Garage Remo Solves Puzzle Problem

I recently retired after 45 years in the retail musical instrument business and found myself with time on my hands. So I tackled one of a homeowner’s most vexing problems--what to do with a garage cluttered by years of collecting. My plan was to simply build a workbench and organize the garage a little better. I admit I got a little carried away.

Starting with a two-story garage with studs and rafters showing, my next-door neighbor, Jim Woodman, and I built a second level by installing a combination ceiling/floor. Access was provided via a pull-down staircase. This solved the storage problem, and I moved the clutter upstairs.

The next step was to rewire the garage with new outlets, new sockets, new switches and a convenient retractable extension cord, long enough to reach anywhere.

The workbench wasn’t so simple, and it turned out as a 16-foot-long, carpet-covered workbench and cabinet lining the left wall, with Pegboard on the walls for tools.

Then I got a brainstorm that has transformed my garage into a neighborhood attraction.

For years, my wife, Irene, and I had wiled away our spare time putting together jigsaw puzzles. After spending countless hours completing a puzzle, it seemed a shame to tear it apart and put it back in a box. Our solution was to glue the puzzles together and stuff them under the beds. And so they piled up and moved with us from apartment to apartment and finally to our house in West Hills.

When the stack of puzzles numbered about 65, Irene gave me an ultimatum: “Throw them away, give them away or put them in the garage.� But where could I find the space in my newly reorganized garage for piles of very fragile puzzles?

And then it hit me--I’ll mount them on the walls, like pictures. And from the walls, I moved to any flat surface. There are puzzles on the walls, on the doors and even one or two on the ceiling. Framed in white molding, the puzzles are arranged more by size and shape than anything else.

The puzzles range from scenic views to a Lassie puzzle. There was never any rhyme or reason to our selection. Some were gifts, some we bought. Whatever struck the fancy of my wife and I. It includes a giant crossword puzzle on the inside of the garage door, as well as puzzles of jukeboxes and an entire section unintentionally dedicated to cats.

The garage has become somewhat of an attraction in the neighborhood. The puzzles are lit by fluorescent lighting, and people stop and stare if the doors are open.

But I still wasn’t satisfied with the garage. I guess I’m an endless tinker. The floor was covered with skid marks, paint stains and acid pits. So another idea struck, and I installed linoleum, including “tire tracks� to guide the car in, and a little ball that hangs from the ceiling, touching the windshield at just the right point to provide easy walking room around the entire car.

Then I added a television set, and now my wife and I no longer squabble over my channel switching with the remote control. A workbench telephone seemed like a good idea too.

I have no idea what the garage overhaul cost. The receipts are in a large envelope, but I refuse to add them. I prefer to think in terms of pennies a day, like I hear on TV.