Except for a five-foot wide strip of ceiling needing a third coat of paint, our garage is largely done. Roy insisted the tongue and groove plywood sheathing the walls and ceiling of this thirty by forty-four foot building be covered with Tremclad paint. It is a durable but stinky alkyd paint. As I work in the building I keep the windows and giant overhead door open in a feeble attempt to air it out. I expect it’ll be off-gassing for months.
The (twenty plus!) electrical receptacles need to be wired into the boxes and the breaker box closed. The three hundred watt bulbs hanging from the ceiling will be replaced by eleven fluorescent fixtures. With the bright white walls and abundance of lighting it takes on the quality of a surgical suite.
The reason I’ve been nudging this project along since we poured concrete last fall is because I’ve never had a garage to park in. The other reason is that for the first time ever I will host my own garage sale. For years I’ve dragged folding tables and load after load of great stuff to Andrew. As part of multi-family sales my mom, sister, and I had the benefit of more merchandise and more manpower. So while my sister weeded her garden between customers I gave up a minimum of three days for each sale not counting set-up and takedown.
For the last couple of weeks I’ve been assembling tables and carrying box after box of stuff into my garage. With more than thirteen hundred square feet space is not an issue. I’ve also decided to part with chairs. Four small chairs covered in a lovely textural purple Sunbrella fabric. A petit slipper chair with skirted slipcover. Six chairs from Roy’s mom’s dining set. I may even let our two purple microfiber tub chairs go.
And let’s talk tables. There’ll be at least six occasional tables up for grabs, maybe more. I’ve got two French provincial end tables I’ve hung onto for years because they’re well made and delicate. I planned to redo them in the shabby chic style. This imagined project is so old that new products have been invented to accomplish it! Any odds on whether I chicken out on selling them and keep the dream alive for another year?
Of course, there’ll be books. Plus I’ve got about twenty or so audio books that I know I’ll never listen to again. I’m letting most of my cook books go. Lately I’ve turned to the Internet for recipes.
A twelve volt cooler, HP printer (and extra cartridge), three unit intercom set, and Garmin nav system are also on the sales block. Bolts of fabric and yard goods, scarves I no longer wear, garden décor, and collector farm toys are up for grabs.
Now I just hope customers are willing to brave a few miles of gravel to get to this awesome sale, from where I sit.
Hazel Anaka’s first novel is Lucky Dog. Visit her website for more information or follow her on Twitter @anakawrites..
