The steel bins were a landmark of sorts on the ranch growing up. I assume now they were near an old homestead at some point because there was a straight-line grove of sugar maples nearby. I never saw evidence of a foundation though, so perhaps they were an ill-conceived investment temporarily stored for a future use that never materialized.

I’m sure they once served their intended purpose and held the grain from fall harvest just about the time the maple leaves blazed red. By the time I was around, they did little more than mark the entrance to the nearby pasture named after the steel guardians.

An assortment of other debris also gathered under those maples. Spools of cable bought surplus. A moldboard plow that could bust sod but not the limestone a few inches below. Various other implements found their resting place near those steel bins until a scrap dealer took the whole lot.

I don’t have any steel bins, but a recent basement renovation has revealed that I’m just as prone to collecting odds and ends that might be useful someday. Or never. I also learned that I’m not an effective general contractor, at least when it comes to time. A professional could have completed this modest update in a few weeks at most.

My wife and I started demolition in March and the flooring went down at the end of October. We handled the demo, painting and installing casing and baseboards ourselves. I’m sure we managed to save tens of dollars in the process.

For everything else we hired professionals and did our best to manage the timelines of sheet rockers, an electrician, building inspectors and the like. Six months or so later, here we are.

There’s still some trim to caulk and other minor finishing touches to attend to, but for the most part we’re in the homestretch.

Except for the stuff. Like the grove of maples at the ranch, our basement has become a catchall for stuff, most of which got shoved into storage just before the demolition work began without much thought.

As we start untangling the mess, we’ve discovered a significant portion is like the steel bins only most of it is in plastic totes. It may have had a purpose at one time, but it’s hard to see it being used in the future.