I’m one of those proud garage owners who like to press the garage-opener button and show off the organized display of my garage items to anyone who happens to be passing by.
I do admit, I’ve taken great pleasure from people who catch the glimpse inside and, if I’m with someone, I usually hear, “Wish my garage looked like this.” My reply back is simply, “It can.” I then refrain from saying, “Just organize it.”
My garage happens to be the storage place for most of my junk. At least what I consider junk, which is all a matter of view-point really. I actually call my garage a resting place for stuff before final burial.
By final burial, I mean the final place for stuff, whether it resides in someone else’s home or the garbage dump. It’s rare that it continues to reside in my garage.
My trick in making my junk not look like junk to other people however is how it is organized. When I no longer want something in the house, or no longer feel I have a use for it, I put it in a large wicker basket in the garage designated to take to a charity retail store. If I can’t find a place for it in my house but still want it, I find a place for it in my garage, and not just a dumping place either.
See, even my garage has a place for everything and everything in its place. My shelves are lined with storage containers that either stack or pull out drawers. The floor along one wall is lined with stacking container bins and another wall with a storage cabinet and wall shelves over a work table.
The thing is, even these organized places can get out of hand when we keep too much stuff. So, the real trick is in deciding which junk we don’t really need anymore and getting it out of the garage (or wherever we’ve put the junk) and out of our life.
I recently bought a new juicer and put the old one in the garage in a box. It still worked and I thought I might need it someday in case something happened to the newer one. After keeping it in my garage for a couple months, I realized that someone else would benefit from it more than me and it was just taking up space, so I put it in my Charity Basket.
That’s what I mean by resting place before final burial. I couldn’t get rid of it at first, but then when I examined it later, the value of the item had changed and I was able to discard it and get it out of my life for good.
My sister, daughter, and friends love to come over and shop-for-free in my garage, too. I typically invite some people over every once in awhile to browse through the Charity Basket before I put it in my car and haul it away. Many of them now ask me, “Get rid of anything lately?”
That question has actually worked to my benefit. It prompts me to take time to look around again and see what I don’t need around the house. Streamlining my belongings has become a regular event in my life as a result.
I once wrote about preparing for a disaster, “Plan for best, prepare for worst,” and took a look at what we have and decide its value to us and what we would want to take with us if we had to depart from our home suddenly. I have since thought about doing a drill on that.
The drill would be: give yourself thirty minutes to look around and decide what you would need to take with you if you had to flee quickly and never come back. It’s certainly a good way to see what you hold of value to you. And it’s also a good opportunity to get in the mindset of letting go of stuff.
I did this, but it wasn’t a drill. It was for real. I had to evacuate because of a looming fire heading my way. And it was the motivation I needed to crack down on my stuff.
I didn’t need a dozen purses, or nail polishes, or lipsticks. I typically only used one of two of these items most of the time. I also didn’t need so many shoes or clothing I haven’t worn in ages. And, what was I doing with three sets of dishware anyway? I only used one set!
I did however gather up all my photo albums and photo CDs. Memories like those are irreplaceable. And, that’s the bottom line: what is replaceable and what isn’t?
So, what would you load up in your car if you had to leave and start over? And ladies, please don’t say it includes a bag of a dozen nail polishes.
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