As I mentioned, I moved last summer, downsizing from a 3200-square-foot house to a 1700-square-foot apartment. It’s a spacious apartment but it certainly lacks the storage that our house had. (In addition to 3200 square feet the house had a full unfinished basement.) I let go of a lot in the moving process, but I did move of the family photos I’ve accumulated and never really done anything with. These are photos passed down to me, as well as photos from my lifetime (and my husband’s).
I felt the pain of my limited storage space again this week when I moved some furniture around in my office and took the photo boxes off the bookshelves they were on so I could move the shelves. Before returning them to the shelves, I glanced through the boxes to see if I could consolidate any of them to save space. Nope. There’s a treasure trove in there but it’s going to take some time to go through. I have nine photo boxes of varying sizes to deal with. I need to formulate a plan to do that!
This morning, in the midst of thinking about my photos, I received genealogist Amy Johnson Crow’s email newsletter and was delighted to see that it was all about downsizing and family history. It features a link to the interview she and I did in 2019 for her podcast, Generations Cafe.
The interview touches on some strategies for downsizing your own belongings as well as helping family members downsize, which can be an even larger challenge.
Amy’s email prompted me to see if I had written here before about this interview, and I have. This post from 2022 reminded me how overwhelmed I was by the items I inherited when my father died and when my aunt (his sister) moved to a nursing home, all within the space of a few months in 2022. The fact that I was able to whittle the stuff down before my husband and I moved in June 2024 and now just have nine photos boxes actually makes me feel good.
At the end of the interview, I made a statement that really hit home for me today. I said, “Right now I’m thinking of these photos I need to go through as a chore. But it’s really not a chore, it’s a privilege.” That’s true isn’t it?
It’s more pleasant to go through these treasured photos and ephemera when you’re not under a lot of time pressure. If you have inherited items calling to you for attention, please consider working on them sooner rather than later when you have a better chance of enjoying the process.
Here’s a link to the podcast episode if you’re interested in listening to the interview.
Boy did I need to see this today! We downsized to 1700 sf several years ago. My parents and my sister recently downsized to a fraction of their original home size. Guess who inherited ALL of the photos and memorabilia. I am slowly whittling and organizing by family group, but haven’t even thought about processing and permanent storage. It is so overwhelming!
Roberta, I’m so glad you found my post helpful. It’s a double-edged sword being the family historian, isn’t it? I didn’t realize what a luxury it was to have a spacious home with lots of storage! While I love living in a smaller space it does make these collections challenging. Just take it bite by bite.
I, too, inherited all my parents and grandparents’ photos. Along with printed photos from years before “the cloud”, I have about 26 photo boxes now organised by year. There are also some albums and additional boxes waiting to be organized.
These are treasures and have been wonderful additions to the writings I have been doing on our family genealogies.
Michele, you’re absolutely right that these are treasures. It’s wonderful that yours all organized. Enjoy!
These comments all resonated with me.
Thank you, Janine, for reframing the discussion that these pictures, letters, etc are treasures and it’s a privilege to have, preserve and share these with other family members. Yes, I need to put the overwhelm on the shelf and get working!
I’m so glad you found the discussion valuable! I appreciate your comment. Enjoy those treasures!