A Cloud Of Dust

I spent two hours cleaning the garage tonight.

And I'm not done yet...

See, I knew when I started working on this project tonight that I would not finish in just one evening. Getting started had been my problem in the past.  Too cold, too hot, too windy, not enough time - too many excuses. So, at least I got started...right?

The weather is turning more beautiful by day and soon I will want to bring the Cougar home for the summer.

I decided to start with my wife's side of the garage since there was less to deal with on that side.  I pulled everything out of the corners and away from the walls so I could sweep all the dust, grass, leaves, rocks, and dead bugs.  I thought that dealing with the grime first would get me to continue to clean the garage later.  *COUGH* *COUGH*

I rearranged some things that we would not be using anytime soon and put them out of the way in the back corner on my wife's side of the garage.  Other than that I swept up the dirt and grime, put some items in the trash or recycling bin, and organized items so we could get the cars back into the garage.

The next step is to figure out how to arrange and organize the garage to get the most use out of the area.
I recently picked up a magazine to help with that process and gather ideas.  I have thought about higher shelves and a way to hang up some items like my bike, the lawn spreader, and other cumbersome items.  Maybe some paint too...

My side of the garage contains the workbench, a shelf with miscellaneous items and the tool chests.  The back wall has the shovels, rakes and implements of destruction as well as two cabinets and the lawnmower and a door on the right side. My wife's side of the garage has the trash can, the recycling can and a couple of windows.  The garage has a 10 1/2 foot ceiling.

Hmmm...what to do?

I Need To Clean The Garage!

Although I live in a house that is only a few years old I am constantly thinking about updates that could be done to the house. A couple of years ago my wife decided to buy some faux stone and replace the fireplace surround. The stone sat around for about a year, but eventually last winter (2008-09) we removed the original tile surround from around the fireplace and my brother-in-law, my wife and I installed the faux stone surround. The fireplace is set into a corner of our living room at a 45 degree angle so we had to cut each stone on the edges to fit. Because it was winter and very cold outside we cut the first day in our garage. This was a BIG mistake! The dust from the tile saw covered every surface in our garage and the next day we cut outside which cut down on additional dust, but the damage had already been done.

During this project we also removed the original fireplace mantle and my wife's brother built a new one out of oak from scratch for us. When he came over to install the mantle it needed a little bit of wood taken off each side where the 45 degree angle meets the wall. So, he sanded each side of the mantle a few times to get the right fit.  Since it was still cold outside this was also done in the garage and now even more dust collected on every surface.

During 2009 I never did get around to cleaning the garage.  I parked the 1967 Cougar that I bought in April in the garage all summer and early fall, but I constantly worried about stuff falling on the car or getting a ding from my wife's car in the garage. This winter the Cougar has spent its time in a large, heated garage at my parent's house. I like things to be organized and I can frustrated when things are out of place, but I will also admit that I am not a big fan of cleaning and tend to put this chore off indefinitely. However, this year procrastination is no longer an option.  The garage is a complete disaster!  I have added a generator that my dad gave me plus we added two large trash cans (one for garbage and one for recycling) from the village where we reside.  This spring I will need to pull everything out of the garage and start from scratch. 

I am looking for low budget ideas on organizing the garage and maximizing the space that we have and keeping an adequate amount of space around the cars. I want to get all of my tools and extra stuff organized so finding things is easy and putting them back is a breeze. I am researching, but I am open to ideas from anyone who is actually reading this post.  Now I will continue to procrastinate until the weather warms up a little.