Garage Spring Cleaning

One of the most used parts of our home and our least attractive is the garage.  I just dread what needs to be done in there.  But we did get motivated for some garage spring cleaning and I hope to motivate you too.

In Arizona, cleaning the garage is complicated.  Because it’s too hot.  Or it’s too cold.  In other words, there is a very small window of time to get in the garage and do any work without dying of heat or freezing.

So a chore that is already so unattractive becomes close to impossible.  Am I making excuses?  I don’t really think so, because I’m a naturally tidy person.  And remember, I’ve already posted some spring cleaning jobs I’ve gotten done.

So the temperature is one barrier.  The other?   Well, it’s mostly not my stuff in there.  It’s not my domain.  There are clearly things in there that have never been used but MUST NOT BE THROWN AWAY.

Are you catching my drift?  😉

I don’t mean to cast any stones, but not only must I get motivated to clean, I must engage another.

So, one rainy day when two schedules were cleared, we turned up the oldies on Pandora and got to it.

It was like karaoke night and garage spring cleaning all at once.  I’m sure we were treating the neighbors to some excellent sing-alongs.

Objective

When Big Red is parked in the garage, there is only one cupboard I can get to on that side of the garage.  That’s fine because it houses the cat box supplies which I access frequently.

But all my other stuff on that side means a request must be entered and approved before Big Red is moved and I can get to it.

So.  I needed to take all my stuff out of that side and move it to the other side.  And.  The other side is completely full of I-have-no-idea-what.

And then.  Swap the less-used stuff into the Big Red side.  So when hub needs those items he doesn’t have to process a formal request to move her out.

Pitch and Donate

Excellent opportunity to decide that other people might want my super-duper good stuff more than I do.  I have basically only been keeping and storing things I love, but honestly, most of it is old and I do less and less seasonal decorating, so it’s just time.

Letting go is so freeing once it gets started.

Cleaning and Sorting

There are so many yard and household implements and chemicals and paints that get used rarely that we didn’t even really know what we have.  Everything came out of the cupboards, got a nice wipe down and got a neat and tidy new home.

The shop vacs were very busy sucking up the detritus on all the shelves.

Pegboard

Wall space is hard to come by in our garage, but hub made a Home Depot run (I know!  Surprise!) and picked up a smallish pegboard and mounted it to one wall where we could hang some supplies and frequently used garden tools.

I love it!

Floor

It took a couple of days for the weather to cooperate for a floor cleaning, but hub got out there and scrubbed it with a broom and hosed it down.  Much better now!

Door

The door into the house and the adjoining walls were scuffed so they got a new coat of paint. It looks so much fresher now.

Finished?

Nope, we worked from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. (when I finally decided I needed the hot tub and a chardonnay).  And we still have a couple of black holes we have not tackled.  Plus the tool box which apparently I’m not allowed to organize.

What I’m Eating

One bowl banana bread!  I know there are a million good recipes for banana bread, but I found this one on Simply Recipes and it is moist and tasty (even though I used gluten-free all-purpose flour).  And the coup de grâce for my kitchen?  I really made it in one bowl!

With my messy ways, getting out the mixer and the attachment and different bowls and sifters and wooden spoons and. . . well you get my point.  Making even the simplest of recipes is a big deal in my kitchen.

But.  Not this one.  I am definitely recommending this home-baked treat.

Wrap Up

Garage spring cleaning  being a work in progress instead of a job completed is just a fact of life and while not the outcome I envisioned, it’s so much better now and we’re on the right road.

I hope this post gives you a little motivation if you need to tackle an unpleasant job.  Turn up the tunes and add a little dancing!