Why the garage?
That is the question I asked myself many, many . . . many times between the moment when I blurted out that I would tackle the garage for this Spring Spruce Up party, and the time when I actually started working on it.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that decluttering is something I do all the time. Not because I’m a neat-freak, but because I have soooooo . . . much . . . clutter. I’ve come a long way since the moment of desperation in which I started this blog, but since things were so bad, I’m still far from done.
But the garage/storage space is its own animal.
A challenge like no others I’ve faced in this deslobification process.
Even though I was irritated with myself for choosing it, I was also glad. It’s been bugging me for several months now. Not that it had suddenly gotten out of control in those months, but I think that as the rest of the house improved, this untouched disaster area became more and more of an eyesore.
I know that garages are a challenge for everyone, even for normal people. Take that fact and add to it that I am a real-life slob . . . and it seems impossible.
That’s it.
My garage.
Now let me just say for a moment, that in many ways I was proud of it. I could park a 1997 Suburban in that bad boy. Those things ain’t tiny.
And really, being able to park in the garage was a huge accomplishment.
But opening doors? Getting out? Getting out without tripping over something? Finding ANYthing out there?
Now that’s just crazy talk.
In case the far-off-pic leaves you in doubt that it was really that bad . . . let me show some close-ups.
The right side:
The left side:
Good luck finding that-thing-I-just-know-has-to-be-out-here in that mess.
Motivated by this post series and by the fact that our sweet elderly neighbors saw us in the driveway a few weeks ago, NOT doing anything that remotely looked like getting ready for a garage sale . . . and asked with an unmistakable note of hope in their voices if we were getting ready for a garage sale . . . I geared up for the much-dreaded task.
First step . . . haul out the things that have been waiting to be hauled out for . . . ummm . . . a while. I did this several weeks ago, when I still had absolutely no faith that this post series would be titled anything other than “Hey, Something’s Better Than Nothing, Right?”
I started on this pile of mostly-decluttered-items. I say “mostly decluttered” . . . because over time the decluttered items naturally mixed in with things that weren’t headed for the donation place.
After cleaning out the back of my Suburban (no easy task in itself), convincing myself that the donation place was probably already closed, checking online to find out that it was still open, realizing that I was wearing pajama pants . . .
changing those pants while grumbling, loading up the back of the Suburban, and hauling it all away . . .
I was thrilled to see the back of the Suburban looking like this:
But the garage . . . looked pretty much the same.
So disheartening.
For a while (as in a few weeks), . . . I pretty much gave up. I decided to be content with the fact that the pile was smaller.
But then, last week, the weather was beautiful. And beautiful weather meant it was time to give it another go. The garage lends itself so well to weather-related-excuses. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, but last week was just right.
Tomorrow, I’ll share the details of when real progress started happening.
OK, this post is supposed to also include tips and advice. So here goes. Like I often have to tell myself during my numerous overwhelming decluttering projects, when it comes to a no-man’s-land-dumping-ground like your garage or storage space . . . do the easy stuff first.
My garage was one big problem area. It was almost impossible to know where to start. So I started with what was easiest. Getting the things that had already been deemed expendable . . . out of there. The difficult, decision-making part was already done. I just had to get up the gumption to load it all (along with my three kids) into the car and get going.
Why it seems so difficult to do that . . . I don’t know.
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Be sure to check out the organizing projects of the other Spring Spruce Up bloggers:
Sprucing Up the Laundry Room | Mama’s Laundry Talk
Sprucing Up the School Room | Homegrown Mom
Sprucing Up the Craft Room | Many Little Blessings
Sprucing Up the Bathroom | Feels Like Home
Sprucing Up the Playroom | …Life’s About a Dream
Sprucing Up the Garage/Storage Space | A Slob Comes Clean
Sprucing Up the Master Bedroom | Raising Arrows
Sprucing Up Your Homeschool | Jimmie’s Collage
Sprucing Up the Kitchen | So Happy Together
Sprucing Up the Garden | An Oregon Cottage
Sprucing Up the Backyard | Successful Homeschooling
And we’ll be hosting a group linky on Thursday where you can share your own Spring Spruce Up blog post. If you link up here, your link will show up on all of the Spruce Up bloggers’ sites!
I enjoy reading your posts girl – you are so funny! Love the pic of the pajama pants. =)
Its so easy to let the garage become the place to put anything that doesn't have another home. I can't wait to see what else you've done in there!
I always enjoy the posts with photos the most – I'm a very visual person and being able to see your work and see the progress helps me see I'm not the only one and it can be done!
I started cleaning the kids' (and ours) storage room. I'm like you; I've made trips to Goodwill and dropped off boxes. Yet the beast is not shrinking. I'm an instant gratification gal too. Can't wait to see the 'better already but its still a work in progress' shot!
Love the pants. 🙂 Our garage goes through a decluttering period often. It's the place where everything gets stashed! My husband does not like my clutter nature, so since that's his domain, he declutters a lot. LOL Can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!
It is hard to know where to start with a project as big as the garage! My husband cleaned ours out a few weeks ago, and it was such a relief. You're going to be glad you did it!
We built a garage a few years ago and people told us that we'd eventually have it so full of stuff that we wouldn't be able to get a car in there. We took it as a personal challenge 🙂 and I'm happy to say that we do still park our car and a trailer in there.
That said, it still is a dumping ground and needs constant vigilance! Looking forward to seeing what you accomplished!
You crack me up, Nony! 😉
The garage really was cluttered, huh? (Ours would probably be too, but we don't have enough room. LOL)
I can't wait to see your finished project!
Can't wait to see it, either! Our garage is still half packed from our move in Nov. You've inspired me to get moving on it!
You've come so far. Just think about pre-blog. Could you imagine anyone coming over, on a regular basis? Just keep going. You've got a lot of people cheering for you.
Now can I invite you and your cheering squad to my house to help clean up after 2 months of sickness? Seriously, does anyone have a hazardous biosuit I can borrow? 😉
I can't wait to see your garage progress! Every little bit helps & you're right… just getting up the gumption to take care of stuff that you'd already taken care of is alot of the battle. Hang in there you're doing great. I love seeing what you've done/do!!!
There is nothig better than driving in a neighborhood and getting a little peek into a garage that is full all the way to the top and the door with a tiny tunnel thru way. It makes me feel so less panicky.
Less than a year left to go, boohoo, what will I do without unlimited posts to read?
Starting with the easy stuff is amazing advice, though it seems so simple. I know how hopeless rooms/spaced filled with clutter can seem. It’s hard not to try to do everything at once. Starting small is much better than diving in… and giving up.
When we moved into our new home it was already furnished. And I don’t mean just furniture. But towels, sheets, beds, dressers, fridges, and tools. Basically EVERYTHING from the 91 year old man who lived here for the last 45 years. Even his coffee cups!
At my son’s spring fling I bid on two hours of organizing with a professional. She was going to help me. She came in and asked where did i want to start. I said the garage! (That’s where most of OUR stuff was) She assured me that I needed to work on my living room since Thanksgiving was coming and there would be all sorts of people in the house. The garage could be our place to put things that have no place at the moment.
Well, three and a half years later, I have never parked anything larger than our tractor ormotorcycle in the garage and I hate it. I have made a ton of progress but long for a large hole big enough for my minivan to fit. Maybe if I can pull in I can toss the dirty clothes directly into the washer from the van?