I hated this space. It is
that one spot in our house that I've always struggled with, especially in the
winter. It becomes a huge catch all and
crap just piles up. By the time spring
rolls around I'm ready to light a match to the whole thing.
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Filthy floor, what you can see of it |
This winter I plotted and planned out all kinds of organizational
strategies. More shelving, a work bench,
some cabinets, a new layout. Yada, yada,
yada. As the ideas came along the price
of putting this all together steadily climbed as well. I have to be honest, I am not willing to put
that much money into storing a bunch of crap.
It really didn't make a whole lot of sense. What did make sense was to grab a trash can
and get rid of a bunch of this stuff. In
reality I didn't need to keep hanging onto most of this. So that is what I did this past Saturday.
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Such an embarrassing mess! |
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I can't believe how much crap had accumulated |
Just like when I did our hall closet I hauled everything out onto the driveway grouping like items
together. I swept every square inch,
wiped down all of the shelving I already had and then started to put things
away. Only the things I truly wanted to
keep and were items we actually used or had a purpose for.
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Loads of empties |
For some reason I had amassed quite a collection of empty boxes
and containers as well as a bunch of packing material. Why?
Not entirely sure. My first
thought was to get rid of all of it until I remembered my oldest is going off
to college soon and will likely need some of these bins and the bubble wrap
too. So I stacked them all up and fit
them inside of each other as best as I could to take up as little space as
possible. Once she is all packed up I'll
probably purge the rest.
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I filled up the recycle bin with a lot of cardboard |
I filled up our recycle bin with a bunch of cardboard boxes and
packaging. Our trash can was filled up
halfway with garbage and I also had a decent sized pile of stuff to take to the
thrift store.
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This is what I decided to keep Only stuff we use |
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Amazing transformation |
Once everything I wanted to keep was put away I was amazed at how
much space we now have in there. Finally,
I rolled out the old rug we used to have in our living room and called it
good. Now when I walk out there I no
longer dread it. I can actually take a
breath and feel good about being out there.
You can even go out there in your bare feet and no cold floor or stuff
to worry about stepping on, tripping over or stubbing a toe. And I can easily find what I need too! So very glad I tackled this mountain last Saturday.
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I think I amazed myself with how much I was able to get rid of That toaster oven & bread machine next to the lawn mower will be donated |
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This stack of empty bins is temporary |
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Stella inspected my work and gave me her seal of approval |
Do you have a mountain to tackle in your garage? What is your big decluttering job this year?
Impressive! I cannot tell you how badly I need to do the same!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anne. This had gotten so out of hand. I was ashamed of myself.
DeleteYou deserve a star for this! That is a job with which I do not look forward to doing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tana! I was dreading it but now I'm so glad it is done.
DeleteYOur garage looks great!! I bet you feel happy going in there now. Our basement is a mess. Stresses me out. Our laundry is down there so no avoiding. lol I hope to declutter very soon.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy, Janie
Our freezer and the recycle bin are in there so I was in there every day. Totally stressful, especially when things would fall over. So much nicer now.
DeleteThank you Janie! :)
It looks wonderful! Well done! I did the same last spring; we needed garage ceiling repairs and the contractor couldn't work until he had a large clear space. Plus we were having new windows installed, and they needed space in the garage until that project started. Got a 14-foot dumpster and worked for a week. It never looked as magnificent as yours now does, but I was happy. 1 year later? Don't ask. Just DON'T ASK! ;^) ;^)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue. It amazes me how much we accumulate. And as I'm going through things I think WHY? Why am I hanging onto this?! Ugh. I'm going to try my best to keep it up this time.
DeleteYour garage looks wonderful! My sewing and wool rooms are still my biggest messes...I get them part way tidied up then decide to dye some wool to sell or make bundles of vintage fabrics to sell and it's like the Tazmanian devil tore through...I'm currently in my sewing room now...hand piecing a quilt with my back to the mess...
ReplyDeleteThanks Kelley. I can't sew or craft without making a huge mess. LOL
DeleteMy big declutter was to defrost the big deep freezer before gardening time begins. It is frost free, but the drainage hole has clogged. Last week it was finally empty enough and I tackled the job. We were able to see model information and discovered it is 27 years old! Hubby said it was time to get another and not risk it going out full of meat. I agreed. We bought a smaller one on sale. Since it is almost empty, we were able to move it and clean the carpet underneath. Now THAT was some disgusting cleaning. Hubby said it was a shame I defrosted it first before buying the new one. Live and learn.
ReplyDeleteJeannie@GetMetoTheCountry
Oh my goodness that sounds like a lot of work. Happy for you that you got a new one. Enjoy filling it up with goodies!
Delete