I wasn’t planning on doing anything in the garage until after I’d decluttered most of the house; however, due to Covid-19 and not being able to give stuff away or sell it at the moment, I needed to make room for charity items.
Making a start… or not
I stood there and had no idea where to start. This is very unlike me as I usually get straight into action and know what I need to do. I was frozen to the spot.
I switched focus and watched an online video on my phone about productivity, processes and lists (which wasn’t relevant here but it gave me a few ideas for other projects). The video then automatically moved on to other videos (as it does) and eventually I stopped and pressed play on my current audio book for inspiration.
I can’t remember at what point this question popped into my head but it rang true and started me thinking… If this was someone else’s garage what would I do? My answer was that I would throw away or donate most of it because I wouldn’t have any attachment to the items. I stepped over a few boxes trying to think how I was going to make space, when I spotted one area that I could start with. My motivation was back! So, making a start I…
- Moved some boxes out ready for recycling
- Moved the unwanted wooden shelving to the side and used it to pile stuff on that was in the middle of the room
- Tidied up a bit
- Unrolled the half rolled up carpet to the end.
- Swept the leaves and other dirt out of the space.
I stopped after I could walk easily down the middle. Here are the before and after pictures of the middle part that I attempted to tackle…
I was pleased with my progress today. Tomorrow I’m planning on collapsing even more boxes and looking at what I can physically throw away in order to make some more space.
Until tomorrow…
Sandra
Sandra Madeira 
Wow, that looks like a mountain of work! My suggestion is to work in smaller time segments so as not to get exhausted. I find it amazing how we all can walk by or close the door on messes or clutter until one day we look at it and wonder how long it has been that way!
It certainly is a mountain of work. Thank you for your suggestion, that’s a very good idea. Now we’re all confined to the house, it actually feels nice to be in a different room for a change with different items to sort out. I’ll try and do a little bit every few days when I need to get out of the house 😊
My husband passed away almost eight months ago and the garage was very much his domain, it’s where he stored all his tools etc He was a self employed joiner, so there is all manor of building materials in there. Bits of this and that. Not to mention lots of other household rubbish we’ve dumped in there over the years.
I need to get a skip but the skip companies are telling me they are all out and until they get some back there aren’t any to be had.
The thought of tackling it is overwhelming and I’ll have to harden my heart and think like you have mentioned. If it was someone else’s garage, what would I do?
I am deeply sorry to hear about your loss. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you to deal with all of his belongings in the garage. I hope that anything I get done in my garage in some way inspires you process and sort out the stuff in yours. I did think that there might be a shortage of skips – I haven’t looked into that yet. That care of yourself 😊