Genius! An Invention to End Smashed Groceries

Ready to stop digging through that muddled mess of groceries and sports gear in the back of your car? Turn the trunk into an organizational oasis with this unbelievably easy-to-build pop-up shelf!

By Manasa Reddigari | Updated Aug 10, 2018 10:44 AM

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DIY Trunk Storage

Photo: instructables.com user Beetlesmart

If you’re regularly tagged with grocery duty, you know that the most perilous part of a trip to the supermarket is the car ride home. With overstuffed bags haphazardly stacked in the trunk of your vehicle, fragile foods like bread, fruits, eggs, and chips all too often roll over, fall down, and get crushed under the weight of heavier products. The back of your car inevitably turns into a sticky mess of smashed food, sometimes warranting another costly grocery store trip to repurchase the ruined items. Tired of wasting money and exerting energy digging through the overwhelming stockpile in her SUV trunk, Instructables user Beetlesmart fashioned a wire rack and a handful of common materials into a multi-use pop-up shelf. The storage solution can be easily recreated for a fraction of the cost of your average grocery store haul.

To make the handy system, Beetlesmart first purchased a wire closet rack to use as the car trunk organizer. She then gave her project legs—two locking metal seat legs, to be exact—which she fastened to the rack with zip ties. A layer of attractive auto-grade fabric sewn to the rack seamlessly blends the shelf into the existing fabric of the car interior. The prolific DIYer secured the pop-up piece to the rear seat back with two cup hooks so that it’d always be nearby and ready for use.

When collapsed, the slim shelf rests flush against the back seat of a vehicle, leaving ample room for luggage, camping gear, and other bulky cargo. If you need sturdy, stackable storage at a moment’s notice, simply lift up the rack and lock the legs into the vertical position. The top shelf is a prime drop-off zone for delicate foodstuffs, which will stay secure without getting smashed from heavier groceries or shopping bags placed underneath. Or, rely on the top shelf to separate muddy footwear from other items in your trunk. The space below the shelf comes in handy even if you don’t have a full load: Valuables like purses placed in the compartment will be hidden from car windows, leaving your vehicle’s back-end looking virtually empty. By recreating this handy car trunk organizer, you won’t have to wish for more storage space ever again!

FOR MORE: Instructables.com 

DIY Trunk Storage

Photo: instructables.com user Beetlesmart