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Elfie PH

4 Things You Can Do with Family Heirlooms

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Given Filipino culture’s emphasis on the importance of filial ties and family history, it’s no surprise that extensive collections of family heirlooms are common in Pinoy households both at home and abroad. Most people have at least a few stored in places of honor in their homes. These can be anything from antique furniture and silverware to jewelry, old photos, and documents that have been passed down through the generations.

But while the sentimental and personal value of family heirlooms and keepsakes is unquestionable, these things also take up space in your home. If your living space is more cluttered than you’d like and you can’t find any practical use for certain items, there’s no need to hold on to them just for sentimental value. Here are four things you can do with family heirlooms you’d prefer not to keep:

Sell Them

Reselling old family heirlooms that are still in good condition is fairly easy nowadays. For one thing, you’ll no longer have to set up a makeshift storefront in your garage or haul your items to a physical thrift store. Instead, look into places where you can buy and sell online, particularly platforms designed expressly for secondhand and refurbished items like LookingFour. These places will probably already have a large community of buyers who are looking for items like those you want to sell.

Antique furniture is especially likely to sell well, since even old furniture pieces will still be usable for many years as long as they’ve been well taken care of. Many buyers also prefer the look and craftsmanship of older furniture over modern, mass-produced pieces that may not be as well-made overall. So if you’d like to part with old chairs, coffee tables, and even larger pieces like full-sized wardrobes, rest assured that someone out there will be more than willing to take them off your hands.

Send Them to a Museum or Archive

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t might surprise you that many museums and archives are glad to receive items from family and personal collections, even if the donors aren’t necessarily rich or famous. If you have historically significant heirlooms of any kind, this may be a worthwhile option to explore. You’ll not only get the satisfaction of sharing your family treasures with others for years to come but also the assurance that one-of-a-kind, possibly fragile artifacts will be looked after by experts.

If you’re thinking of donating your family heirlooms, you’ll first need to familiarize yourself with the histories of the items in question. Then search for archives, libraries, or museums that focus on those kinds of stories. Some of these repositories might be research facilities, while others prioritize exhibitions and enabling public access to their collections. Once you find institutions that you’re interested in donating to, find out their acquisition policies and contact details.

There are a few things you can do to make it easier for your chosen repository to process your donation and decide on whether to accept it, such as:

  • Whenever possible, try to organize a collection of items that tell a unified story. Archives are more likely to be interested in compiled letters and documents from the same historical period rather than scattered pieces with no clear relation to each other.
  • Establish the provenance of the items you’d like to donate by taking photos and preparing written descriptions of each piece. You may even want to write up a biological profile of your family to give the repository a better idea of where the items come from.
  • Be patient when waiting for a response. Small repositories may depend mostly, if not entirely, on volunteer acquisitions committees.

Donate Them to Charity

Charities are also good potential second homes for usable heirlooms that have retained a lot of their practical value over time. These might include furniture, lamps, books, rugs, and houseware. If you go this route, make sure to choose a reputable charity with a cause you support. That way, you can be certain that your heirlooms will be used for the benefit of people who need them.

You’ll also want to find out what guidelines and restrictions your chosen charities have in place for the items they’ll accept. Some charities will only accept certain types of items, while others accept only new or gently used items. Still, others have more flexible requirements. Make sure that the charities you choose are actually willing to take your items before you start preparing to send them over.

Give Them Away

If you have a large collection of family heirlooms, collectibles, and keepsakes, consider asking your friends and relatives if they’d like to take any particular items. It may just surprise you how many people would love to take home a trinket or two, particularly if it has a long and storied history. Why not take the chance to make your loved ones happy and free up some valuable storage space at home in the process?

At the end of the day, you shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to find new homes for your heirlooms. Doing so ensures that more people can enjoy these items just as much as you and your family have over the years.

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