Spring cleaning a good time to talk about family heirlooms

While you are spring cleaning this year, it’s a great opportunity to consider the fate of family heirlooms. Too many people never have discussions about what they want to happen to their possessions when they die. This puts a huge burden on relatives who become responsible for determining the fate of a loved one’s personal items.

Swedish death cleaning has become a trend, but being thoughtful and methodical about going through possessions can be done at any age and stage of life. Some people like a system which offers direction about how to begin, such as tackling clothes first because they can be easier to sort through and may hold less sentimental meaning. Using a color coded system, such as red for discard, green for keep, and yellow for unsure, is a simple way of sorting, allowing even children to participate in the process.

I used a similar method to a certain extent to sort through my parents’ belongings before I put their condo up for sale. While it’s not always possible, I would recommend not attempting to sort through a recently deceased loved one’s possessions because the complex emotions of grief may cloud your judgment. If a home must be cleaned out in a timely manner, consider placing the items in a storage unit until you are ready to tackle. On the other hand, I wish I had gone through more of my parents’ belongings before the final “purge” as I had limited time for the final sorting process and only could keep a limited amount of items. My main regret is not being able to find a home for a few items.

What I kept were humble items that represented our family, like a homemade coat of arms from my father’s family in Northern Ireland, and an ice cream dish from my mother’s side of the family, which held happy memories from my mother’s childhood on the farm making homemade ice cream. I kept a few sentimental items that made me feel loved, like the knitted elephant art my mother made that decorated my room as a child, or the stuffed bunny my grandmother made from rags. I made special effort to ship my mother’s guitar to my home, and I’m glad I did. My father was not the sentimental type when it came to mementoes, but he did keep every letter to the editor that he got published, so I kept those and placed them in a scrapbook because I know they were important to him.

Having recently gone through the cleaning out process, and beginning a similar process with my own belongings, a common theme I’ve found is that too often, special items are tucked away to preserve them but they also don’t get to see the light of day. If possible, showcase those special belongings, so you can appreciate them throughout your life.

If you want to learn more about the Swedish death cleaning method, there’s a book and TV show. I’ve written before on this blog about the show, which I found moving and inspiring.

Image by DALL-E via Chatgpt.