MT Connections
Go to Source
I suspect many homes have a section of the house devoted to “junk” or “things I may need in the future.” At the very least, most people have a junk drawer. Well, at our house we realized we have a junkyard basement! At one point early in our married life, we moved 5 times in 10 years. The upside of all of those moves was that we rarely kept anything that wasn’t being used as it was too much work to move useless things. We had our hands full moving children, toys, furniture, and household goods, so we really thought twice before bringing things with us that we didn’t need. Unfortunately, that “use it or lose it” mentality went out the window when we moved to our current home. We have been here over 15 years and just keep stashing things in the basement. Occasionally we would attempt to organize it, building shelves, finishing it off into a family room/game space, food pantry, etc. For a few years this worked well BUT then the dis-use monster took over. Not using the ping pong table? Let’s just store a few things on it. Kids home from college? Let’s just put those things under the ping pong table. Their furniture? Let’s store it over here until they get an apartment. Not using the exercise equipment? Let’s just pile a few things from the garage on it. The things going to charity? Let’s put them on the couch until we go to the drop-off. One wrong move brought on another and soon our basement became dreaded territory.
So-o-o-o-o I have started a new hobby. Every week for the past few months I spend a little time in that dreaded domain and make a dent in the accumulated junk. The family has an opportunity to claim things as they are unburied and if they decide they don’t want it, I determine where it goes next. I am finding this process strangely therapeutic – it feels good to get some of this physical clutter out the door. Charity? Often. Trash? Often. Ebay? Sometimes. Craigslist? Frequently. The latter has been the most fun. It seems “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” is not just a cliché! The people we have met through this trash into cash adventure have been as varied as the items we have sold or donated. An unexpected side effect of these exchanges has been the delight seen on some buyer’s faces as they pick up their items, some free, some for cash. It has made us feel good to know our very first kitchen table is now being used by a young family with four children. Our photo printer is being used by a retired couple to print family pictures. A church promised our couch was going to a very needy family. A rug we never used is decorating a dining room used for family celebrations. Outgrown ice skates are being used by a teenager and a treadmill is being used by a young mother. Craigslist has certainly made the dreaded basement project a relatively fun hobby, with a little cash not a bad deal either! More often than not, the family is saying “Sell it!” when I uncover some trash or treasure! Maybe we will see an organized basement in 2009, maybe not, but let me tell you it is a good feeling to know someone is enjoying these forgotten treasures.
