is room for a laptop computer or a large three-ring binder.

"It also has straps so you can pick it up and carry it inside your office," Adkisson says.

But you can use simple things to organize your car. Adkisson keeps an empty cup in one of the cup holders for pens and pencils.

LaDonna Edwards also found inexpensive products to help her organize the family minivan.

A mother of two active daughters, Edwards says the minivan has become the home away from home for the family.

"With soccer practice and games, piano lessons and church activities, we're always in the car," Edwards says.

But it wasn't until the clutter got to the point where stuff was falling out every time she opened the door that Edwards took action.

"I started buying little things to help," Edwards says.

For the trunk, she bought a bin to hold car supplies, such as shop towels and wet wipes. She also bought three collapsible crates for grocery bags.

"They are also good to keep soccer balls from rolling around," she says.

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