My boyfriend's family is selling his grandma's house, and he keeps coming home with little things that have been in the family. The problem is, they are starting to junk up the house because there's no real good place to put them. I don't want to hide them, because he has emotional attachement to them, but they make the house look cluttered. Any suggestions? I've included some pathetically blurry pics for your viewing pleasure.
My husband has been the same way with knick-knacks that had belonged to his grandmother. Some of her things did fit in with the decor in my kitchen and then there were some that were just not going anywhere but in boxes. And then his mother tried to pass some of her things on to us that she didn't want. A few things that are either useful or very pretty are out on display but everything else is boxed up. He is happy, we have kept many of her things and they are safe.
When we moved here to Lofoten, i inherited a whole bunch of nic nacs that i would rather not have. to ease my husbands mind i told him that i would put some out, an every so often change them out with the ones i have put away. when the good thing is i remember the box, the ones i like are out, but hubby has totally forgotten the box and that there is more that he just couldn't give up... out of sight, out of mind.... its a win-win situation.
Changing them every so often is a good idea.. Also ours start out in one room , work their way upstairs and up to the attic......... One day some go to the goodwill..... LOL
It seems as if all Stewbies have the nic nac fever. Mine also never manage to get thrown away, but always end up in the outbuilding at the back of the garage. I was thinking that oneday I should actually sift through all of it and try to make use of it and donate the rest to some charity. I suppose that one day is in the far distant future.
We don't like knick-knacks, and a couple of relatives are desperately trying to change our view of those. I don't care if the piece is Meissen, I still can't appreciate it. At least my poor mother-in-law has realized I'm not the one to will her collection to. I know there's a box or two of the stuff somewhere, but I'm hoping the elves will remove them without anybody noticing.
When mom isn't looking I pass some on to a cousin- her side didn't inherit all the fiddly bits, and I'm just not that into dusting. Still leaves an awful lot that give me warm fuzzy feelings (grandma's house was positively magic!) so when I found a china cabinet at a yard sale I bought it and it holds all the tea party stuff in one place (great gram was a very proper victorian lady, after all). Everything else is cluttering my limited storage, but as soon as my nieces are old enough, on these will go.
I limit the number in the house and rotate them according to season for the most part - I have a few 'granny-knacks' too. What I've done is keep the best ones for rotation or in the hutch and quietly given the rest away. One thing I have heard suggested for things that have sentimental value but are bulky is to take some good pictures of them to remember the warm-fuzzies by and then give away the actual item.
I'm with you and don't like the clutter or anything else in my house collecting dust or dog hair. Does your husband have a "man space" somewhere in the house/garage? You could keep the nicest knick knacks on display in your home, and put the rest in his space on a shelf or ???
