House Project: Three Van Loads Later

Our day started at 6:30 a.m. and we went non-stop until 5p.m. on an extreme outdoor clean up.  We started this long weekend off with plans to build a corral of sorts for all of our crap that was stashed under our covered roof.  Drew started gathering materials and measuring the space we were planning on enclosing to create outdoor storage.  "Before I start we need to pull all this stuff out."  So we started hauling the detritus heaped outside of 7 years of figuring out how to make a 100 year old building originally intended to be a boys workshop into a home.  The equivalent of a messy garage, but without the luxury of four walls to hide it all. 

"Why are we building something to store this?  We need to just get rid of it," said Drew 20 minutes into our project.  I took a deep breath, fought back my inner hoarder, and agreed wholeheartedly.

We decided to consolidate our outdoor storage to one corner of our covered roof space, rather than the entire back of our building and a corner up front. 

Here's the before:

The girls hauled toys down from their room and set up shop on the covered side porch while we sorted through boxes and piles.  Drew kept things moving by saying things like, "hon, maybe now isn't the time to look through old photos" and "why don't you finish clearing out what you need to get rid of before you organize your potting bench."  My husband is a very patient man.

Now we have reclaimed the entire back side of our house.  We're not sure what we want it to become, so for now we're leaving it a blank slate, with the BBQ and just enough junk to keep it feeling like home.

Here's our new and improved "storage corner" that is screened from our view from the yard by two old doors screwed to the wall:

The slough-facing side of the building is a whole new barren world:

We'll try our best to keep it that way.

Next up on the long list of keeping a 100 year old building from falling into ruin - paint!