Friends, the weekend is upon us. Time to Get Stuff Done. Do you need a motivational kick-in-the-pants to get started? Well, what’s the status of your garage? Let’s start there. If it’s anything like Jane’s (and most Americans, I would safely wager), it might be a bit of a disaster zone. Bikes, luggage, tools, boxes, stuff, things, items, matter, who even knows anymore.
Quick, let’s play a fun game! Leave me a comment and tell me the very weirdest thing you have in your garage. I’ll start. A 50 pound bag of pinto beans that I’ve lugged around as we’ve moved from home to home for easily … the last 10 years. They are definitely petrified and most likely inedible, but if the world as we know it ends tomorrow, I will rest easy knowing I have a horrible way to feed my family, and we will outlast all of you by like, two days. #preparedness
But Jane didn’t want a grim reminder of the fragility of civilization greeting her every time she arrived home (hmm, strange) nor did she want to face a massive mound of stuff. She wanted something cheerful!
Let’s see if she pulled it off ….
Oh yeah she did. Hello, yellow! Isn’t that so great? A bright color in the garage, why not! Especially when so many builders leave the walls unfinished like in the before pic. Not sure why they do that, but it makes for a huge blank canvas, just begging for something fun.
Did she really pare down all her belongings to a single tennis racket and a few totes? You’ll have to visit her blog A Taste of Koko to find out!
25 Comments
Lisa Ruley
May 11, 2018 at 5:17 PMThe weirdest thing I have in my garage is Buddy. It’s a skeleton left over from my daughter’s mortuary/anthropology schooling. I tell people it’s one of my ex husbands.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:40 AMHaha, looks like you’re not the only one with bones or remains in your garage, judging by these comments!
Amanda
May 11, 2018 at 7:44 PMI think it’s a tie between:
1) A big, heavy, bag of black river rocks. They’re left over from my wedding…9 years and FOUR moves ago.
2) A practically brand new, gas, double oven. It’s from our old house and we brought it with us, despite the fact that it’s next to impossible to find a house that uses cooking gas where we live now. But, you know, what if? Ugh.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:40 AMOk, I understand the oven … I have a sofa that didn’t fit in my house and that I don’t even like that much, but … it’s like a practically brand new sofa. The river rocks … hahaha, sounds like something I would do!
Beck
May 12, 2018 at 5:48 AMMy garage is full of DIY projects and “stuff” ready to go to the flea market…if you were to look at my garage you would be shocked at how organized and “purged” my house is…I have no idea what the weirdest thing is in my garage but I do know that, if I don’t need it, use it or am going to sell it, getting it OUT of my house and garage is key to my mental health…so away it goes! Most people don’t know that non-profit thrift stores will give you a very valuable “donation receipt” every time you drop something off…so purge away and save on your taxes!!! I look at it this way…it is literally costing you money to keep that unwanted/not needed/nevergonnauseit crap!!! DONATE!!!! Here’s a challenge…donate 5 things…see if you really miss it 2 months from now!
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:38 AMOooh, I love that thought. It’s actually costing you money to keep your junk around! And costing you mental health too! I totally get that, I’m a major purger. And I hate things out in plain sight. If anything can go in a drawer or a cupboard, it goes. You will never see a roll of paper towels just sitting on my countertop!
Nelly
May 12, 2018 at 8:16 AMHow do I explain it? A Barbie, stuck through a card board dome … type … thing with a beautiful crocheted ball gown on it. (picture like one of those Barbie birthday cakes, where the cake is like she’s wear a giant hoop skirt) It was made by my husband’s great grandma and given to me to pass down to my daughters. Yay.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:34 AMOh boy!! This sounds amazing. I need a pic.
LeeAnn
May 12, 2018 at 2:38 PMMy father-in-law’s ashes.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:33 AMYeah … where are you supposed to keep those? I have no idea!!
Andria
May 13, 2018 at 2:58 PMThe skull of a horse is sitting on top of our fridge in the garage. My little boys found it hiking and proudly brought it home to show it off.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:33 AMLooks like you have some takers in the comments on that skull! Awesome!
Cath
May 13, 2018 at 9:47 PMI have 12 year old cases of wheat that moved with me to Utah, once within Utah, back to Arizona, three more times here. My husband has celiacs.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:32 AMHahaha, I totally get it!!
Denise
May 14, 2018 at 4:58 AMHmmmm, my weird stuff is in my house… @Andria, that skull would be center stage on my coffee table, I’m jealous. Oh wait… my weird-to-most-people-stuff (dead roadkill) is in my garage, in a freezer waiting to be cleaned for the bones and pelts. 🙂
Mumzy
May 14, 2018 at 7:01 AMAll I know is that I could get rid of 90% of it! Why do I hang on to stuff?????
Peggy
May 14, 2018 at 7:26 AMYay! Now I know someone else who has a bucket of beans in their garage! I actually have more than one, plus some salt and corn. So we’ll probably outlast you by a week or two!
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 10:29 AMHahaha, awesome! We’re ready!
Gilmer Gal
May 14, 2018 at 9:48 AMEverything but a car.
Lindsey @ Better After
May 14, 2018 at 11:42 AMYou’re supposed to keep the car in there?? lol
Susan
May 14, 2018 at 10:48 AMNelly – Your Barbie was to disguise the extra roll of toilet paper. My grandmother had one on the back of her toilet when I was young.
Mila
May 14, 2018 at 12:55 PMI dont have a garage but I had a bag of brown rice just like that! If i opened it, where would I put all the rice?? so it moved with us =)
Spring
May 16, 2018 at 9:06 AMThe strangest thing we have is the harpoon tip the previous owners left in the garage. We’re not sure if they ever used it, but it’s there.
Jenny B.
May 16, 2018 at 8:12 PMI know exactly what Nelly is talking about. My granny used to make those Barbie doll crochet ball gown / cake dome things too. Only they weren’t really Barbies… they were the knock-offs, and only the top half…
Sheree L
May 21, 2018 at 7:22 AMLove the new garage!
We have a giant (24″x12″) glass bottle almost full of coins that my husband started putting in there before we were married (over 25 years ago). I want to cash it out at the bank, but I think he’s afraid of accidentally giving away some valuable, old coin. But, let’s face it, when are we ever going to look through all those thousands of coins??