If anyone were to ask you which you loved best, your clutter or your car, then you’d probably answer “My car of course”. But if you were then asked “What do you keep in your garage?”, what would your answer be? “My car” or “My clutter”?
Many people would be forced to admit that their garage was full of clutter and their precious car sat outside in the wind and the rain.
Why? Why? and Why?
There’s no logical reason to keep your expensive, delicate, precious car outside to be buffeted by the elements, whilst your (mostly) worthless clutter sits cosily in the garage, protected and cosseted… and yet this is what many people do.
Why? Because they’re too busy (can’t be bothered) to de-clutter their garage, or are too sentimental or misguided to get rid of the clutter they don’t use. I know they don’t use it, because it wouldn’t be stored in the garage otherwise.
If you really love your car then be nice to it and give it it’s home back. It’s too precious to sit outside rusting in the rain.
Step One
Pick a dry day and empty your garage.
Step Two
Scrutinise everything carefully.
Step Three
Put all the obvious junk in a rubbish bag; this includes broken, obsolete or damaged items, dried up tins of paint, empty oil containers, oily rags and undecipherable manuals.
Step Four
Put items that are in the wrong place into a box(es) to reassign elsewhere.
Step Five
Items that are good but not used by you, like your children’s outgrown bicycles, should be sold or given to charity.
Step Six
Good furniture that you’re storing should be sold or given to relatives, unless you’re definitely going to move to a bigger home within the next twelve months.
Step Seven
Bad furniture that you’re storing should be driven to the local rubbish tip and left there. For example, lumpy mattresses, or furniture that is shabby, got woodworm, or is too bulky for a normal sized house.
Step Eight
Items you really want to keep but don’t have room for in the house should be given away, or make room in the house by clearing some clutter (I’m sure you’ve got some somewhere!)
Step Nine
Give your garage a thorough clean, sweep the floor and even paint the walls if they look shabby.
Step Ten
Put up some shelves so that the items that do need to be in there can be stored neatly; such as tins of paint and gardening tools if you don’t have a shed, oil containers, car tools and manuals, etc.
Successful Re-Homing
If you don’t have room to sort out the entire garage in one day (which is quite likely if you have years of junk in there) then set aside one day a week to tackle it until it’s done.
Follow these simple, logical steps and your garage will be empty, clean, inviting, and a perfect new home for your precious car. Your car will retain more value, the bodywork will last longer, it will be safer from thieves, and your car insurance may well be reduced.
Go on do it… you know your car’s worth it!
