Vision watching a cartoon.
All these looney tune characters are trying to stuff an itty bitty building full with heaps of reclaimed wood. So they toss huge bundles over their shoulders, and darting at road runner speed, they huff and they puff and they PUSH the stuff in. Upon impact, the wildly bulging building separates at the seams for just a cartoon moment, before it gradually seems to eat the stuff up.
And then they turn around and get more!
That my friends, is how I’d best describe my single car garage workshop scenario. It doesn’t matter how neat I get the thing… for as soon as something new arrives on my driveway, this place is a cartoon waiting for a script.
Remember all this fence wood I brought home? Lottery win for SURE!
Too bad my poor neighbours had to stare at my pile of gold for weeks on end.
Well, once I FINALLY banged all those fences apart, (weeks) and FINALLY removed the nails, (more weeks) the wood was dragged to the backyard (2 weeks?) for a pressure wash. (1 weekish)
Reclaimed wood you find for free is not free. Can I get an amen to that?!
And then there it was… all cleaned up with no place to go.
It’s times like these I’m convinced I need to move. Yesterday. But who wants to pack all that wood?!
So I put my pouting bottom lip to work and decided to FIND room, where there was none.
Ugh. I’ll spare you more shots of this joint, except for one more. And it was truly the ONLY place left. It had to work or else.
I needed those cartoon characters to squeeze all that wood underneath this worktable.
So OUT everything went.
First up, the wood had to make it inside even if nothing else could go back. Our monsoon season is upon us and if this stuff keeps getting wet, it’ll never dry.
So after a little trial and error, I realized I didn’t need anything fancy for the wood. It just needed stacking so air movement could work around it. So I stacked it like so.
I started with two long boards on the cement, widely spaced out, then stacked a tighter layer on top. Then continued.
Guess what… IT FIT! I could not believe it.
Now, if friend Dan is watching this, I’ll get my ears boxed, because he thinks I should finish my tile floor instead of doing what I’m about to show you.
This is how you run away from stuff you want to avoid. Ready?
See those boxes? They are indoor tiles… for a job I have not finished. And they are HEAVY!
So rather than risk injury from moving them (my back did hurt… at the time. I’m sure of it!) I decided I had no where to store those things if I moved them anyway, so I just built around them.
Cue in the cartoon bada boom.
I’m making room where I don’t have any, remember?
I started with two chunks of wood for the front legs, and attached a side frame to them. That side frame was then attached to a back frame attached to the wall. The tiles were in the way for back legs. How tricky was that?
I even left the front open so I could pull out the tiles when I was so not ready to go for it.
3 boards along the top for bracing…
And on the top went. Fence boards cut to size, screwed to the bracing boards, with the live edges in front.
And to hide the dreaded tiles for now, a few planks were screwed to the front to clean things up.
Loved it. Hello new shelf! What tiles?
So… what was all that crap under the table anyway you ask?
The most important was my massive collection of metal junk that needed sorting anyway.
Here we go…
Everything was heaped into the middle of the workshop, and with any container I could find, it was slowly sorted into something that made sense.
I added a big ‘ol rusty handle to the box so it resembled a chest of sorts, and this one was a wrap!
I know there’s still wasted space along the top, but because it’s under a table, I wanted to be able to see into the containers, so this had to do. I found places for the rest of the big stuff which I’ll show you in another post.
This is all the space I had, so I HAD to make it work. And if it didn’t work, I’d have to ditch stuff. What other option is there?
Before
After
My wood is IN! And the added bonus is, now I can also find my rusty junk.
So… in a nutshell?
If you don’t have room for something you must store:
1. Gut an area where it WILL fit, then put it there first.
2. Prioritize what else goes back. No room? Either make room or get rid of it.
Thing is, we all have space and we all have storage.
It’s just a matter of finding the magical balance to make it all work.
If you need more space to work, you’ll have to give up storage.
If you need more storage, you’ll have to give up workspace.
More room is always a bonus! But I’ve yet to hear someone complain they have too much space to work or store. And that only means one thing.
The more space you have, the more junk you’ll collect!
