You may recall that last week began The Great Purge.
The garage which looked like this
just had to be cleaned out. I was losing things, getting frustrated and it just plain old wasn’t a place I wanted to spend time. I had to get serious about preparing for the fall.
So, the dumpster arrived and I began.
I was ruthless…..It was kind of painful……and kind of freeing.
I had to admit that some projects just weren’t ever going to happen. The thrust of my business has changed or grown or something and some things that looked like great ideas now just look like false starts.
I started a box for donations which quickly overflowed.
Furniture I was never going to get to was placed at the curb and a Craig’s List ad posted.
And progress has been made!
The garage now looks like this
I even gained an island/work table! Now, at last I have someplace to put things down (this is HUGE step up).
There is a place to put things down next to the painting area too!
Well, there will be as soon as I find the shelf pegs….I had one kinda/sorta bad kinda sorta/good idea.
As I went through the garage I kept encountering “things that have no home.” Finding a home for the homeless things was going to slow down my blitzkrieg approach to cleaning so I created the “Box of Things that Need to Find a Home.”
Which quickly filled up (and became blurry).
The shelf pegs are in there somewhere…….
Probably at the bottom.
BUT! I can lay all that stuff out on my work table!
So, I’m far from done and it’s never going to be pretty or magazine worthy but I can find things (they’re at the bottom of the Homeless box!) and I can move!
The Purge also got me motivated to call a local shop owner to ask if she would like to have my furniture in her store. I’d been dragging my feet about (fear of rejection I suppose) it but she was enthusiastic and now I have a new outlet and a justification for working on furniture!
So new ideas are tumbling over themselves and I feel kind of renewed.
Onward!
Yep, I always held to the belief “…creative minds are rarely tidy…”, but once I got organized, it sparked new ideas. Seems missing items (friends) were just waiting to be recognized. Keep it up…the worst part (starting) is over. BTW, I really enjoy your blog!
Thank you Karen I really appreciate it! I think you’re right – starting was the hardest part. Now if I can just get pat organizing the box of homeless items I’m all set!
I find it so calming to know where something is and to be able to just walk over and get it. The few times I don’t put things back in their place I get so frustrated looking everywhere. You will enjoy the organization! Hopefully you don’t realize you should have kept something you just got rid of.
Dang, doesn’t de-cluttering feel as good as losing weight?? I’ve always thought so!! It’s freeing and makes you feel good!!
You did a ton of work and it looks great!!! The Box of Things That Need to Find a Home is a fantastic idea!! I tend to leave the project to go work on a new home for an item…the next thing I know I’m cleaning some place else!!! The Box would so keep me focused!!! I’m so “squirrel!!” during clean ups!!! lol!!!
A friend and i were talking about organizing and tossing recently and she made a great point that I never had thought of before and that is that all stuff requires management. Even if we can close the door on it and not see it, we are managing it somewhere in our mind. By dealing with it by tossing and/or organizing it not only clears physical space it clears brain space!!!
You so totally did that!!!!!
Glad you did this before Hoarders knocked on your door! I was in the same situation last year but it was my dark, cluttered, disgusting basement! I hauled 4 truckloads to the dump, 3 to the thrift shop. Although the basement is still hideous, at least I cleared a path to my wine!
Congrats on getting your furniture into a shop!
Kelly
OK Kelly, that totally made me laugh. If there had been a stash of wine in the garage I so would have done this sooner.