If you don't have this problem right now, you will someday, so listen carefully. One day you'll think you've finally got your mess/house under control. The next day, an aging relative will downsize (or worse), and you'll inherit all their excess stuff.
Or, if you're me, your aunt will die and your parents and your in-laws will decide to downsize. That's three households worth of stuff.
Some of it will be better than your stuff, so that will be welcome. Some of it is worth money, even if you don't like it, so that's a dilemma. (The nice thing to do is to give it to a sibling or relative who actually does like it. Forget the money, if you can.) Some of it I can't tell you what to do with, because it's sitting in corners and under beds in my house, waiting for Somebody with Wisdom, who is not me. Perhaps Lily will get to deal with it some day.
When my father inherited his mother's stuff, he did what was perfectly rational for him. He built a warehouse on some property he had and put everything in it. How's that for not dealing with the problem? (He was a contractor.) For a while it was like having a store for all the kids and grandkids who were getting their first apartments. You go pick out your furniture. When you move on or up, you return it for the next one. Most of the stuff is still out there, though. Including a wardrobe containing all of my grandfather's suits and the ribbons from his funeral flowers. (He died before I was born.) I guess one day we'll get to deal with the funeral ribbons, etc.
In the meantime, I've got a problem with framed photos, many of me. I'm sure nobody around here needs to look at me in all my glorious stages of development on every wall. I have duplicates, too, from both grandmothers, my aunt and my mother in some cases. It's humbling to know that those sweet ladies framed my photos and apparently displayed them for their pleasure.
These things carry emotional weight. And take up valuable real estate. What to do?
A friend, whose husband is a fabulous portrait painter, came to my rescue. You take the photos out of the frames, put them in a scrapbook, and then either re-use, donate or toss the frame.
So that's what I did last night. The duplicates are in the trash. The photos are in an album. The frames are dealt with. I've been set free!


