Ode To My Garage: Poem (Podcast)

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The dreaded storage closet, junk drawer or attic; we all have one (or more).

In California, we have garages. Why? Because of all our earthquake opportunities we don’t have attics or basements. As a result, we have more garages than other homes would have in other parts of the world or country. We do what you would expect. We fill them up with stuff, all kinds of stuff. Important or not it goes into that space… and it stays there until we decide it’s time to eliminate, clean and organize it all.

I’ve been faced with the daunting task of purging, cleaning and organizing our garage. Ugh! So with that in mind “Ode To My Garage” is what floated through my mind while contemplating the task of cleaning and organizing that space. For a bit of fun, I thought it would be amusing to share my ode to my garage contemplation.

Ode To My Garage

Ode To My Garage, findingourwaynow.com

The day had come,
The decision made.
The door went up,
And stuff fell out.

Oh what have I done?
Why was today the day?
Where do I start?
What should I do first?

Ode To My Garage, findingourwaynow.com

I stare in wonder,
At the mountains of stuff.
There comes a big sigh,
I ponder and think,
Will it get done?

Then it struck me,
Ah, 10 things a day.
Little by little the garage took shape.
Until it was complete.

Ode To My Garage, findingourwaynow.com

Things in their place,
Easy to find and easy to reach.
All is well,
Until the next time.

The question that you may have at this moment is, did I really get my garage cleaned and organized? Yes, indeed I did. What really helped me was the idea of eliminating 10 things a day. That approach made my garage project so much easier. I found I made better and much more efficient decisions by using that method. And best of all, now I can find things I need and use with ease and without frustration. The challenge now will be to keep it that why.

There is a lesson here. Often times we don’t have to complete a project in a rush. I realize that we don’t always have the luxury to take the kind of time I did with my garage project. But when we do, it makes life so much easier for everyone. When we take it a bit at a time, our task will get done with much less wear and tear on our mind, body and spirit.

Do you have a junk space like that? Has the thought of clearing our a junk space struck fear in you heart when you think about organizing that space? What is your ode to a junk space?

Life’s journey continues…

If you enjoyed “Ode To My Garage”, check out We Grow, The House By The Side Of The Road and The Gloaming. 

  • I Love the title to this post!! But oh the dreaded garage… Having moved house a lot n my life (13 times in the past 30 yrs!), I am no stranger to the hoarder/declutter syndrome. But I love your solution of getting rid 10 things at a time. Tasks are all so much easier if you break them down into smaller chunks. I find writing is a lot like that – one word, one sentence, one paragraph at a time. Otherwise a novel would feel very overwhelming.

    • Hi A.K. It really can be a challenge. When the junk space is overflowing and there is no more room, there is only one solution but still we seem to take so long to getting around to clearing it all out. 🙂

  • MinaJoshi5409

    Loved the poem . You are right about spacing out the work by doing a little bit of tidying up each day. Here in UK as well we tend to store useless stuff in the garage and leave our expensive cars on the driveway!! I think once it’s Spring I will have to start tidying my garage . Fancy coming to help out? Payment would vegetarian curries!

    • Hi Mina, I always thought IT was the funniest thing about garages. I thought they were meant for cars not junk. Boy was I wrong. Although tempting 😀 I’ll have to pass…. LOL.

  • Jeri Walker-Bickett

    I’m militant about getting rid of stuff on a regular basis. Sometimes I end up regretting giving something to Goodwill, but in general if it hasn’t been used recently and serves no apparent purpose, out it goes! I really like having a garage again. It was hard to come by houses with garages in much of the South.

    • I usual am too Jeri, but with the advent of my husband coming home, I’ve had to rethink our use of space. I am a bit concerned about where we will store all his special cookware… LOL. 🙂

  • Jacqueline Gum

    I am NOT a hoarder. If anything, I am the opposite and purge on a regular basis! And I find if I take the extra second to put things back where they belong, and how they belong, things don’t get too messy! I know…I guess I’m a bit OCDC…neat freak…whatever. When I lived in Florida, also a state where garages are used for storage due to no basements, my friends would tell me they could eat off of my garage floor!!!! I’m not bragging by any means…I think they are opposite sides of the spectrum, each with their own drawbacks!!!! Glad you got er done though Susan! It must have felt great!

