By Carol Van Sciver

Do you have a collection of something? Perhaps you collect dolls, or snowmen, or Santas, or teacups, or spoons. Did you inherit a collection of Hummel figurines; did you jump on the Beanie Babies craze? Was it an intentional collection, or was it an inadvertent collection? Did you collect these items on your own carefully searching for each piece, looking for certain features, colors, styles or qualities? Maybe you purchased the item as a remembrance of a place you traveled to. Or, do you suddenly have a collection and you're not sure how it happened?

A common way for a collection to multiply is when a friend or family member notices that you have several of a certain item, makes the assumption that you collect those things, and starts buying those items as gifts for you. You may not even have had any intention of adding to your collection, but now you've got a sizeable one.

Unfortunately, if this is the reason your collection has grown to its current size, the volume of the collection may be burying the significance of your favorite pieces. Rather than standing out as special reminders of a life event, your favorites have become one of the pack. While you may appreciate the thought behind the gift, you may not be happy with the reality of possessing it.

Another natural aspect of collection is that once your tastes become refined the appeal of your earlier collection efforts may be superseded by your most recent acquisitions.

Now you have all of those collected items, so let's think about some of the reasons why you are keeping them:

It was a gift

It is collectible and may be worth money some day

I want to pass the collection on to my children

I love them all and I don't want to part with any of them

If it was a gift, do you remember who gave it to you? Do you think they would mind if you parted with it? After all the value of a gift is in the intention of the gift, in the idea that someone thought of you and wanted to show their love for you by giving you something. Can you still have the memory of the gesture without having the item?

If you think that it might be worth something some day, are you willing to spend the time and effort it takes to find a buyer. Selling on e-bay is a time consuming proposition. Do you want to arrange it and light it to be able to photograph it, take the photo, set up your e-bay account if you haven't already done so, respond to inquiries, maintain an inventory control and ship it? Do you enjoy having yard sales, or selling at flea market?

If you want to pass the things on to your children, why not ask them if they want them before you take up space in your home holding on to stuff they may not really interested in. Your children have their on homes and their own things and may have no interest whatsoever in your things. You won't know until you ask.

If you think your entire collection and don't want to part with any of them, think again? Are you sure, or is owning them just a habit?

Here are some suggestions about what to do when a collection has outgrown its borders. One option is to rotate your collection and bring out new pieces periodically. But, if your goal is decluttering and simplifying than you need to take a good look at your collection and assess what's important to you.

First of all, make sure you still love the things you have collected. Maybe you are not even interested in owning those things anymore. Maybe it has just become a custom to buy that snowman whenever you see a new and different one. Do you really want to clean around that collection one more time? Can you clean around it, or is that too bothersome?

If you've made the decision to trim down your collection, how do you decide which ones stay, and which ones go?

Before you start, determine a target number that you would like to shrink the collection by or perhaps reduce by a percentage. Next, decide the best new homes for the items you are letting go of. Maybe you know someone else who collects the same thing and who would be thrilled to receive your least favorites.

You get to decide how many you let go of. And if you decide for instance that you are going to keep one in ten, you get to stack the deck, trading one item in the group for another so that your favorites don't make the cut. Try a beauty contest. Arrange the collection in a line from least favorite to most favorite, and send your least favorite to new homes.

Are any damaged beyond repair? Has something been given to you by a person who conjures up unpleasant memories? If something is truly valuable, maybe now is the time to sell it? Things go up and down in value depending on the market and popularity.

After you have made the first cut, in a few weeks or months, take another look and see if you can part with a few more. Do this regularly until you've got a collection that truly represents what you love.

Ultimately, you get to decide whether the collection is still of interest or value to you. You get to decide what stays and what goes. You get to decide if any of it goes away. It's your decision whether or not you still enjoy your collection or whether you are tired of caring for, storing, or cleaning around it.






I work with busy people who are feeling overwhelmed by the cluttered state of their homes who want to regain control of their space, their time, and their lives. I help them sift through their messes, clean up, and clear out thereby transforming cluttered, disordered, poorly functioning homes into orderly, tranquil, and functional spaces. Serving Monroe, Wayne, Northampton, Lackawanna and Carbon counties in Pennsylvania
Carol's Creative Organizing, Discover the Joy and Relief of getting organized! Based in Cresco PA 570-595-7959 and 579-730-1256
Carol's Creative Organizing Professional Residential Organizer http://www.carolscreativeorganizing.com carol@carolscreativeorganizing.com