Usually when someone says to me, “You are definitely above average,” I stand a little taller and feel a sense of pride. However, when it was said during a ‘garage consultation’ in relation to the amount of ‘stuff’ or ‘clutter’ that has taken over my garage, I felt my face go beet red and myself shrink like a violet at night.

I was forced to face the facts: my garage is a disaster. Which, if you knew me and had been to my house, you would be surprised to hear. My house borders on minimalism. I don’t like stuff surrounding me. I am not a chatchke person (less to dust), I like things to be where they belong and I keep my house quite clean. It becomes obvious, however, that this is not due to an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) the moment you open my garage door – for that is where all the stuff has gone to die.

The “You’re above average” statement really hit a nerve. And I couldn’t let it go. I looked at my neighbor’s garage. Way, way, way above average. My friend’s garage. She is exceptional. My parents’ garage (sorry mom) – genius level. All of a sudden, based on my own investigation, I did not seem so above average (phew!). I did not have nearly as much stuff as those that I was comparing myself against. And when I looked at what was creating the mess, it seemed to be just a bunch of bikes, useless tools, ill managed laundry space, boxes of keepsakes and old school crap that if properly stored, could easily be cleared away.

Feeling better about myself and my garage status level, I set about making a plan of attack. I contacted several fabulous garage companies who provided many useful statistics. I also spoke with someone from NAPO – the National Association of Professional Organizers. But I was flailing. I worked myself into such a state of overwhelm I was unable to focus. No wonder garages everywhere are the last bastions of clutter – once the junk goes in, no one really wants to revisit it. It’s just so easy to ignore.

So why can’t I ignore it? Why does my garage continue to torture me? Why is ignoring the offensive mess no longer working for me? Maybe because…

1. Because I am part of the 73% of Americans that enters my home through my garage. I would never ever, ever, ever let anyone else enter through my garage (much less look at it) due to the flushing/shrinking violent embarrassment response, so why do I allow myself to be exposed to it everyday? It negatively affects me every time I walk through it. And do laundry in it. And venture into the depths of it to (hopefully) retrieve whatever I may be searching for. And I literally cringe as I duck under the cobwebs going in and out of my very clean house. The irony is not lost on me.

2. In another of my own scientific studies, I came to realize that I actually spend a significant amount of time in my garage. Much more than in my living room, which is nicely decorated, peaceful and truly one of my very favorite rooms. That’s messed up. Pun intended.

3. I cannot park my car, or any car in the garage. As I have recently placed the picture of a convertible in my mind to draw it closer into my reality (woo hoo!), so it would be nice to have an enclosed place to park it once it becomes real. Don’t laugh. I am indeed a woman who likes cars and wants a nice garage to park mine in. This area is no longer a bastion for men only. By the way, 25% of you are right there with me, using garages to store our clutter, rather than park our cars.

4. With the average cost of residential square footage in Los Angeles hovering around $300 a square foot, I figure I have about $120K of wasted valuable real estate attached to my home. I would like to make this space nice enough to use. I want the laundry experience to be more visually pleasing and space efficient. I want a place to put the ping pong/pool table so my kids can play year round. And it would be nice to move the unused drum set down by the pool table. Maybe then someone would bang on it so I would feel better about getting rid of it at my next garage sale.

Those are my top reasons. I now embarrassingly share with you a picture of my garage so that I will be held 100% accountable to changing it. Please share with me your ideas, suggestions and garage insights. I look forward to this being a collaborative effort and to chronicling it here with you. See you at home, through the front door only, for now.

HomeStretch™ is a regular column appearing the first Wednesday of every month on LMNOP4U.com.  Please let me know what is going on in your home by emailing me at info@KathleenMelton.com

I literally gasped when I saw the sign. “What? What?” Screams  from inquiring minds in the back seat begged  to know, “Are you okay?”   “Yes,” I said, calming down from my initial reaction. “Why do you sound sad, Mom?” And with that I pointed to the large,  white, upside down “L” holding a new “For Sale” sign planted in the front yard of our next door neighbor’s house. The three of us sat in silence, truly speechless, as we slowly pulled into our driveway.

Many things are changing in our world today. In my world. In my neighborhood. In my home. And depending upon whom I talk with, there are many reasons for the change: the economy, the administration, the greed of consumerism, inflation, the in-laws, the Joneses, and on and on. I listen, I comment, I shake my head in agreement or toss out the occasional disagreement. I also try to recognize what good can come of this – of each situation. I do not buy into the belief that we have to go through another Great Depression so that this generation can “learn its’ lesson,” thereby validating older generational behaviors (it’s okay to recycle the magazines dating back to 1982 and to donate old clothes stuffed into closets since the 70’s – you still don’t need them or wear them, they just take up space!)

Thinking of how different my life is now from just this same time last year, I looked out my living room window at the For Sale sign and I began to look at my home environment as a microcosm for my world.What is going on in my world, in my home, and how I choose to deal with it will (and does) affect all other areas of my life – my relationships, my finances, my body (I live on a hill), my network of people, my actual physical space, myself.

In this moment, I find my neighborhood, my world, my home, in a state of flux, with change coming in and out – sometimes a welcome visitor, sometimes not. Selling my house has crossed my mind as I went through a divorce last year, and while I gratefully came out of that with the house, I now realize how much of my life is in this home and that the way I live in this space has changed. My home environment has been affected by everything going on in my life – from the way it looks, to the way it feels and smells, to what things and which people are now inside of it. And while certain areas used to be for grown-up gatherings only, with my working more and throwing social gatherings less, my pre-teen boys are slowly taking over – even further redefining our home.

So, I ponder what is going on inside my neighbor’s house. In their lives. How their world and the happenings in their home world have shifted such that they decided to move after living and raising a family here for thirty years. How having a new neighbor will change the feel of our street, the look of our street, the safety of our street, and the socialization of the people on our street (hopefully they will become the new social gathering house!)

Our homes and our neighborhoods – and all that happens within them – can be viewed as a microcosm of our larger world. I invite you on this journey as I explore just how far our home environments can stretch us as individuals to make our ‘at home world’ and the world at large a better place to live.

HomeStretch™ will be a regular column the first Wednesday of every month on KathleenMelton.com.  Let me know what is going on in your home by emailing me at info@KathleenMelton.com