Step One: The Unboxinating

This morning I rolled out of bed all fired up to start the garage project. I hadn't been able to do anything the previous evening because we'd had storms roll through, and I'd spent most of the evening watching the Weather Channel with one hand on my go bag in case of tornadoes.

But by morning the rain was gone, leaving cool but sunny April weather behind. Time to get to work!

I'd put the car in the garage in case of hail, so I worked around it. The garage will remain a car-shelter even after it's converted into my steampunk workshop and laboratory; I might as well get used to having the central area out of bounds.

My first impression was of a lot of mess and clutter--a lot more than I remembered. I grabbed a garbage bag and got to work, pitching empty topsoil bags (why did I leave them on the floor last spring? Why?), cracked plastic flowerpots, crumpled empty seed packets (was I planning on using them for origami or something? Last year me, you were so crazy), and an inexplicable broken coat hanger.

As I worked my way slowly across the back of the garage, filling garbage bags, I came across a mountain of cardboard boxes. My first thought? "Oh, I need those."

NO I DON'T. I don't need those! I closed my etsy shop three years ago; I don't have to obsessively save boxes to ship things out in. Time to break those boxes down.

So I did. And I did. And I did some more. And then I found another stack of older boxes in the corner from when I moved in.

It took me the better part of an hour to break down all the boxes, strip off as much plastic tape as possible, and knock off all the spiders. Apparently I'd been using the boxes to store my collection of live spiders.

When I was done, I put the boxes in the car and drove them to the recycle center. And that is step one finished.

I've got a long way to go.

Welcome to My Garage

The steampunk-my-garage project started with me wanting to make myself a nightgown. I have a very small house and a cat (named Jekyll), so of course here's what happened.

I thought, "I need a cutting table, preferably in a room where I can shut the door." But as I say, my house is tiny. Where would I put a cutting table?

The next day I found myself turning that thought over in my mind. Then I realized that I had lots of room in the garage!

Of course, I can't afford a cutting table. But I could make one! Maybe! And if I made my own table, I could make it a really cool table.

At this point I started browsing etsy for bits of steampunky hardware for my imaginary table.

It wasn't until the next day--apparently my brain ticks over pretty slowly--that I had a sudden epiphany. Steampunk table? You're dreaming too small, self. The whole garage could be steampunked up.

I grabbed a notebook and started sketching ideas and making lists of things I needed to do. I've only lived in this house a year and a half. There's not all that much clutter in the garage. I wrote, "1. Take stuff to Goodwill and dump. 2. Sort through paint cans and decide what to keep and what to throw. 3. Paint garage interior. 4. Decorate!" Because I thought it would be simple, a weekend project.

That was yesterday. And it's already clear that I'm facing many, many weekends of work before I'm done. But when I do finish, my garage is going to be the most awesome laboratory that any eccentric inventor has ever seen.

I hope.

Also, maybe eventually I'll find the time to finish sewing that nightgown.