I’m starting to think it’s a bonus having a small space. It keeps me really honest with my hoarding habits.
Then again, hand me an empty barn, and I’ll gladly take it off your hands… so there’s that. 🙂
What are your thoughts on not enough room? How do you find room where there is none?
And if you cleaned anything this week and have a blog post to share, please include the link in your comment! You just may be featured next round. 🙂
No blog? Feel free to share your efforts on my Funky Junk Facebook page, or privately in our Crap To Clean Facebook Group you can ask to join HERE.
Visit more Crap to Clean Efforts HERE
And see ya next week for #10!
I need that wood stash over here!!!
Funny article, Yet….I understood every word and connected with it all, especially your new word choice…”weekish”. I love it, but doesn’t it mean, “week plus one day”, or “two days”, or “as needed”?
I’ve alway wondered, does a couple mean two, several mean three and some means four or more????? That’s what I thought when I saw “weekish”. It’s really a great new word!
I did the same thing with the small wood I collected for signs. My studio/craft room is Stuffed, but I found room by sliding them, individually in little stacks under my steel shelving. Actually, quite handy.
Eek! It looks great! I like how you solved your tile dilemma. Lol. I’ve been working on my art studio…whew is it a mess! But I need to get it organized so I a start work on my Christmas projects. You definitely fill up whatever space you have! And you gotta make room one way or another! I have stuff I probably don’t need anymore so I need to get rid of that so I have room for what I need/want to keep. Now to find the time to do it!!
That is one lovely wood stash. In the old days I would have used it for fire wood, but now I know better. The leather pull makes a nice and practical addition.
Donna you have got the group over at “From crap to clean” in a froth. I think it’s a great group because I see everyone working so hard, I am embarassed at my lack of progress. We will be shamed into cleaning up…lol You may have noticed that I can actually comment here now… My big news for the week I bought my own domain!! 🙂
WOW…great job, Donna…your workshop looks fantastic and sooooooo organized…that must feel good! You are a whirlwind and an inspiration! I need to find a way to hide the paint I’m supposed to be using to paint the house with just like you hid your floor tiles…hehe! Out of sight, out of mind…aaaaahhhh! 🙂
Wow, the extent you will go to ignore, procrastinate on the tile, LOL.
Thats and awesome fakeout.
Me I go up—our house is 1400 sq.ft…and packed with 4 generations worth of stuff, I’m trying to find homes for. My project for the winter will be the craft room and the clay shop. One is unworkable, the other is disgusting and no longer used for clay.
Great efforts here, and share, Thanks, Sandi
Oh trust me, tiles and I have a rough history. I’ve tiled 3 floors, but the real issues erupted when the tile cutter gave me grief and broke every tile I tried to cut. I am still traumatized… LOL
One day I will finish it. But it’s not high up on the list!
Donna,
Only, you could make cleaning and sorting, sound funny in font! I needed the chuckles about Looney Tune Characters. I could see Pistol Pete shooting at everything to make stuff fit. Also, I was drooling over your haul of hardware. Good stuff.
Kari-Anne
PS
Reward yourself with something after your hard work.
I just BUST OUT LAUGHING at your shooting visual! Could use his expertise to distress wood at the very least… hahah
So yeah…I can relate to ALL of that, although building stuff over and around a project that I’m putting off…I haven’t done that. Might save me from feeling guilty every time I see that pile though. Note: must build wooden crap covers in garage. Anyway, I’m jealous of your wood stash. I have some pallets broken down in the garage, but this particular batch had lots of largish cracks. I no longer whack them apart though..I use my reciprocating saw and leave the stupid rusty nail heads in the pieces. More authentic that way (nods to convince self that this is true and not just laziness).
Great job Donna! I love how you stacked the wood and you always seem to be able to come up with great storage ideas!
IKEA has a quote in an old catalog that I pinned to my bulletin board at my desk: “The neater the room, the more room for living.” Go for it!!
Ooooo, I’m fizzing with excitement! I love new projects and your a great inspiration. I’m a squirrel hoarder and working on ways to make space for more squirrelling lol! More sleepless nights and bad backs but what fun! Thanks for sharing.
How very clever!