March DIY Project: Project Clean Up

I have been debating for the whole month of March what to do for a specific DIY project this month. ( You can view January's here and February's here) As the end of the month approached, nothing that would work yet weather wise was coming to me (I have a bunch of painting projects I want to do, but not until the weather is predictable enough {hah!} to drag stuff outside to paint.)

Then, as I worked last week, I decided my big clean up project could be my DIY project for the month!

I spoke about it here, but basically I am working on cleaning up a lot of garbage and junk that was left at our house from who knows what, laying in our yard and taking up half our garage. When we moved here, our things just kind of got piled on, and now everything is a huge mess. I want to reclaim the space on the lawn, do some landscaping in those areas, and organize the garage. I can picture how it is all going to look when it is done, and I couldn't be more excited!

Besides just simply wanting to do it to save our eyes, I also think that we have a responsibility to keep our possessions neat and well cared for. When things are a mess, don't have a home, and lay around outside, they get ruined and don't last! I also believe that everything we have belongs to God, and that includes our "houses and lands." It seems even more so when you live in a church parsonage! I think it is the least we can do to keep God's "houses and lands" kept well and in good order - our God is a God of order after all!

That doesn't mean our home needs to look like the Biltmore, but what God has provided for us, we should keep well and do our best to use to His honor and glory.

In an effort to keep it real-time for you peeps, and to document it for my own sake, I took before pictures. I'm warning you, its really, really bad.

A lot of random wood that needs to be cut up for kindling.

Garbage and a bunch of plaster-stuff that got ripped out of our old bathroom (can't blame the previous owners for that one!)

More garbage and kindling wood

Lotsa junk...just no other way to put it!

That is all the stuff in the yard. If you think you can handle it, here is the shot of the garage:

Unreal, right? Can you believe we actually used to able to use that ping pong table? I am so glad that none of it can be blamed on me - I was gone for 6 months! :) Can't you just that garage full of great organizational tools like bins and pegboards and such? It will look SO great when its finished!

Since I took those pictures, I have already accomplished a LOT in the yard. A lot of the random wood scraps are picked up and I've already bagged several bags of garbage. It is a little tricky, since here in Canada you can't just haul things away to the dump like you can in the States. Everything has to be separated and either taken to its respective place or picked up. They are pretty picky, so I am having to learn a lot about the system as I go!

Once I think I have it figured out, I'll be sure to fill you in with the details, and share more pictures and updates!

I'd love to hear from others that are working on some normal spring cleaning or some big organization projects! Do you ever get overwhelmed with all there is to do? When I do, I just gaze around and think how nice it will look when it is finished! Any tips on ways that I could organize that garage? I'd love to get some advice or suggestions on things to use!