Yes, but I have slowly gotten rid of things.

For me, my feeling is that everything can't be important. Every few years or so, I get the urge to purge. And I do.

There are a few very sentimental things that I will always keep.

I have sort of an opposite problem. I mentioned that I was planning on getting rid of the bakeware and some cookware that I did not want. My niece who is more of a daughter said she wanted it when I took her some of the springform pans that I had. Some of them are in a high cabinet and in boxes. Until I started pulling things out of the basement when it flooded I had not remembered half the stuff I collected.

I don't.

We have a 190 yr old 8 day shelf clock. Not getting rid of that. I took a course in clock repair and have refreshed its working parts. Those should be good for another 50 yr of run time. It need work on its mahogany cabinet. I have a nephew who can restore the wooden parts and retain its antique value.

I inherited, from my mother, a Singer sewing machine, treadle operated. It is in a 6 drawer oak and cast iron stand. It is in good working order. I don't have a date of manufacture yet. It was probably made in the 1920s. Not getting rid of that just yet.

I have a box of family photos, one of which dates to 1870s. Can't toss those out.

When Mom closed her farm house, she sent me a bag of marbles that I played with in the 1940s. They don't take up much space - I'm keeping those. Mom also gave me a shoe last stand and a set of shoe horns. I did not get rid of that.

I'm been retired 20 years now and I still have most of my engineering text and reference books. I have an 8 volume set of books titled General Lectures by Charles P. Steinmetz published in 1918 - gotta keep those even though I am not an Electrical Engineer.

Yes, I suppose I have a few things I could pass along, but don't.

I have a hand held potato masher that had been my mom's. Her mother had the same one. The nail holding on the handle came out of the wood handle, so I don't use it, but I won't throw it out.

Jemdandy, I learned to sew on a treadle Singer machine on a cast iron stand. I know it had 4 drawers, not sure if more. It had been my paternal grandmother's and an aunt in the family had sewn a vest on it for the original Tom Thumb. It was from the late 1800s. I bet yours is older too.

My Grandmother's silver serving spoons. They are very large and wide and there is a pie server too. It would lift very large pieces of pie. It was used for meat pies as they were larger, heavier servings. They are in a drawer. Unpolished. I have many pieces of her 1900 lead cut crystal which are now only for show. I have a bowl I like to put on a table and when the sun hits it there is a prism effect of colored light.

In 1938, on their first anniversary, my father gave my mother an apron and a wooden rolling pin. I still have both.

My great-grandmother's ironing board. We used to iron work clothes on it, once in a while. But since retiring, I don't foresee ironing any clothes ever again. But great-grandma's ironing board is up in the attic because my grandpa would tell of seeing his mother crying while she ironed, thinking of her parents in the Old Country that she'd never see again.

I don't think we'll be taking the ironing board when we downsize again to the retirement apartment. At that point, if we can find a young person who needs it, they can have it, otherwise it will go to a thrift shop.

Of course. Not piles of it but I’ve lost several loved ones, 3 most recently and I have things that mean something to me and help me to cherish my memories with them

I have a Great Grandmother's dining room chair...beautiful maple with a

caned seat. It is from a set her Dad bought for her when she got married.

It is pretty fragile, so I am always moving it around so no one sits in it. LOL

Kind of a nuisance...but wouldn't get rid of it for the World. Also, still have

her sewing table...I use this with my machine on it. I have her machine (old treadle type) packed away...still has the strip of flannel around the top that they used to

stick their basting pins in while sewing. ;) I don't really sew anymore, so

should put it all away, I guess.

Very few things. Started to purge some. I cannot get rid of my Grandmothers darning string container or pin cushion, but they do not take up much room. I will not let go of a corner shelf my dad mad for his Grandma when he was 9 years old. It is a wall shelf so it will go with us if we move.

My house is furnished with things from both sides of the family, I have little furniture that I actually purchased. My grandfather's desk, the dining room furniture, coffee table all came from the house my father as well as my brothers and I grew up in. I can't say they are my taste, but the intrinsic personal value is worth keeping them...

My maternal grandfather supplemented his income from a small farm in Rhode Island by selling Watkins products. One day when my DM was young he came home with a 'grandmother' clock he'd taken in trade. My grandmother was 'not best pleased', but less peeved than when he brought home a Collie pup. (They needed the money.)

The clock is currently at a repair shop. It's not an 'antique'; quite common, patented around 1910. The wood finish is poor, the clock having been set over a fireplace used for heat for many years. The metal face is scratched. I've seen prettier ones for sale for under $100. The shopkeeper has it running, 'temporarily'. He quoted $400 to refurbish it. I had another shop quote $300. It seems foolish to spend so much for 'sentimental value'. I don't think DS or family would want it, and I'm nearly 80. What would you do?

