Card Room Restoration Complete

For about two years there have been plans to upgrade my shelving units in my baseball card room. Initially, it was going to be customized built-in shelves. Then, heavy duty metal units. The plan was to do this project last summer, and I dragged my feet. So, this year my wife and mother-in-law bought me five big metal shelving units and the card room restoration was a go.

They are heavy! Each of those boxes weigh just over 100 pounds. Before lugging them downstairs to the basement, the first step was to empty the card room. This was my biggest fear and the main (only) reason I procrastinated on this project.

Look at that mess. I've always been a pretty messy person, but looking back at that picture today even makes me hyperventilate. It actually took far less time than I had anticipated to empty out the card room. But did I have enough space in the rec room?

That's where the boxes...and boxes...and boxes...and boxes were going to be stored while this project was undertaken. I gave myself a three-week timeline.

Emptying the first two shelves (above) was victory! It didn't take long, and seeing those empty shelves gave me a sense of accomplishment. Not long after, two more shelves were emptied.

And then another two were finished...all in the same day!

The project began Saturday morning, June 15, 2019. By Sunday night, I had an empty card room.

Well, my rec room would not be hosting any recreation for the next week or two.

By Sunday afternoon I had developed what I feared was a sinus infection. My head was really congested, and I woke up Monday morning feeling like my face was being squeezed in a vice grip. I worked half day, and rested for much of the week. Later in the week, I was feeling a little better, and my wife and I opened the first shelving unit box and took it downstairs in a few trips. Surprisingly, it was pretty easy to put together. One shelf complete!

Over the next few days, we put another shelf together, and then another night put two shelves together. The four shelves completed the main part of the card room.

There is a corner setback in the card room that held three plastic shelving units. This area is used mostly for my Cubs cards along with hobby supplies. I replaced two plastic shelves and placed the fifth metal unit back there. I will be using this area for the Cubs collection.

Now came the time to begin moving boxes back into the card room. Based on how the room was emptied out, most of the boxes sorted by team were the first to get moved back in. LIFO in the logistics industry, or Last In First Out.

Previously, my team boxes were scattered among different shelves where I placed them basically by when I sorted them. Essentially, this was extremely inefficient. As I placed the cards back in the card room, organization was key. Sorted alphabetically by team and I utilized those wonderful Fleer team logo stickers on each box.

Another key efficiency item with these new shelving units are that I have room to reach into my card closet. It's a closet absolutely stuffed full of boxes. At it's height, they are stacked about eight feet high. There is a shelf in front of a majority of what you see below, but I can grab some boxes from the back. Now I don't have to pull out 20 boxes from the closet door to reach cards in the back.

Slowly, but surely, my rec room was being emptied out. You can see the remnants of the team logo stickers on the floor.

And the card room was beginning to take shape.

On Friday June 29, I went to town. Bound and determined to finish the card room over the weekend making it just a two week project. The rest of the boxes were moved in from the rec room.