We started off the New Year by working on Resolutions #3 (stop being such a pack rat) and #4 (de-clutter!). The first target area was our garage.
Luckily for us, Duncan’s parents took Elizabeth for the day so we were able to have distraction-free peace to work in (and she got to have a great time).
We have one rule about our garage: we have to be able to park our only car in it.
Strangely to us, we are the only house on our street that park in our garage. Maybe it was years of apartment living, but we were so happy to have a garage to park in it never occurred to us to just fill it with stuff and park outside.
Lately the things on either side of the car have been multiplying, causing me to bang the door on things when I open it to get out (extremely annoying).
Coming into the garage from the house has also become dangerous. Trying to take things out to the garage without letting a toddler or pair of cats out has resulted in a big pile of stuff.
Considering the state of the tool bench hiding under the window, it isn’t surprising that most of our commonly used tools have been living in a drawer in the house.
After really getting into it, we started to worry a bit when it looked like more mess than progress. This only made me more willing to get rid of stuff (including things we haven’t used since we got married (5 years ago!). Goodbye old dishes. Goodbye, toaster oven and humidifier.
We started making three piles: The Give Away Pile, The Garbage Pile, and The Recycling Pile. Everything not in a pile had to find a permanent home place in the garage.
Some partings were easier than others. I said goodbye to my Instant Excuse ball. It provides convenient excuses like “I was mugged”, “I have a headache”, and “The voices told me to”. As useful as it was, it had to go. No more excuses!
By the end of the night, we finished strong. There are multiple empty shelves in the cabinets for when we need them. The piles on the right and left are garbage and recycling. Duncan’s boss gave us permission to use his work dumpster and then we headed to the grocery store to recycle cans and bottles. I think we made about $10 (and quickly cashed some of that in for some very yummy raspberries).
Duncan did an amazing job organizing our tool bench and creating a mobile tool bench in our tool box that is all set to come in when needed and go right back out.
We have a large stack of unwanted furniture on the left side (next to the freezer). We mostly have found homes through friends and family so hopefully those things will be picked up and taken away soon.
We have really been enjoying this cleared space.
Bonus: During the clean-out, Duncan also managed to take the outside Christmas lights off the house and put them away. It wasn’t even raining. Thank you Oregon weather!
~Krista