I use a wooden bread-kneading bowl as a centerpiece on our kitchen table. It's a foot across and four inches high, carved out of one piece of maple. Someone attached three knob 'legs' to stabilize it. It holds some artificial greenery plus whatever small plant I have that is in bloom -- currently violets.

Far too many to list! My house is full of things from both sides of the family. Things that date back to the Civil war from my husband's side. Things that date back to the early 1900's (possibly even older) from my side. A number of which are from my grandparents in Germany.

Some are useful items, and do get used. Some are strictly of the 'keepsake' category. Many photos, even a number of tintypes ( I think that's what they are).

I am in the process of slowly passing things on to family members who are interested in them and want them. I have already, in fact, passed on a couple of items that are the most precious to me, because I know they went to someone who not only values them as much as I do, but also uses them.

Rusty

I had a hand-held potato masher that had been my mother's, but I donated it to a friend who used it as a prop in a movie. It didn't work that well any more, but I had held onto it for sentimental reasons. I have a different potato masher now, but I very seldom make mashed potatoes.

I do have a couple of potato ricers that I almost never use - only when making gnocchi or potato dumplings.

jemdandy reminded me that I do have something with the clock mention. A green marble encased clock which if wound does run. Story that came with it was it was from France in the 1800s that was brought to this country when cousins wished to marry and their families objected. Since it weighs probably twenty pounds and the top marble has a chunk out of it I have long suspected that it was fished from the river bank after a flood.

I have kept things from deceased family members which still hold some utility for me. I have several pieces of my mother's jewelry, as well as some really nice older and antique case goods from both sides of my family.

I have kept nothing which holds no utility for me though. I like clean and uncluttered and don't keep stuff just because it's stuff that someone I love used to own. When my last parent died I gave away as much as I could and then ended up throwing away dumpsters of, forgive my vernacular - crap - that should have been tossed decades ago.

I have a really nice antique, marble topped dresser, with oak leaf carved handles. It was my mothers when she was a child. She said, she got it used, it was painted white. Her father and brother stripped it for her. As nice as it is....I have NO use for a dresser. My walk-in closet has dresser drawers. Right now I have a TV sitting on top of it. The center mounted cheval mirror is stored in a closet. ☺

chisue I would take it back home and cherish it "as is".

I have a house full of stuff from both my side and DH’s side (he isn’t fussed about it, it’s me) of the family. Some I don’t know why I keep it, because I don’t really care for it, but I just haven’t got around to selling it- I guess I feel a little guilty.

DD cracks me up though. She and her husband have a metal roasting pan that belonged to her husband’s grandmother. Apparently Nanna made a special cake in this pan and its possession is hotly contested by her husband’s many siblings because without the pan they can’t get the cake to taste the same (I suspect its heaviness is a factor, it’s not your regular thin walled cake pan.)

My thing is, it’s perfect for a roast as well, and scrubs clean as a whistle so takes no harm from roasting. But DD is convinced something bad will happen to it if it’s used for anything besides making a cake. I’ve tried to explain to her that as her husband’s grandmother would have been a Depression/WW2 cook, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was her ONLY pan and it did duty for everything, but I can’t convince her.

I do have some things that I keep because they sort of "speak" to me of my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Most are of no practical use to me, and most are also stored away in drawers - like my great-grandmother's collection of 78s, or my grandmothers depression glass plate that she won at the movies. My dad's desk is tucked away in the spare bedroom - I hope that one of my nephews or niece will want it someday.

But other things I just haven't gotten around to disposing of yet - like the remaining china sets that were given to me by my mother - not my taste, not of sentimental value or useful value to me either.

Nickel_kg, when you are ready to dispose of the ironing board, try to find an auction house or antique store, and attach the provenance with the story about your great-grandmother. You likely wouldn't get much $ for it, but someone likely would value both the board and the story.

Like Fun2Bhere, there are no sentimental possessions in our house. Whenever we happen upon something that has found its way here inadvertently or was put somewhere out of sight, to be later unearthed, it gets tossed. The other resident of my house has a clutter retention problem that has nothing to do with nostalgia or sentimentality, it's unreasonably difficult for her to throw things away. I help her deal with that whenever I can.

I do use my Gram's knife. I have no idea what sort of knife it is,bigger than a paring knife and certainly not a butcher knife. I smile and remember her prepping salads with that knife every time I use it.

Yes we do, but I have been giving my daughter some of the stuff she has requested. There was a plate my father (who passed away in 1956) has brought home from WWII for his mother. DD wanted it, so I gave it to her already. There is a dessert set of green depression glass that is up in my attic that she wants and will get next year.

DH has something he cherishes here is a pic.

Of course, side ways! It’s a coffee grinder. Lady who used to live here left it there. We cleaned it up. It does work, but he loves it!

A box of beaded purses, gloves (elbow and opera length), and handkerchiefs. Mom's. She used to have to attend formal affairs.

