This summer I have a lot of projects planned. Most of them are going to be fun projects that add to our house and increase its value. Unfortunately, I just don’t like starting fun projects when the house is junkie or messy because I feel like it should be in order before I start adding more stuff to it. So Monday is my project day and this week we set out to get something done! Steve loves when I have jobs planned on his days off. Hint of sarcasm here.
Over the last year both of my older daughters moved away from home but it seems they left a lot of junk behind. Since I can’t stand to see stuff sitting around the house I just start moving everything into the garage. I did this with the promise to Steve that it wouldn’t stay there for long. But it has stayed there… all year! I like to save boxes in case I have to send something. I like to save scraps of stuff thinking I may make something out of it. It really is the only place I have a secret hoarding habit.
So this is what we’ve been seeing when we walk out of the kitchen into the garage.
We’ve been working out next to all of this stuff. It gets really crowded and Steve even dropped a weight bar on my new bike and broke the kickstand. Depending on the time of year, say like Christmas? This place can really get ridiculous. We have too many bikes, animal cages, little kid toys we don’t use, and boxes of other people’s belongings. But after an afternoon of reorganizing and taking stuff to storage, and pawning off furniture to our kids, we got it all cleaned out. We also made a stop at Goodwill with those things I didn’t want to give up but knew in my heart I was NEVER going to use again. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it.
Ta da! So, now the plan is to get four more floor mats and a few more pieces of equipment and our garage gym will be perfect for our needs.
So now that the yucky and boring project is done I get to plan what we’re going to do next week! What projects are you doing? Do you like to do the bad stuff first or save it for last?
The Multi-ti-Purpose Room 
I couldn’t figure out how to add photos to this Word Press comment section so I sent them to you via email. They sum up my annual summer home organization project. I spend a good chunk of my precious vacation throwing junk out, taking stuff to Goodwill, shredding old paperwork, sorting photos and memorabilia, buying trash bags and plastic containers, and deciding what to do with my kids’ belongings that they store at my house.
I ask myself, “Is this just part of a woman’s job (or a mom’s job)? Years ago the homes had attics and basements and when you left home you could leave your college textbooks and your first pair of skiis and everything else behind. I’m try to downsize. I think I’d be happy living in a hotel suite. I’d like to be super efficient and scan each document I need to save, but that takes a lot of time.
I’m not complaining, I just wish I could figure out a way to do it quicker and easier. Actually it’s kind of therapeutic going through Grandma’s dishes, cherishing the kids’ elementary report cards, and dusting and cleaning and making room to bring in new stuff.
Enough said. Time to get back to that enormous pile of papers to shred.
Valerie, I love that! I forgot about the attic option. We still need those. I agree about the paperwork I take so long doing it because I spend so much time reading everything over. I’m in on the scanning idea. Thanks for stopping by!