I just simply gave up a few years back.
I attempted to maintain but I knew I was not able to stick with it.
The garage is the thing that I am talking about. When we first moved into our home, I guarded the garage as though it were my territory alone. I simply was not going to be one of those dudes who opens the garage door and all this junk comes tumbling out. I did, in fact, fight the good fight for a while. However, I should have seen it coming. The garage shares space with the inside HVAC unit. So, I give it a fairly wide berth. I want the HVAC to have all the unrestricted air flow it ever needs. That being the case, I would only park one car inside the garage. This was the beginning of the end for my control over the garage. This left additional space for boxes of junk to be stored. Next came all the partially used paint cans and other noxious stuff. Next thing I know, the car won’t even fit inside anymore. So, I sort of did a small thing in an effort to take back the garage. I had the HVAC guy come out to install an exhaust fan. The garage just reeked from all the junk. The HVAC tech got the fan installed and the difference it made was immediate. While just a first step, I think having that fan put in will motivate me to reclaim the garage. Now, I just need to quietly begin chucking a bunch of this useless stuff.