Thursday, April 4, 2019

Decluttering The Garage



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.

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.

Such an embarrassing mess!

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.

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.

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. 

This is what I decided to keep
Only stuff we use

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.

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

This stack of empty bins is temporary

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?


12 comments:

  1. Impressive! I cannot tell you how badly I need to do the same!

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    1. Thanks Anne. This had gotten so out of hand. I was ashamed of myself.

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  2. You deserve a star for this! That is a job with which I do not look forward to doing.

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    1. Thanks Tana! I was dreading it but now I'm so glad it is done.

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  3. YOur 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.

    Enjoy, Janie

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    1. 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.

      Thank you Janie! :)

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  4. 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! ;^) ;^)

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    1. Thank 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.

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  5. Your 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...

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    1. Thanks Kelley. I can't sew or craft without making a huge mess. LOL

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  6. My 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.
    Jeannie@GetMetoTheCountry

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    1. 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!

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