The garage. Just the mention of it brings groans, gasps and the rolling of eyes. Even the most fastidious people have been revealed to be closet messies when it comes to the garage. In private consultations, people have been know to throw their bodies across the door to the garage - “Oh NO – your CAN”T go into the garage!”
“Does the garage really count?” In a word: “YES!” It’s part of the house even if it is sometimes your only private dumping ground. I’ve consulted in many high-dollar, beautifully appointed homes - meticulously neat in the public quarters but total chaos in the garage. In a few, the garage door couldn’t be closed because it was full from top to bottom and front to back. Several hardware stores could have been stocked with the contents. Things were so well packed-in, there was no hope of finding anything without undoing everything. So, whenever someone needed a tool, they would go buy another.
Sound familiar??? You’re not alone. Somehow the garage has become the repository for not only all the camping gear, tools, yard stuff and hand-me-downs, it also contains trash, recycling, seasonal decorating items, broken stuff, things we no longer need and things NOBODY needs. Dr. Suess said it best. He called them THNEEDS (things nobody needs).
It’s not the garage that’s the problem. In fact, it’s a very useful part of the house - some people even park their cars there! It’s what happens when we treat it like a land fill. Anywhere there’s clutter, especially if that clutter contains broken, dirty and unused items collecting dust, mold, spiders and other critters - the energy gets stuck and it effects the way life is lived by those who reside in the house.
The garage nearly always appears in one of the corners of the house, making it – in Feng Shui terms - a big deal. Let's pretend that the front door is in the center of the house on the same parallel as the front edge of the structure. From the center front of the house, going in a clockwise direction the first corner we come to represents the life aspect known as Knowledge and Spirituality. Clutter in this area will slow down the initiation of new projects, interfere with feeling grounded or calm, inhibit personal growth and limit the wisdom we bring to bear in life situations.
The next corner moving up and around into the roughly 10:00 position is the Prosperity sector and has to do with our ability to create the kind of life we want for ourselves and our sense of financial well-being. Clutter in this area can interfere with finances, projects coming to fruition financially, and contribute to leaking away of resources,
Moving around to the right or into the 2:00 position, we’re now in the Relationship sector. Stagnant energy here can wreak havoc with relationships, especially intimate relationships . It could be that a romance is stuck in the “no-go” position, or in a home based business, the client relationships are suffering. Even if there is no significant other in the picture, this area is no less important. All relationships start with the relationship to self and stagnant energy here can cloud our sense of who we are, damaging self esteem..
Moving on down the right side, to about the 5:00 position, we find Travel and Helpful People. Ever feel like your operating all alone, without the help of others? Check out this corner of your house. One client was in the midst of remodeling their home and just had an entire crew leave the job, in midstream. The garage was full of debris, while the rest of the house even during remodeling was in pretty good shape. It was also in the Helpful People area. I suggested they get the area cleaned up pronto and finish painting it. They did it immediately, and with in a day a passerby noticed the construction and stopped to ask if they needed any help. He finished the job for them!
Wait! What’s that racket I hear? It’s dancing in the streets! I think it’s coming from those folks with detached garages. Turn off that music! You’re not exempt – because the garage is still part of the energy of the property. Sorry….To determine where on the property the house falls, use the point where the driveway comes in as the “front door” to the property.
On the more mundane level, here’s something else to think about. If you’re one of fortunate few who can actually get your car in the garage, you also probably enter
and exit your house via the garage. If you do, the garage is the last thing you see in the morning before heading off to work, and the first thing you see returning home. So - if your garage is neat and brightly lit, painted and things are in order – you’re more apt to start your day feeling “together.” If, on the other hand walking into your garage constitutes as act of bravery, then you are probably reminded of all the stuff you need to do and what a mess things are. It permeates the entire day.
Coming home after a long, possibly frustrating day at the office, wanting nothing more than to get home and relax - you drive into the “little shop of horrors.” Your mood plummets, your energy is zapped and any joy you had about coming home is vaporized. Instead of greeting your family with a smile. you offer up a scowl and it sets the mood for your evening at home. When you look at the garage this way, it becomes a very important room.
OK – so we’ve got the landscape of how important it is to get the garage in order, but it’s so overwhelming. Where to start? Here’s an automatic toss list for getting started. In other words, these are things you can get rid of without a second thought and without having to think about recycling - with the exception of some tools that may be rehabilitated via Goodwill.
Next, look at storage. By far the quickest way to deal with storage in the garage is to use vertical shelving or racks. Most garages I enter have piles that go up to about four feet, because that’s about as tall as you can stack before things begin to fall, slope or slowly tumble into small pyramids. This is not what is meant by “pyramid power.” Consider these options:
Garage maintenance is never at the top of anyone’s list. That why it’s important to make it easy to do. While I’ve had people giggle and gasp at the next suggestion, it’s actually a feature in new upper-end construction. Painting the floor with one of the new epoxy paints that come in spatter colors makes cleaning up oil spills of paint a breeze. It also looks great and actually makes you want to keep the garage clean. Painting the garage interior with a semi-gloss or high gloss is actually high on my personal list because it makes it lighter, smells are not absorbed as easily into painted surfaces and finally, it’s easier to clean.
Finally, for an extra pick-me-up when you drive into the garage, put a fun poster right in front of your car or on the garage side of the door entering into the house. You’d be surprised how nice it is to come home to a cheery image.
The bottom line on garages is this: if your mood drops when you walk into your garage, it a signal that it’s not working for you in other areas of your life. This is a great time of year for this; it’s cooler, bugs have slowed down, and it’s about time to find those holiday decorations. Kids are forever wanting money and are therefore usually eager to help if you let them keep any funds they earn from the re-sale or garage sale of old toys. EVERYONE enjoys and gets better use of the garage when it’s organized and clean.
So enjoy your new project. If you start it now, you’ll actually be able to find those Christmas or Hanukah decorations, clean out the “white elephant” presents you received last year and make room for more! Now that’s a cheery thought…
The Garage!
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