    • Somehow that doesn’t surprise me… LOL. My friend think this post is a hoot because they say my clutter is cleaner then their by a long shot. To me if it get to a point where I have more tuff then space. then it time to take action. As I was doing that, this poem cried out to be shared. 😀

      • Jacqueline Gum

        Well it was great share and I thank you 🙂

  • Probably no surprise to you Susan, I do not like clutter and the 10 things approach is great. It does apply to business and small steps really helps to get momentum and achieve results.

    • Hi Susan, Yep, it’s no surprise…. LOL. I couldn’t agree with you more. How many times have you seem the clutter office with more stuff then business? I’m sure you’ve lost count. 🙂

  • I love the “stuff” in your garage. Looks like fabric for a sewing project. Who knows what one might find when one finally cleans that cluttered and ignored spot.

    • LOL, that is so true Leora. I did find stuff I had forgotten I had. It was like Christmas all over again. 🙂

  • Meredith Wouters

    Love it! Although I think getting rid of 10 things a day would take me about a year! I have a garage, and a shed, and an attic. I think I may have a problem… 🙂

    • Hi Meredith, LOL… Thanks and I think you may be indeed. Are they all full?

  • Pat Ruppel

    Good job, Susan. I can see where you can accomplish a daunting task like that in increments. Unfortunately, for us, we don’t have a garage, we have a carport. So, consequently, we can’t really store anything out there that could be subject to critters or the elements.

    We don’t have an attic or real basement either, to speak of, so things to store lands under the stairs, shed, laundry room and closets. It’s spread out everywhere and there to see all the time. Ugh. I’m also a packrat and hate to get rid of anything, which doesn’t help.

    I know, one of these days, like you, I’ll take the plunge and take a room at a time and purge. I hope it’s sooner than later. LOL 🙂

    • Thanks Pat, It would be a serious challenge for us if we were without a garage. I sympathize with your plight.

      Yep, when your ready, it will make it easier to tackle one space at a time. I have an easier time ridding myself of some things. When it comes to things that I have an emotional attachment too, they are very hard for me let go of. 🙂

      • Pat Ruppel

        I know what you mean about emotional attachment. I think when it’s time to get rid of them, you know it. We’re getting close (haha) I can feel it in my bones. 🙂

  • My husband has a man’s favorite garage – and totally organized as they sit on his couch and watch a game on tv. I’ve had to work to keep my clutter piles down in both our kitchen and my office. Two years I took a 90 day challenge and got it all cleaned up. Still. Great post!

    • I wish my husband would learn something from yours.

    • Hi Patricia, Thanks my friend. My husband’s man cave IS the garage. the operative word in cave. :D. I usually try to make a point of getting in there to cull stuff down (with his help of course) but it was an impossible task for him to make decisions on such a large amount of stuff. The 10 things a day worked and I then we could make serious head way. 🙂 Yea!!!

  • Hi Susan.
    I keep people junks as my collection and I have a room full of Junks. Some of its need some repairing work and it have been in the room since I start to collect them. Maybe I will try to follow your method, eliminating or repairing 10 things a day.

    • Hi Ahmad, I would be over flowing if I were to take in other people’s junk. I am good to keep my own clutter down. :-). It really helps if you can do a bit of eliminating a day. You will amazing how fast the decluttering get done.

  • I would love to have a garage here to store stuff, we use to have a storage unit but Tim got fed up paying for it and said we would make room here easier said than done though he moved a heap of stuff to his shed which was not water tight and leaked and ruined a few things but such is life and there is nothing we can do about what is done.

    • Hi Jo-Anne, I absolutely refuse to rent a storage space. I know if we do, it just means we will fill it up and the stuff will be forgotten, out of site out of mind kind of thing. I am so sorry about the leaks and ruined stuff, but as you said, that’s water under the bridge. 🙂

  • I wish I could get my closets cleaned out. The problem isn’t that I don’t have time, and it isn’t that I can’t do the job although I’ll take a long time because of mobility issues. The problem is dear Hubby. He doesn’t want to part with anything. We have a shed in back. I thought that would solve this pack-rat problem. It’s full to the brim. He can’t even get the lawnmower in there.

