Retooling the Tool Box: Home Repair Instruments Have Scattered Over The Years; A Heavy Metal Reunion of Sorts

For two people who have our handyman on speed dial, my husband and I seem to have accumulated a lot of tools. We don't have one of those deluxe waist high tool chests like they sell in Sears or Home Depot but we have two standard sized tool boxes that have served us well over the years.

Now that I'm home, I've been doing a few chores that require a tool or two. I've discovered (and I take the blame here) that our tool collection has been scattered throughout the house (upstairs and down), the garage and the basement. I decided to see if I could organize them better to save time when looking for something to hang a picture with.

One tool box was in the basement, the other in the garage. I retrieved them both and emptied their contents onto a table. I washed and dried the boxes and then set about grouping the items.

Baby memories!

In some ways, it was like taking a trip down memory lane. One thirty-year-old pink ceramic drawer handle from our children's baby furniture, my husband's boy scout pen knife and a door bracket from when we removed our two daughters' bedroom door because they kept slamming it when they got angry, were among the items buried in the boxes.

My husband's boy scout pen knife.

I discovered we had quite a collection of hammers and screwdrivers, wrenches and those 'L' shaped allen wrenches that you get when you purchase furniture from Ikea. There were nails, screws, glues and washers, picture hangers and dry wall inserts. I plastic bagged almost everything that was small and though that's not a great solution, it will have to do until I organize the rest of the stuff. You see, the tool boxes are just a part of the complete collection. There are numerous plastic containers, unemptied bags from defunct hardware stores like Pergament and junk drawers full of miscellaneous tool items that will be added to the mix.

One of the IKEA allen wrenches.

But today was a start and it's nice to see the tool boxes looking almost like new. I now know where to go for a hammer, some nails and a pen knife in case I want to whittle my days away this summer. That won't happen but  sometimes playing with a little 'heavy metal' can make you feel great!