Friday Feature: Trash or Treasure?

In January, we helped my dad move out of his condo in New Jersey and into an apartment near us. He and my mom had lived in the condo for seventeen years, and had downsized considerably prior to that particular move, yet there were still a lot of possessions to sort through and find homes for. Some made the cut, moving to his new place or our house or my sister's house. Many were donated, a few things consigned.

It was a long process.

My parents weren't hoarders and their home wasn't large. They had a basement, but no garage, and there was no clutter in their living space. It was the best of all possible downsizing situations, yet it was still overwhelming.

As a result, when I stumbled across this article ("Your Top Ten Objects Your Kids Don't Want"), I saw a Friday Feature, if for no other reason than a potential public service announcement.

My house is so much more cluttered than my parents' home ever was. Our daughter is twenty, yet there are still baby toys in my basement and I'm pretty sure there's a playpen in the crawlspace. As life proceeds, we acquire, and as life gets busy, the time to reduce our collections becomes hard to come by. Unless we move, it's all to easy to just let things collect. And when life events force us to downsize, emotions complicate practical decisions.

"Your Top Ten Objects Your Kids Don't Want" doesn't simply moan about parental collections. It provides suggestions for what to do with treasured objects whose beauty lies in the eye of the owner, answering the inevitable, "what do I do with this?" question for at least a few things tucked away in attics, basements and garages.

Have you found great beneficiaries for your once-prized possessions? We were thrilled to discover that Habitat for Humanity takes furniture, and I love taking my already read books to our local library.

If you know of a charity or organization that would benefit from gently used treasures, please share it in the comments below. You might just provide exactly the help people are looking for.