    • Hi Glynis, Boy do I get that. My husband will keep most everything. I’m the one who needs to move stuff out. It’s like pulling teeth, but it does feel good when I can get him moving and we then have the space to find the things he loves and uses. So keep at it, he will get there. 🙂

  • Susan, I love your poem! Yes, I’ve been there and done that. It is amazing what we can accumulate isn’t it? Six months ago, I moved and there was so much accumulated “stuff” I couldn’t believe it. I’m not a hoarder, but why did I have 20 extension cords? I could go on, but I won’t.
    I did 2 garage sales, and after that gave EVERYTHING to a guy who is a “picker” in the neighborhood. Even valuable antiques that I didn’t have use for. I just wanted it done!
    Today, I’m a minimalist! That was my goal. Taking bits and pieces like you did each day made it so much easier than staring at all that had to be done!

    -Donna

    • Hi Donna, I can so relate to that. I hate moving, but l do love the fact that it forces us to rid ourselves of stuff we really don’t need, use or want any more. I am still working on the minimalist thing. One day I actually may get there… LOL

  • Arlee Bird

    I’ve recently been tackling my garage little by little. Progress is coming very slow. Enjoyed your poem and accompanying artwork.

    Lee

    http://wrotebyrote.blogspot.com/

    An A to Z Co-host blog

    • Hi There Arlee, So good to see you. I know, doing it that way takes time, but it sure makes it easier. 🙂

  • We organized our garage years ago. We were running out of room for our many books. The decision was to build bookshelves and other shelves throughout the garage. It is an old house and no room to park a car in. Actually I don’t think anybody around here parks in the garage. The houses built in 1950 and they had narrower cars back then. So the garage is meant for storage?right? We put in a pull down stairs for the attic…now that is a shock! One of these days we are going to have to go up there and bring all that stuff down! I went up there before Christmas to help find something, my gosh I never knew there was so much stuff up there. He kept telling me if they were giving away pots and artificial flowers at work bring them on home, well I did! Probably a good thing they laid me off 3 years ago or who knows how much more there would be up there.

    But I did some cleaning out of stuff in the house and it was rejuvenating. Doing one drawer or closet at a time worked very well. Works much better than a marathon of cleaning.

    Mary

    • Hi Mary, Books and cookware are are our real issue. My hope is we can cull it down, donate it or sell some stuff.

      I love it. LOL, that is the problem with attics, out of sight out of mind. I guess not having an attic for me is a good thing. It’s hard for me to miss the mounting plies in a garage. 🙂

  • Jon Jefferson

    With my daughter and her husband and child living with us we have a section of our basement filled with their stuff. To make matters worse, babies have tons of stuff. This means baby stuff is filling up my house in all manner of nooks and crannies. Never ending piles of baby stuff. But the baby is great…

    • It really hard to keep nay house clutter free with little ones around but then we would miss the joy of having them. That said, I agree with you Jon. They are worth the clutter. 🙂

  • Adrienne

    Cute poem and glad you got everything organized Susan. I think that a lot of people get overwhelmed when there is too much stuff so you went about that the right way.

    Do I have any place like that known as junk space? Nope, I’m annoyingly organized so everything in my home has it’s place. I also live in a condo complex so I have an outside storage shed but that too is very organized. I hate clutter so I don’t have a lot of extra stuff.

    Now when my Mom moved we had an estate sale and although she had cleaned stuff up three times before the sale there was still a lot of stuff. That’s all behind us now. Yay!

    ~Adrienne

    • So am I Adrienne. But as it is with everything in life there is much more to done. Now I am on the clearing out many things, physical and otherwise in my life. 🙂 I think I’m like your mom… 🙂 My hope is I can be more like you in that regard. 🙂

  • LOVE the sentiment of this post, Susan. It really is important to slice large and daunting tasks into small, manageable ones. I do that with my office periodically, because the paper piles up way too quickly. I make an attempt to go thru one pile every few weeks and recycle what I don’t need.

