Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Cure for the Common Pack Rat

Well, it's Saturday...and you know what that means.

Shopping!

No, seriously. It's project day.

I had a project that I had been putting off for quite some time.

Well, let's be honest, I wasn't really putting it off, I was waiting for Troy to do it...and I got tired of waiting (honestly, sometimes I think that's his plan!).

So, what was the project, you ask?

The garage. (insert ominous music here.)

And, as you know, no poject is complete without photos.

So, here is the before.



It's awful, isn't it?

And, if I hadn't gone to all the trouble of cleaning it up, believe me, there is NO WAY I would have been able to share that horror.

But, here is the after.



And lest you think I shoved eveything into a corner you can't see...here it is from another angle.



And what did I do with all that stuff cluttering up our garage?



Yes, that's right. I loaded up the trunk and made a trip to the Goodwill.

Good riddance.

I have been collecting some of these things for quite a while...but every time I get things ready to take them to the Goodwill, Troy will raid the bags and take stuff out...and hide it!

Then, I will find it again, try to get rid of it, and the vicious cycle will start all over.

Well, I have had enough of that. So today, as I cleaned, I just loaded everything right up into the van while Troy was otherwise occupied...and then drove it away before he could stop it.

It was awesome.

11 comments:

Puhlman said...

WAY TO GO. Looks great. And guess what? What Troy doesn't know is gone he won't miss. I am so temtped to do this to our walk in closet. But I am afraid Don "might" realize some of his things are gone. I am so NOT a pack rat but he is. Garage looks awesome.

Bringhurst Family said...

well there you go doing your 100 items in one fail swoop!

Robin said...

Can mine be next?

Kim said...

You inspire me!! My garage looks just like your before picture but add all the left over camping gear from boys camp!! Yikes!! Someday maybe I too will bite the bullet and clean it! But I am going to hold out for Monte to do it a little longer!

Melanie said...

Great job! I love getting rid of junk. It seems to sneak its way back in though...

Anonymous said...

Good job, Denise. I've got a basement that needs some serious help. The Gifts from the Heart drop-off is this Friday. I'll leave a house key under the mat if I'm out.

Charlene said...

Mine looks exactly like your before, but it always gets clean before winter so our van can stay warm through the bitter winter!

The Perkins said...

Isn't it such a pain organizing...but the reward is so worth it. Your garage looks awesome!

Anonymous said...

What about the other corner?!? Come on...fess up: I dare you take a picture of the other corner and put it on the blog! (Which, BTW, would prove that it's not only me that's the pack rack; it would prove that it's you too, because those are your dressers over in the other corner! ;-)

Emily Merchant said...

I am impressed. We just built shelves in our garage on Labor Day, so we can hopefully keep the storage organized enough to actaully park cars in there -- what a novel idea. Although I am wondering what kinds of items were in those mysterious white bags.

Lara said...

I need your help too! Every time I clean out and attempt to organize the garage it ends up back to its previous state within a few weeks. I'm ready to throw all the bikes out the window!

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