We started by loading up my dad's truck with a load to donate inside the truck, and a load to dump in the bed of the truck. I was happy to see that the load to donate was bigger than the one going to the dump. Made me feel a lot less wasteful! We heard at church last Sunday that there was a yard sale that was going to help one of our church members financially in her fight against cancer, so that was a no brainer. We took the donation pile to the school where she works since they are hosting the sale. I think the secretary was a little surprised to see the amount we brought. She kept telling us thanks, then we would say that we had more coming. :) When we finally finished dropping that off, we went to the dump to get rid of the junk.
It was a fun and empowering experience for my mom and me. We had never been to the dump without the guys, so being able to say we unloaded all this stuff and threw it in without help was kind of nice! It was also sort of fun tossing it down into the big cement pit. :)
Once finished there, we went to Lowe's to check out the hooks and organization items they had there. I bought a few bike hooks and a scooter hook. I also bought one of the plastic tire stops for my car to tell me when I have pulled in enough. That way I don't have to hang something from the ceiling. We came back and got to work!
We started by pulling some of the stuff out to clear some space. We set up the wire shelves first and started to load items on there to clear some more space one the floor. We placed items that I knew I wanted on the shelf first to measure the height needed for each shelf. There were a few comical errors which made us laugh so hard, the neighbor came over to see how you could have so much fun organizing a garage! Once we had that set up, we set to work on the plastic storage cabinet that I purchased to store all my bulk items (toilet paper, laundry detergent) from Costco, and a few large kitchen items that I don't use all the time (griddle, roasting pan, etc.)
Shelves up in the back and clearing space on the walls.
Once that was finished, we started by clearing one wall, swept the floor out then putting the items that I wanted there. We put the tool box by the workbench, then lined up the grill and smoker with their gas tanks in between. I wanted the kids outside stuff to come next since it was the wall closest to the door. We lined up their tractor, picnic table, bike, and scooter. I hung the scooter that folded up on the wall. We decided not to hang the bike since it would be used so often that I wasn't sure that my son would be good about putting it on and off the hooks. Instead I will purchase him a kickstand this weekend to help stand his bike up. I hung our outside chairs on the wall to keep them from gathering spiderwebs (like the ones we swept off of them before hanging). I have one empty hook for the chair that I am going to purchase for my daughter (hers broke last year). This wall excited me the most b/c now all of the stuff is accessible, and now that the weather is getting nice, we can have all our outside play toys right there! Now once the garage door is fixed, I won't to worry about having the bikes and scooters stored in my front hallway anymore!
We moved onto the next wall, putting the garbage and recycling bins first. As part of our city ordinances, our dumpsters cannot be visible from the street except on trash day. We would have to get a permit from the HOA to build a screen on the side of the house to hide them, and to be honest, I am pretty sure the trash would not be taken out as frequently if they were outside. I set up a table beside them to be my planting table. (Yay!) Beside this I put a shelving unit that we swept and cleaned lots of yucky bugs off of. It's a shelving unit that I have actually had since I was a kid (over 20 years). It's a little beaten up, but it still works! In that I put gardening tools, Miracle Grow waterer, trimmer line, mower motor oil, etc. Beside that is our mower. I am planning to hang all the other lawn equipment above the mower on hooks.
After that I went through what was left over. I decided to move our extra dining chairs and our old bassinet to the storage unit that we share with my parents. I found a few more things to donate, and a box of my husbands things I am leaving for him to go through. I also have some two by fours and plywood that I am not sure what to do with. I organized my husband's fishing stuff the best that I could and put it under the planting table out of sight. My kiddos helped me sweep out the entire garage, and we called it a night. Progress has been made. Yay!!
Outside toys wall
Finding space on the floor!
After a hard days work!!
