Saturday was my youngest child’s fifth birthday party.
Don’t worry, I’m not sobbing. I’ll save that for Wednesday, her actual birthday.
I’ve come a very long way in this deslobification process and didn’t have to block out two entire weeks to clean and declutter before I could start party prep. Still though, big events mean . . . shoving.
Shoving the contents of that last difficult hot-spot into the master bedroom. Shoving the parts of that ongoing project, and the bikes from the patio, and the still-homeless shelves . . . into the garage.
Today, I’m doing laundry and trying to catch up from all of the shoving. Or at least some of the shoving.
The main area I wanted to reclaim was my newly organized garage. If you’ve read all the way through the blog, you know that our bikes have never had a real place.
Bikes are big. Especially when there are five of them.
Bikes are unwieldy and not easily stored. Of late, we’ve had them on our covered patio, and even though that isn’t organization-magazine-featured-storage-solution-worthy, I’m okay with it. They’re out of the way, but also easily accessible. I haven’t thought of another place where they could be both of those things.
But alas, when you are expecting between 10 and 20 party-lovin’ pre-schoolers, out-of-the-way isn’t good enough. I locked them in the garage.
The bikes. Not the kids.
So today, I took about 30 minutes to reclaim my parking space, and am happy with the results:
So many leaves blew in when I opened the garage door that I decided not to bother sweeping.
I went through hubby’s is-this-trash-or-not-I’d-better-let-her-decide pile from the backyard. (It’s mostly trash, so it leaves tomorrow!) I also took pictures to list four rather-large items on Craigslist. If they don’t go for the chump-change-price I’m asking, I can donate them with no regrets! Two are already listed!
Like I said yesterday, this cleaning/organization thing never ends. But it is so much easier when I play catch up the next week . . . . instead of the next year.
OHhh, I badly, badly need to declutter but just struggle with it so bad. 🙁 Getting tired of the clutter though.
The "I'm gonna clean out my house and make loads of money at the twice a year consignment sale" plan isn't really working. I got the biggest money-makers over there, except the large pile of new with tags spring/summer clothes. It will be over next month so I'm hoping to take more stuff over there before it is over. Whatever doesn't sell gets donated so its not coming back home.
Great job getting it cleared enough to park in!! My mind can't even wrap around the idea of having that much storage space. I've not lived in a house with a garage since I was 14. I'm just happy I have a porch at both the front and back doors lol. I think it's awesome you have a whole set of shelves with nothing to put on them. As for them and the other stuff have you considered Freecycle? It's a great way to keep stuff out of the landfill and have it go directly to the people who will use it and want it. Just an idea. Keep up the great work, you're inspiring!
Not sure if anyone will read this, and if it’s any use at all. But: Dutch people with little space for their (many!) bikes, mount them on walls using mounts for garden hoses or hang them from extra-high ceilings using straps that end in hooks that go under the saddle and handle bar. Which works fine if it’s just one or two bikes, not for five in the same place. So, many Dutch families park them in the shed in the garden, or: in their special bike parking. Just like the bike racks that sit outside stores everywhere, just much narrower. Bonus points if you make an “afdakje”, al little roof over them, so your saddle stays dry😄 Hope someone reads this and has a lightbulb moment for their own bikes 💡