Intrigued?
Excited?
I’m not sure you’re ready for this awesomeness …
I mean, I’m pretty sure this is the post that will send me and my blog viral …
… taking over the blogosphere viral …
… moving beyond the internet and into mainstream media viral …
My phone will be ringing off the hook viral. The Ellen Show? Of course I’d love to be a guest. Nate Berkus? What? What’s that? They’ll renew you for another season if – and only if — me and my viral before and after kicks off next season …
Oprah? Is that really you on the phone? And what? You’ll come out of retirement and resurrect your morning show just so me and my viral blog post can be a guest. And not just for one segment. Or one show. But you want me for the entire week …
And then the floodgates open … book offers … the it all started with paint magazine …
… and then …
Now I’m worried I may not be ready for all that awesomeness …
But I can’t hold back now. Not after all the lead up. Working you all up into a crazy frenzy.
Without further ado … ta da!
The garage before and after.
That’s right. We tackled the garage.
Now to the naked eye, the changes may seem subtle. I mean, it is a garage after all. It’s supposed to be dirty, right?
But it’s a pretty dramatic change to my husband and I considering we have never once cleaned the garage since we moved in 17 years ago …
… and I swear up and down and back and forth that half the stuff in there was left by the previous owners …
The cleansing process was interesting, to say the least. There were a lot of “good thing we’ve saved (fill in the blank) for all these years …”
… with the filled-in-blank including everything from “that 1998 People magazine” …
… to “that piece of paper from Sam’s fifth grade science fair board” …
… to “Molly’s baby bike helmet” … to“those ugly plastic planters complete with dead plants from 10 years ago”…
And there were many, many “what in the world is that thing” questions …
And a few “is this paint can still considered a toxic material if the paint is not just dried up … but actually fully evaporated?”
And at the end of the day, I was thrilled when we uncovered this …
My Jim Beam jean jacket that was personally given to me by Booker Noe (RIP), Jim Beam’s grandson. When I was a working girl, Jim Beam Brands Co. was a client … which meant lots of trips to Bardstown, KY and hanging with Booker on his front porch while eating rich and caloric Kentucky bourbon-laced meals …
So now you can start pinning and tweeting and FB sharing and Google plus-ing and stumbling and tumbling away …
Wow, not once in 17 years? I hope you will remember Top This Top That when all those big guys start calling! Happy Day to you and your clean garage.
PS- now clean the car!
Awesome! And of course, Silo Hill Farm will buy the first ticket to your premiere!!
LOL!!!!!!!! I completely understand. I felt the same way when I “cleaned up” my shop last summer. There really didn’t appear to be much difference when you looked at the photos, but in person the difference was HUGE.
Congrats on finding the time to do it!
OK….looks great but I feel a rebuttal post coming on….it will make you LOVE your garage…..
Where do you work? Don’t tell me you have a basement…I might cry….
Blessings, Lorraine
You are too cute, haha.
I wiiiiiiiish we had a garage. Instead we just have a basement with 5’1″ ceilings (thank goodness I’m only 5′).
Linda- I gotta tell you- your BEFORE picture looks like a 5 star resort compared to OUR garage. Now, I think you did a wonderful job and it looks great but even your BEFORE looks good to me. I would be ashamed to show ANY pictures of our garage right now. Hmmmm…maybe I should do it just to give myself the incentive to clean it up.
So…..what was so special about that old People magazine you saved? xo Diana
GRATS, Linda.
Try to remember us lowly newbie bloggers when you’re rich n famous.
And I will need an autograph, ok?
Good job, has GOT to feel great.
Okay Gal, that was just laughable, If i took a pic of my garage right now you would die!! It’s quite frightening at this point!! I wish your before pics were my after!!
Come do mine! Come do mine!
Here in San Diego we don’t have basements.
(So guess where all our “basement stuff” goes?)
That’s right, it goes next to the “garage stuff.”
(In the garage.)
It is a HOT mess in there…
Good for you…the garage looks great…my hubby is a garage neat freak..I dare not put anything in it, as it may end up in the garbage!…
Now I spy a great looking car….looks a lot like mine…what is it??? We could be twins!
