#9: Have a box party (downstairs).

Date Completed:  3/6/2010

An unfinished basement can be a dangerous place – not just because it’s easy to bump into a door frame or stub your toe, but also because with all that extra storage space, you can…well…STORE stuff!  There are plenty of practical items in my basement – a treadmill for icy winter days when I can’t make it to the gym, deck furniture that I bring inside during inclement weather (i.e., six months of the year), extra rolls of paper towels from Costco, items waiting for a garage sale (that's later on the list), etc.  But then, there are the boxes.  Make that “were”. I’m not sure why it still surprises me that I save boxes, especially after my purging event upstairs in January (#8 on THE LIST), but I found enough cardboard recyclables in the basement to have to call my recycling service to get special permission for the next pick-up. To start, there were boxes for the TV, vacuum, toaster, toaster oven (not to be confused with the toaster), water filter, DVD, portable DVD (again, not to be confused with the standard DVD - ugh), computer printer, egg cooker (the most fabulous invention ever that makes perfect hard-boiled eggs every time - a must-have for everyone I've described this to) and clothes steamer.  My new rule is that boxes can only stay for one month after purchase.  Then, they find a home in the recycle bin.  Whew – problem solved!