Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Garages

Since we've moved to our house in late April, I've been observing our new neighborhood and the surrounding area from a different point of view. Garages have definitely caught my attention, especially since we now have a two-car garage of our own. One of the things that strikes me is how different every one's garage is, and how you use your garage says a lot about what is important to your lifestyle.

For example, one of our neighbors has a two car garage, with one half of the garage dedicated to being used as a home gym, complete with a heavy bag and mats to stretch out on. The other half is used to park their sporty car. I'm definitely envious of their dedication to their health and fitness!

Others in the neighborhood have their garages packed to the gills with boxes and other flotsam and jetsam from their lives. So much so that over 75% of our neighbors can't (or don't?) park their cars in their garages. This leads me to wonder: what is it about our society that tells us that we need "more, more, more" ... so much more that we fill our garages with boxes and other items so full that we can't put our cars in the garage?

For our garage, we're trying to strike a healthy balance -- parking both vehicles inside as well as storing seasonal items like our camping gear or our Christmas decorations. What does our garage say about our lives? Well, I'd say that it says that we've moved in, but there are still a few boxes left to find a home... until then, they're stacked neatly in our garage. It also says that we're working on being good gardeners, starting with the basics and working our way up... slowly! :-)

What does your garage say about you?

5 comments:

TeenBlogger said...

Sadly, we're one of the people that has so much stuff in our garage that we can't park in it (but we have a good excuse, we're getting ready to move so it's full of moving boxes...)

Anonymous said...

We had a two car garage and did a lot of throwing things in till winter then used it for the cars. We have a two story house and love where we are but wanted a bedroom on the main level. I messed up my knee. A friend told us to make a bed room out of the garage. We took 13 x 7 feet and made a closet/laundry room. Then took the nitch where the water heater was and made a 1/4 bath. The bedroom is now our master with a fireplace. It is wonderful.We got a small utility shed for garden things.Kathy

Fumie said...

There's a book titled "Blokes and Sheds" written by an Australian guy called Mark Thomson. Although the book's not exactly about car garages, it still clarify what a garage means to boys, and explains to me why my husband hung many badges and signs on the wall (which he collected from godknowswhere) and even keeps his portable radio and a hot water kettle in there! :D

Mada said...

Nice text. In my country, it´s very common to have open garages, so we can only use it to park cars. If you put something else, like a bicycle, you might not find it the next day (stealing problems...).

Anyway, I think we dont own too much things. Im always impressed with US garages in movies!

Carol (from Brazil)

Casey said...

just found your blog....I enjoyed reading it....and will be back.

Our little one car garage is filled all around the sides....but our car still fits neatly in the middle.

Just had an idea for a new years resolution.....clean the garage...well maybe when the temperatures get out of the twenties.

Victoria, Bellingham, WA