Renting Out the Garage - and More on CFLs

This is the third stall of my garage. Pretty, isn't it? Sigh....

I spent two hours after work cleaning it out last night, and I am still a long way from being done. (This, by the way, is the "before" shot.) Part of my task is to not only clean it out, but to organize it as I do. I could simply haul all of this into "my" section of the garage, but then I would be doing the work twice. Last night I got all of that gardening stuff you see on the left cleaned out - the pots and 5 gallon buckets, plus gardening tools, potting soil and mulch - all cleaned and tidied up.

I also got the snowblower out and into the other stall. It looks like one of the bolts broke off when my ex "took it" and then returned it when I reminded him my mother had given it to me. Thanks ex, for letting me know it was broken! Sigh... it isn't like it isn't something I can't fix, but still... it is annoying. Ummm.... have I mentioned I've never used a snow blower before? Looks like I have something else to learn!

My goal is to have this all cleaned out by the end of the month - so I have a little over two weeks. Once it is clean, I will advertise it with a sign in the yard and through CraigsList. Hey... does anyone know where I can find some sample lease agreements? I'm going to want something in writing when I do this.

So, yesterday I wrote a bit about CFLs. Last night after garage clean out, I went around and counted all the bulbs in my house. Guess what I found?

You know how I wrote this:

Now, unlike the chart, I don't know that I have 30 bulbs to replace. In my house much of the lighting is LED track lighting, with a few "can" lights in the kitchen. However, I know there are several lamps and other light fixtures that still have incandescent lights.

Guess how many I have? Not counting the endless amounts of track lighting and "can" lights in the kitchen and the hall.... 28! My dining room light alone has 8 candelabra style bulbs! I had no idea. However, I will say this since I live alone, these are rarely on at the same time. Usually the only lights that are on are in the room I am in. Once and a great while if I am going back and forth between rooms, I might have lamps on in both, but it is fairly rare and I am trying to wean myself out of that habit.

I had one "basement style" CFL hanging around - the ultra bright lights that I use down there and in the outside fixtures. I tried it in a kitchen light and hated it. It was just too bright. However, I have a covered overhead fixture in the spare bedroom that has a super dim bulb that has been driving me crazy. The spare bedroom has become my office/eBay room and the low light makes it hard to read. I am going to haul out the old step stool and see how the CFL works in that, especially since I've been using that room a lot.

One thing that bothers me about all this though is, as Passive Family Income pointed out in the comments, I hate taking out perfectly good bulbs and throwing them out. I wish there were some sort of recycling program for them, but the best I could find were craft projects! Want to make a vase out of your old light bulb? Or a sea monkey condo? I'll put the links below.


More Stuff:

CraftBits - Light Bulb Window Vase (Ok, these are kind of cute.)

DIY Life - Hollow Out a Light Bulb to Make a Sea Monkey Condo (Also has links to making aquariums, beakers and planters.)

About.com - Light Bulb Snowman Face Ornaments. (Umm... yeah.)

Stressless Country - Cow Ornaments (Mooooo)


Photo by: Me!