Your house contains so many objects collected throughout the years. Most of these objects tell a story or remind you of different memories in your life. Your kids don’t necessarily want these objects when you begin to downsize. They hold meaning for you. But most grown children won’t want your downsizing if it means they’re upsizing. So what can you do with objects your kids don’t want when you downsize?
The need to downsize can be a daunting task. Luckily, this Forbes article details several objects you might be tempted to hand over to your adult children when downsizing, and what you can do instead. Paper ephemera refers to things such as old snapshots, greeting cards, and postcards. This is a common one because they clearly would hold so much meaning to you. Therefore, turning your old photos into digital files is definitely growing in popularity.
Next on the list is collections of porcelain and ceramic figurines or statues. These collections might not desired by your adult children. You can consider donating them. Another option is to have a professional photographer snap some photos of them. This will allow you to keep the memories of them while still being able to downsize.
Lastly, your heavy and antique furniture is probably not super appealing to the younger generations. Yet there is still a market for this type of furniture. Second hand stores tend to sell this variety of furniture. However, you’ll likely receive less than a quarter of its purchase price if you sell on consignment. A remedy to this issue is to donate it and take a non-cash charitable contribution using fair market valuation.
Your Gen X or millennial adult children might not want many of the objects that are meaningful to you. Try not to take this personally. Remember that they have their lives, and you have yours. There are other ways to share your valued belongings, even if you don’t end up handing them down to your children.