You made me laugh so hard my atrophied abdominal muscles hurt!!!
We are almost finished with the same project. My end goal is to….ready?…
…are you sitting?….CLEAN THE GARAGE FLOOR!!!!!! Woohoo! And maybe
paint it? The spiders, cobwebs, and leaves that continually blow in are in the way.
And like you, anyone could eat dinner from my mom’s garage floor. I know it was
a long, uphill road, but YOU DID IT! YOU ARE AWESOME! 😀
Thanks,
Pam
Linda- you are so funny…thanks for showing that before and after. Always look forward to your posts!!!
Yup, I am pretty sure this is the post that is going to take you viral. My question is how on earth did you do this in the 100* heat we have been suffering through? Our garage is like a sauna! And I am completely not motivated to do anything. Good for you for accomplishing this!
Erin
Doesn’t it feel good to get it all cleaned out?! I try to do that about every 6 months…..someday it will sparkle – probably when the kids and dogs are gone – which means never. 😉
It looks so much better! I really need to clean ours out!
Pinning!!! Seriously right now…cause I want it all to go viral off of my pin of this fabulous before and after. 😉 Actually you should be proud of yourself. We have to tackle ours in the morning before the Realtor comes out in a couple of days. So dreading it. Always love to ready your fun posts Linda!
Heather
Can I say I knew you when?
I would like to secure my place in your entourage now.
Where can I send my application?
PS-do you take bribes?
Whoa! There’s no way my garage would have looked as good as the “before” if it had been 17 years since a good cleaning. I’ve only lived in this house for 3 years and I’ve cleaned my garage 4 times…it doesn’t even come CLOSE to the before! Oprah is bringing her show back for my husband’s book launch…just so you know…I mean…I’ve been waiting 29 years for this moment and Oprah better be there with bells on!
If we ever clean out our disgrace of a junk filled garage, I would need a post just like this, too funny!! You deserve a standing round of applause!! Cleaning a garage is the last thing most people would want to do, great job! I’m getting motivated, watch out!
it looks great, I bet it feels great too…have a wonderful weekend!
enjoy *~*
For a garage that had not been cleaned for 17 years I thought the “before” shot is amazing!
Nothing like a clean garage to jump start your tractor!! Way to go! 🙂
xo Heidi
I can’t wait to watch It All Started with Paint — the movie!
We have to clean out our garage too, and I’ve been dreading it, postponing it, because I can’t make a blog post out of it.
But here you are, going viral. Lesson learned.
Looks great to me! I know you feel like you have conquered The Beast! (I’ve seen much, much worse garages than your before and it wasn’t 17 years of accumulation.)
It’s the garage reveal post to end all garage reveal posts! Dead plants, 80’s jean jackets, kids science projects … don’t tell me you threw any of those treasures away!
I’ll say I knew you when when Oprah comes knocking (just don’t be drunk on Jim Beam when she does)!
Kelly
Can I just say how thrilled I am to see someone with a REAL garage and not one that looks nicer than my living room?! I totally see the difference — a real sense of accomplishment I’m sure! I found you through Hometalk — love your blog.
It looks great to me!! My garage needs a good cleaning!
Debbie
If it makes you feel any better, our garage Before and After looked pretty much the same as yours and we felt so much better with the end results too – except ours has a Loser Cruiser (minivan) in it. 😉
Linda,
Great job! Cleaning the garage is never fun.I can see why you waited so long.It is NOT fun!!!I am crazy.I clean mine not once but twice a year.I have to.Gotta get those cars in for the winter.And I don’t want to trip over things.Ours is connected to our home so it is a must.
((((Hugs)))
Anne
My garage doesn’t look nearly as good as your “before” pic, and we clean ours at least once a year. So don’t be surprised if Nate and Oprah come knocking… 🙂
Well at least in the before you could still fit your car in it!
My husband keeps bugging me that “we” need to organize our garage, but since I’d just get rid of everything, I think it’s more of a “he should organize the garage” type of thing:)
Jessica
stayathomeista.com
Totally sexy. 🙂