No "Real" Basements in California

I miss having a basement.  In California, there aren't many houses with basements, and the basements some homes have are not the same as the basements I grew up enjoying.  East coast basements allow you to put all your junk away where no one can see it.  You can actually use your garage as a garage. Most California garages have stuff in them.  A few have cars, but most of my neighbors use at least one of the car stalls for stuff.

I have attempted to clean our garage several times since we moved into this house two years ago.  Each time, I feel I have done well and that it looks a lot better.  Yet, we have NEVER parked a car in the garage of this house.

A couple of months ago, some friends of ours at church were giving away an air hockey table.  I jumped at the opportunity, but that also meant I needed to REALLY clean our garage.  Not for a car, but for the air hockey table.  Thankfully, all my previous attempts paid off.  The kids and I cleaned the garage and made some space.  We put down one of our area rugs from the old house, then John and I picked up the table.

We LOVE it!  The kids play it regularly, and our garage is now used most days.  It was totally worth it.