Downsizing Your Collections While Preserving Family History

Modern men and women tend to collect keepsakes, souvenirs, and other items of interest. When you begin decreasing your home contents, follow these steps for downsizing your collections while preserving your family history.

My mother collected bears and salt and pepper shakers. My mother-in-law collects dolls and things from her travels. I collected Russ Troll Dolls (which you can see here). Our collections defined us during different parts of our lives, BUT our children don’t want our entire collections.

Penny Geiszler’s bear collection.

In fact, I told my mother I didn’t want her bears and salt and pepper shakers, so she got rid of them. Years later, I kick myself for not taking time to preserve her life by photographing each item and then record the stories behind each piece. Within each piece are elements of her personal history, which I no longer have access to.

DON’T let that happen to you.

Photograph the Collections Before Downsizing

Before you begin downsizing your collections, grab a digital camera, and photograph the entire set of teaspoons, shot glasses, china, historical flags, and so on exactly where they appear in your home. Photograph the collections from the following angles:

1. How you saw them– on a shelf as you sat on the couch, at eye level as you walked down a hallway, on the window sill as you sipped your morning beverage of choice

2. From the best angle to see all the details – this may involve stooping down or climbing on a ladder.

Once you photograph the collection in their typical location, move them and group them again for photographic storytelling. Group them by:

1. Theme

2. Manufacturer

3. Person Who Gave Them To You

4. Similar Features or Colors

5. According to Memories

You may have other ways to group them, but the idea is to tell a story with your photography.

Photograph the Items Separately

Once you have photographed the entire collection, then take the time to photograph each item.

Even if you’re an amateur like me, preserve your artifacts even if you no longer have space to keep them in your home.

Just one of our collections that we photographed and then gave to a new home.

Begin Downsizing the Collection

Your collection might have significant value if it is not broken up. Determine whether your relatives, a collector, or a museum would like to have the entire group before you start breaking it up. Then, make arrangements for how and when those individuals will receive your collection.

If you can not find someone to accept the entire collection, then do the following:

1. Choose 5-10 of your favorite pieces and keep them for your home (space permitting)

2. Give individual pieces to family members as part of their inheritance (but do it now to reclaim the space)

3. Find a collector who wants individual pieces (depending on the value o the collection)

4. Find a history, ethnic, community, or art museum that would take specific pieces.

5. Sell items online, flea market, convention, or at a consignment store.

For more downsizing tips, click this book to order.

Preserve the Family History of the Collection

Once you finish downsizing your collection, take time to preserve the stories behind each piece and the collection as a whole. Answer the following questions:

1. Why did you begin collecting these items?

2. How long did you collect the items?

3. How much did each piece cost?

4. What are the historical details about each piece (think in terms of a curator or cataloger)?

5. What are the sentimental memories you have attached to each piece?

6. Where did each piece go when it left your collection?

With the images of the collection and the individual pieces and the stories that support the pictures, then create a photo book. Have one page with each piece's story facing a page with one photo or multiple pictures of the artifact.

You can use my favorite website, Mixbook.com, to create such a book by dragging and dropping the images. It’s super easy, and you’ll preserve the history of the collection you downsized.

Even though you may dread downsizing your collections, recognize you can find homes where the items can live on. Your family will also have a wonderful treasure even if they don’t want the physical things like me.

For more downsizing tips, check out these articles:

• What To Do Before Downsizing Your Home

• Why Downsizing Tips Don't Work

• How to Downsize Genealogy FIles

• 5 Tips for Donating Your Genealogy

• Consider a Donation to a University