    • Hi Doreen, I agree, when we can take it in small doses it really makes the task of keeping the clutter done so much easier. I ry to do that, but with my travel schedule and not always being at home makes it easy for things to pile up, thus the intervention. 🙂

  • Debra Yearwood

    Love it! Your garage, my basement. Like you I do a bit at a time…we have a garage, I leave it to my husband to manage. 🙂

    • Hi Debra, LOL, my husband is the part of the problem with out collecting stuff (kitchen stuff primarily). i would love a basement. But then again that would be yet another space to fill up… LOL.

  • John Barton

    Hi Susan, I sent a reply via Facebook and now I can’t find it!
    Any ideas! Cheers John

    • Thanks John, I saw it and so appreciate your support. 🙂

  • Oksana Frewer

    Susan, it’s such a lovely poem. I don’t have a junky place only because I get rid of unneeded stuff, without any compunction, it is time now to go through my wardrobe…

    • Aw thanks Oksana, I usually do that but alas time and energy to keep up with that. So there I was figuring it out without the stress. 😀

  • Grace

    Susan, you just motivated me to get up from my desk and straighten out my house! Thanks

    • That is is funny Grace. I’m sure it isn’t in much need of that, but nevertheless every little bit helps. 🙂

  • Creative as always Susan! Glad to see your garage project is complete.

    • Aw thanks Jen. It is, but now I’m on the other areas in need. Sigh, the work never ends. 🙂

  • Jason Butler

    Wow I’m motivated to clean my small junk space now.

    • WOO! HOO! that is very cool Jason. I’m sure it will only take a minute or two. 🙂

  • Well, the last time I cleaned the garage, I divided it up into different sections and assigned a day for each section.

    Like you mentioned, dividing it up and doing it slowly is much easier, plus more efficient, if you ask me. We have a tendency to rush things up, especially when it comes to huge goals. And in doing that, we may not necessarily be at our best in each task.

    Anyways, good to hear that your cleaning project went well 🙂 Thank you for sharing it (and the awesome poem), Susan 🙂

    • Indeed that is true Jeevan. This really applies to so many tasks we are required to do in our lives. It reminds me of a saying. “Act in haste and repent in leisure”. I do try not to do that, but alas I do some repenting because of my haste. 🙂

  • Cheryl Therrien

    Oh yeah… I can SO relate. I think you have taken a good and unique approach with the ’10 things a day’. For me it is my office. I am a hoarder with the exception of twice a year – I get ruthless with getting rid of stuff.

    • Thanks so much Cheryl. It really has been a huge help and I’m now in the process with Rod moving back home … YEA!!!

  • Susan, I totally understand what you’re talking about with the garage. Every time I clean my side of the garage out to park my car in it, my kids fill it up with something else. It’s a never ending clean up! Thanks, Brandon.

    • LOL.. indeed that is true Brandon. It does feel good for a short time but then we find ourselves doing it all over again. 😀

  • Congratulations on getting your garage cleaned and organized Susan! This story sounds vaguely familiar to me. Were you the one who was telling me about her husband, a ladder and Christmas decorations? 🙂

    We don’t have a garage but we have a full basement with a spare room and between my daughter’s belongings (she moved back home 3 years ago) and the “stuff” I’m saving to donate, it’s pretty cluttered down there. I’ll be glad when there’s no more threat of snow and I can call one of my favorite charities to swing by and pick up a lot of this stuff. I just can’t seem to throw out something that I think would be of value to someone else.

    • Thanks Sherryl, Yep, that was me… LOL. I think we are all guilty of that. My husband can’t seem to throw anything away until he can’t see his way out of a place. Then we goes at it as if his life depended on it. Then he does it all over again with the clutter… LOL.

  • Rebecca Thompson

    Funnily enough I just started on my office this morning. It has become the junk space as all other rooms are either bedrooms or newly installed cupboard space (which we haven’t yet managed to clutter up).
    I found it so much more pleasant to do it in a similar way to you. It didn’t have to be completed today, just a certain amount at a time. I am actually not completely put off by having to get back in there tomorrow because I’ve made the job less daunting.
    Well done on the garage. That will have to be our next project 🙂

    • That’s cool Rebecca, I know that you’ll succeed and love the results. If I had to face doing it all at once, I fear it would never get done. My approach was out of desperation and a need to get the space under control. it really helped, and I got it done…. yea! 🙂