I gave some of the pieces of furniture from my grandparents to a cousin. I do have my mom's Swedish Bible.

No. I'm strategic about what I have in my houses. My US house is the largest, and we recently bought this condo which is only 1,200 square feet. Our London apartment is 550 square feet. Our European continent place is right at 900 square feet.

I don't need much "stuff" and it's just more cleaning/organizing that I need to do, the more I have.

If there is one tradition in my family, passed down from mother to daughter for generations, it's the imperative to not have clutter anywhere it can be seen, or lurking behind doors and drawers.

I may have a few pairs of my grandmother's gloves tucked in a box with old papers I want to keep, old diplomas, last wills, and such. They don't take up much room and they are such lovely reminders of another time and place.

Last year my Sister and I had to empty Mom's house. We took whatever we thought we might want, things that had been in the family, a few things we didn't want but thought shouldn't go in the estate sale because our parents would be mad LOL. I am using some of the antique dishes on occasion. I hung an old clock I really didn't want. We divided up my Father's clocks that he cherished. I'm glad I have it now-It looks nice in the house and it feel good looking at it. My Father passed away several years ago. My Mom has dementia so as she progresses in that, We have pieces of her still with us. It gives us comfort during this times.

Oh my gosh, a whole houseful of stuff. Well, it's mostly useful (or beautiful) things, but there are boxes of other sentimental things I can't jettison because it once belonged to beloved family members I've lost. However, I've told my kids, when I'm gone, throw it all out--without guilt--if that's what they want to do.

i have a couple of my late husband's favorite shirts and his well-worn cowboy boots in "his" closet and his tool belt in my garage. i've spent my time in covid quarantine cleaning out closets and storage sheds and these are the things i cannot part with.

To:

sheilajoyce_gw

Many Treadle Singer sewing machines are on a 4 drawer stands. Mother's machine has 6 drawers plus a center tip-out drawer. Her's is the only one I have seen with 6 drawers. I don't know where she got it, but most likely it came from a farm estate sale because I know my parents had a hard time during the period of 1926 through 1942 and would not have had cash to buy a new machine.

I use things that belong to my mother and grandmothers every single day. It makes me feel good.

I have a large stewing pot that belonged to my Italian MIL. How many pots of Sunday"gravy" with meatballs and good shop make Italian sausage she cooked in that pot for a number of decades.

I don't use it to cook with. It is misshapen on the bottom and the handles are almost falling off. Still I brought it home to remember her by.

Now I use it as my dishwashing tub. Since I don't care to have a dishwasher, I wash the old fashioned way. I love to think of her everyday and remember the wonderful cooking smells that came from her kitchen. I feel that I am honoring her and I don't; have to buy a new plastic one. it works well.

I have a house full of stuff I never use but can't get rid of. I really want to declutter so bad, but I find it very overwhelming and my anxiety kicks in full blast. I have learned in recent years though, that I have too much "stuff" and stopped buying things I don't need (well, except for my camera because CAMERA!") I always worry that if something was gifted to me and I don't have it on my shelf when the gifter comes over they'll ask about it. So I keep it even though I never used it. I need to get out of that mindset. I watch hoarders and listen to the therapists on there and in some ways I understand why the hoarders can't let go. Don't get me wrong: I'm not a hoarder (unless you count yarn and beads and other craft supplies..... but they're all in one room). I really do need to declutter and get over worrying about someone asking about things they've bought me. They've probably forgotten what they bought me anyway. Right?

My favorite things are my mother's old glass barrel flour jar and my concrete water troughs, the biggest we moved from our first place in Santa Fe, to the place on the bayou, to here in East Texas. I would sell this place, but no one to move it again for me. It is the same age as me, circa 1946.

My mother had the flour jar since before I was born. She said she got it when they lived on the Bailey ranch. I have no idea when that was. It is all scuffed on the bottom from years of sliding across a shelf. I keep cookie cutters in it now.

I have really enjoyed this post. I have a wooden bowl my mother made in an arts class at college, her candy bowl, her utensil crock. From my grandmothers, I have pots/pans, an awesome percolater that still makes the best coffee, and china. From my grandfathers, I have some tools I still use--pliers, a saw, etc...

kathyg_in_mi, I have the same coffee grinder hanging up in my kitchen. The wooden backplate on mine is stained and varnished, not painted white, though. I used it for a long time, then bought an electric coffee grinder: so much easier. hahahaha I collected Delft Blue for years (I'm Dutch). I had so much though, that I 'decluttered' it by keeping my favourite pieces and splitting the rest with my 3 kids.

They've probably forgotten what they bought me anyway. Right? Debby, sincerely, yes, they have. And/or they don't care. Honestly.

^^ What nickel_kg said, Debby. What gift givers really look for is true appreciation. If you've given them that in return, then they won't look for the gift (if they haven't forgotten, and if they aren't my ex-MIL hahaha!)