Well, I'm a week into this garage clean up, (after being gone the first week) and already seeing some great results! I am super excited about the potential in this space, once it gets cleaned out and organized to its potential. Here is my progress picture so far:
Not to bad, considering I started with this:
Ok, so maybe from that POV you can't tell too much difference, but there is, trust me, there is! Lets take a closer look...
Things are finding their way onto shelves or in boxes with similar things. And if I find one more can of brake cleaner...
All of these bottles are old motor oil from oil changes. A man in my church is taking all of these to a car dealership he works for (hopefully tomorrow!) So they will be outta here!
I've filled bags and bags of trash. Take this paint can for instance. See the warrantee on the front? "Stops rust for 3 years." Aaaand...the lid was so rusty that I couldn't even get it off. Go figure! Made me laugh!
I've cleared off most of these shelves and now have a blank slate to work with. So nice to be able to start rearranging things and finding a permanent place for them!
I also finally made some phone calls and hauled off a truck load of stuff today. Some things that I had bagged up from the yard clean up, and some things from the garage. Old bags of concrete mix that was hard from years of freezing/thawing/freezing/thawing?? Check. Old carpet?? Check. Next on the docket is deciding what to do with the two freezers we don't use. They will get donated or scrapped shortly!
I'm so excited to keep plugging away at this space and see how much I can accomplish by the end of the month. I know it won't be a knock-your-socks-off transformation, but what I want is to have a clean, organized, and functional space for everyone that uses it. When I'm all done, I'll also be posting a big update on how I got rid of things, where they went, and how to best reuse or recycle stuff for the local peeps that may be wondering. I'm slowly learning how to work the system and hope that it will be a help to someone else!
Any suggestions for me on ways to organize these spaces? Particularly bikes...they are going to be a problem, I can tell! Are you working on cleaning a space? I can't wait to see it!
Brake clean is soooo awesome!!!!! It is such a help when it comes to laundry!!!
ReplyDeleteJess
But 5 half-full bottles of it? Gets to be a little much! ;)
DeleteTrue! True! :)
DeleteThis is awesome! Great job. I need to do this in my utility closet. It is filled with tons of junk right now. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sarah! Isn't it amazing how junk accumulates?
DeleteDefinite progress! It's coming along nicely.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding it hard to block out time to work in my shed/garage... especially with the heat here in TN. I'm starting to think it's going to take me more like 6 to 7 weeks to finish...
Thanks Teri! I'm having the same trouble with finding time, as I was gone last week and am going to be gone half of this coming week. But I'm thankful for what I am getting accomplished, no matter how long it ends up taking me!
DeleteI think that you've made great progress! Isn't it amazing how good it feels to purge stuff that has been taking up space for so long? I always wonder why it has taken me so long to get to the point of actually taking care of it.... Life just gets in the way, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to check back with you next week and see how it is going!
Thanks! I can't tell you how giddy happy I was driving away from the disposal site yesterday...I celebrated with and iced coffee. :) I can't wait to get rid of more!
DeleteHi! I'm visiting from orgjunkie's website. Congrats on your progress so far! I can tell you've made a big dent! As for bikes...I can relate. My husband is a cyclist and we have many bikes in our garage. He bought two bike hanger things that lean against the wall and you can hang two bikes on each, one above the other. I'm not sure where he got them or how much they cost(and he's not home for me to ask at the moment - he's out riding, of course!), but I'll try and find out. A quick google search for "bike hangers" turns up lots of ideas though. Good luck finding something that works for you! I know how annoying tons of gear can be!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions, Katie! I'll have to see what I can come up with!
Delete