I was reading Aby's blog the other day and it got me thinking about "our junk (aka our stuff)..." She said something that made me think... especially when it comes to my garage!

When it comes to clutter in our own home, every one else's clutter is way more annoying than our own.

A garage always ends up being a haven for clutter amongst other things. I have discussed my garage before and I know my limits when it comes to keeping the garage organized. I just stay out because it annoys me!

With the recent move, it's been hard for me not to jump right in on the boxes still standing in the garage. Without having extra storage space, it's easy to assign the garage for those... "Oh, I don't know where it goes, just put it in the garage..." items.

Yesterday, my DH was able to get out there and start putting things into place (mostly to keep me from bugging him about it).

We don't have an attic, but we have a spare bedroom, and we don't have high ceiling storage like we used to, but we have quite a few built-ins. It was exciting to see my DH figure out how he wanted to use the space... he sorted, he unpacked, he was making his wife happy, that is why he is my DH!!!

However, I was still annoyed? I can never understand why he keeps so many connectors, various wires, power strips, extension cords and don't even get me started on the tools. It all looks like junk to me...  I will give him credit that he stores all his stuff neatly (to a degree) in crates, drawers or hanging on the wall. No more boxes in the garage!!!

He knows exactly what he has and when I need a short telephone wire (like I did yesterday), he goes right to the "electrical tote" and grabs one right at the top. Amazing, I was no longer annoyed, but why? I think because I watched as he put things away, and now understood to a degree, why he has what he has. Again, amazing. It didn't look like clutter anymore, it looked like a full functioning garage.

Do you suppose that on occasion, he looks at my craft space and thinks the same thing about me and my "junk?" Sometimes I wonder if it's because I don't have control over it it that I think it's clutter... What do you think?


*image from This Old House - Create Your Garage Storage Plan