Friday, March 25, 2011

Can You Please Stop Dying and/or Downsizing?

'Cause my house is running out of room.

I am not a hoarder, but lately I am starting to feel as tho' I am.  Everytime I manage to purge a full house of stuff someone else passes away or decides to move and give all their stuff to us.

The past 8 years have gone like this:

My father passed away in 2003 and we were gifted with a shed full of tools, golf clubs, golf balls and various knick knacks. All of this has come in handy and we use them.

My mother moved in 2004 and we were blessed with furniture, pictures, kitchen ware and more knick knacks.  

Okay, THAT was a lot of stuff.

We were granted a breather for a few years. 
We found time to organize, donate, sell and gift the stuff we were given.
It was nice. 
For a while.

Then my beloved in laws downsized in the summer of 2010 and the mother load showed up at our house.  It took us six weeks to find a place for all of it. It was insane, but these are my husband's childhood memories so they stay.

One month later my Mom was gone and my sister scared me when she sent me a list of everything we were supposed to retrieve from Mom's South Carolina home.

Don't get me wrong - the stuff is nice. Really nice.  But they aren't my collections and most of it doesn't hold much sentimental value to me.  Am I awful for being that way?  These are things that she collected later in life that I wasn't really around - so I can't point at it and say "Remember when......."
 
I know I could keep it for the kids and some people have suggested it, but they have no attachment to the stuff either.  And I don't want to have to keep moving all of it or storing it until the kids are settled.

Sounds like ebay and Craigslist are in my future.

Longaberger anyone?


17 comments:

Phelan said...

At least people ask you. I come home and find junk in my driveway.

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Ebay and Etsy (vintage) and Craigslist are all really good places to sell. Ebay is a lot more time consuming but starting April 19 you can list all items for free and only pay if it sells. They must be dying on the vine at Ebay. Anyway, if you need any help with listing etc....I'm your girl. Sold my parents crapee, a friend who passed away's collections, and my own bad, bad Linda you didn't need that pile. With lots more to do.
The Olde Bagg, Linda

Lyndylou said...

I think you should sell it and then have a fab weekend away somewhere with the money in memory of your mum :)

Jeannie said...

Ask various antique dealers for quotes. They would likely come to you if you have collections. You are not required to keep collections your mother had anyway if they mean nothing. They may have made her happy but you wouldn't hang on to the contents of her panty drawer and those made her happy too.

BB said...

If you have a reclining love seat or dual recliners, I'd be interested. If you have a storage shed that comes apart like a lego toy, I'd be interested. If you have a push mower, I'd be interested. Hahaha. There are a lot of people collecting collectibles so Ebay might be a good start if these are really nice collectibles. I'm downsizing too, do you want a leather oversized sofa or oversized leather recliner? a queen bed frame? Can I send you Boyds Bear Ceramic collection? hehe.

Anonymous said...

My Dad never threw out anything in his lifetime. He had a shaking up bringing, his Mom wasn't able to take care of him most of the time, so he spent a lot of time in foster care - sometimes leaving behind everything he had and moving to the next family with nothing more than the clothing on his back.

I think once he was able to "keep" everything, he did! He's been gone 13 years and we still find things in my Mom's basement that he kept. This weekend I plan on having digital prints made of photos from the 60's and 70's - can't wait!

Hugs Skippy!

ellen abbott said...

when I was finally able to pry my mother out of the bay house and send her up to my brother she took nothing with her. she was all into Louis XIV stuff. gilt, spindly legged marble topped tables and uncomfortable chairs. her curio cabinet was a monstrosity of carvings and gilt. none of her children or grandchildren liked the stuff so we sold it. oh was she pissed when she found out.

Rudee said...

After what I just went through, I highly recommend not partnering with a seller.

Longaberger? Maybe. What do you have for sale? I have one small basket where I store spinning wheel tools, like my diz, machine oil, and spare drive bands. I like the look of baskets to store my wool roving.

Jumble Mash said...

Sounds like its time for a giveaway and a yard sale! :)

Tony Van Helsing said...

I'm with the yard sale option. Just don't accidentally sell your yard.

Celia said...

You definitely can't take it with you, so someone always ends up with it. I'm like you. I have no problem loading up and taking stuff to the thrift store.

Unknown said...

I think Lynne had a great idea. Have a sale and do somethig special with the money.

Southhamsdarling said...

I thought LyndyLou's suggestion was pretty cute, and have a break away in memory of your mum. Anyway, problem solved by the look of it. You and Bouncin'Barb can just swop things. I know what you mean though, because I cleared my mum's house out when she died, and then the in-laws. My mum had kept literally everything from my first birthday cards (that's 63 years ago now!!) to my baby rattle (yes, that's right!), to all the little badges taken off my berets and blazers when I went to school, and so on and so on. Trouble is, she had kept them for so long, that I just didn't have the heart to just throw them away!

Teresa said...

Longaberger? hmmm... I do use my baskets (even downsized) so if you put them up for sale, holler at me.

I like Craigslist because it's free. eBay may be safer because you don't have people coming to your house. I'm pretty good as writing up descriptions to make people want the stuff so if you need help, holler. I'm available.

flowers on my table said...

I think you should only keep what you love and sell or give away the rest. It will only weigh you down. You've had it tough with all these family deaths, it's awful, I know. When my mum died I hung on to a lot of stuff, just because it was hers. After a while I realised a lot of it was just not me, so I sold what I could and gave the rest to charity shops. I felt a great sense of relief! Do what you think is right for you, I am sure your mum won't mind. Thanks for calling by, have a lovely weekend, love Linda x.

Unknown said...

I understand. My Gram just passed away and there is a mixture of "She loved that, I must keep it" and "what the heck will we do with all of this stuff?"

Anonymous said...

We're doing a remodel on the house and redoing basically everything that hasn't been done in the last 10 years. So a lot of knick knacks have been going out and being donated or sold, I don't know.

Happy selling!