Garage Project

One of our ambitious weekend plans included some Spring Cleaning in the garage.  Since we moved in (mostly since Chase moved in) the empty side of the garage became a storage space for all things we had no home for.  Plus all of Chase's man things (car parts, tools, yard equipment, toys etc.).  So needless to say, it was a hot mess!  Me being a super organizer and all around neat freak was super excited about the project, Chase on the other was not.  BUT, I pulled his arm a little and he came around.

Step One: remove everything and I mean everything from the garage. We spent the first 30 minutes hauling every item in the garage out into the driveway and organizing the items into related piles.



Step Two: clean the empty garage.  Shop vac is recommended.  We vacuumed up all dirt, dead bugs, spider webs and other miscellaneous mess including hitting up the shelves throughout the garage.



Step Three: demo.  Some of the shelves in the garage were not set far enough apart to be able to place items in them so...a hammer and some muscle and we knocked a few out to make room.

Step Four: organize and chuck.  We went through everything we had moved to the drive way to determine keeping or throwing away and then organizing with other like items so we can store efficiently and find things when we need them.  We ended up with a huge trash pile, a small donate pile and a smaller pile of well organized keep things.



Step Five: reload.  After everything was organized and cleaned it was time to reload the garage.  We started with the shelves and then we tested things out in different spots to find the best location dependent upon how often we used it and if it fit.

Step Six: celebratory beer.  Step back, take a sip and revel in the newly organized garage!!






Whew!  That makes me tired again just writing this post.  What I thought would be 2 hours turned into a 5 hour project but it was worth it.  Now we just have to keep it that way.

Project Hiccups

Okay so the office project wasn't all perfect and pretty and shiny all the time.  We had several hiccups and setbacks and even a big one that kicked off a little spat between Chase and myself.

One of the pieces of the project that delayed completion was our decision to paint the ceiling.  While we definitely wanted to avoid this extra component of the project we just couldn't ignore the ugliness.  So, mid painting we had to again take off for Lowe's for more tools.

Lack of the right hardware was another problem that kept resurfacing.  I don't know how many times Chase left the house to go get this kind of screw or that kind of screw.

The biggest project roadblock we hit was hanging the first of the wall shelves.  Believe me, it looks easier than it is.  What are the chances you will drill in the exact spot a cross nail is in from the stud in the wall?  We did it twice!  And because we had to remove the drywall anchors in the top holes we had already drilled we were left with huge holes in the drywall.  And major arguments on how to approach the problem...which led to more drilling and more holes.  So spackle had to be put on the walls and allowed to dry properly followed by two coats of paint over the spackle.  Set us back on the shelves big time and tought us that home projects are a real pain sometimes.  (I didn't even stop to take a picture of this because we were so pissed!)

So even though we ended up with a beautiful finished project we are thrilled with, it definitely put us through the ringer.  But the hard work makes the result that much better.  Right.

Yet another Lowe's trip

One of the places Chase and I spend the most time lately is Lowe's.  It seems like everyday there is something we need that warrants a trip to the home improvement store.  And each time we go, unfortunately it costs us money.  Eeek.  But it also means fun things for the house.

This week our trip had a list full of variety:
1. Indoor plant
2. Shovel
3. Hoe
4. Garden gloves
5. Welcome mat for the front door
6. A couple different types of screws for the back door lock
7. Two gallons of Seed Pearl paint
8. Drop cloths
9. Blue painters tape
10. Couple rollers
11. Paint edging tool
12. Potting soil

Trying to make a decision on paint rollers...it took us 10 minutes

I am sure we will back at some point this week...