{Project: Organize the Garage}

I bring good news and bad news to my key board as I sit down to share our latest

organization project.

The good news: We finally got to organizing and beautifying our garage after a year

of talking about it, and we love the finished product.

The bad news: I didn't take a proper before photo. I mean, what am I new?

I meant to ... I said I wanted to ... and then somehow we got started without taking one.

So, I'm pulling a couple shots out of my archives to give you an idea of the BEFORE.

This is what the garage looked like before on a good day ... here it is in 2007, shortly after

we moved in and got everything into place. Four years and several purchases and home

improvement projects later, it was not nearly this orderly.

Now, onto the our organizational undertaking! First, we emptied the entire garage into

the back yard so we'd have a fresh canvas with which to work.

This was the perfect opportunity to part with things we didn't need. We made piles

for trash and donation and got ride of a ton of junk! Then, David cleaned the walls,

baseboards and floor.

Everything dried overnight. The next day was paint day. We did it all in the same color.

The dingy flat, builder-grade white paint got covered with a higher gloss, thick coat of tan.

The floor is what we were really excited about. We got a quote to have it professionally

epoxied, but it was so expensive. We just couldn't justify spending that kind of money,

especially because this isn't our forever house. So, we went the DIY route, and it was

such a good call. One trip to Home Depot and a few minutes of Q&A with Richard in

the paint department, and we came home with this.

The application process was totally easy. It worked out really well to have two people

to do it -- one to paint and one to sprinkle the chips. You have to work kind of fast so

the chips get applied to the epoxy while it's still wet because that's what makes them

stay in place. I told David I want to do this to every garage we every own for the rest

of our lives. It looks so nice, clean and finished.

I also called around for estimates on getting cabinets installed. We ended up going with

Space Solutions. Their prices were competitive, the service was great, and they had it

installed a week or two after we placed our order.

I love how these hide all the little odds and ends that used to be in plain sight. The best part about the cabinets though? We created a locker for David in one of the areas. He really

needed a spot for his things (running, golf, softball, weights, etc.), and now he has one.

I also designated a spot by the door for:

* Items to be donated

* Plastic bags that can be taken to the grocery store for recycling

I am in love with this new space. I'll be doing this or something like it to any house I live

in for the rest of my days! The best part was doing it with D over a long weekend. We had

a lot of fun together. :)