Closets Filled With Collections of Baby Stuff And Old Collections Why on earth do we save so many things? And why do so many of us offer free storage facilities to grown up kids who have their own apartments or homes? I am holding onto a very delightful collection of vintage monkey collectibles which were destined to go back to my daughter's home when she had a big enough place. She has moved several times and each place gets bigger and bigger, yet the monkeys are still hanging out in one of my upstair bedroom closets.
Saving Chewed Up Baby Pacifers
symbol LOL really applies. Who am I kidding? There is no way, my kids will want to allow their babies to mingle with baby stuff that hasn't seen fresh air in three decades or more.
Ready To Junk The Junk....Maybe
I thought about unpacking these boxes of baby memories and perhaps creating a Mixed Media baby art project assemblage or wall decor something or another. Yeah...right. Those boxes of baby things aren't going anywhere until I am ready to let go of them. O.K. I'M READY! Readers, what's in your closets?
Monkey image courtesy of http://www.etsy.com/listing/70528175/vintage-knickerbocker-curious-george
Rattle photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/socal72girl/7117585807/
Stacking toy from http://daydreamlabs.com/user/22021583@N03/collections
C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists
Your post made me smile - and also start thinking. I'm trying to remember just what I do have stored in the attic (I could rant about attic storage - the most inefficient, inconvenient, . . . . "storage" - more like above ground burial). I learned well from my grandmother and mother that we keep everything. Slowly through my life I've been unlearning this concept, although their habits have provided with me with some wonderful antique and vintage items to work with. I'm down to a couple of boxes of children's books, a few small mementos, and one hanging bag of baby/small children's clothes that are handmade/smocked. And I just remembered a couple of handmade baby afghans that I haven't been able to part with. And art work. I'm actually having more difficulty turning loose of items that my mother passed on to me - beautiful little dresses with all the tiny tucks, hand crocheted sweaters and booties and fancy blankets. I have given thought to making a framed collage with some of these items, and now that you have reminded me that I have them that project is closer to becoming a reality!
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, my children did not inherit the "save it" gene! I managed to instill in them the idea of "use, enjoy, repurpose and share".
I haven't had the pleasure of having kids to clog up my extra space yet, but I do a great job of that all alone! We have 2 rooms upstairs that stay unoccupied. One of these rooms has been deemed the wife's photography room with the closet filled with her props, stands, knick knacks, whatever she doesn't want downstairs.
ReplyDeleteThe second room is my "Man cave" and been deemed "Kyle's Blacklight Lounge" Up until recently it housed my entire collection of Vaseline/Depression glass, Blacklight posters, anything that glowed under backlight! Then I began going through my stuff and cleaned out most of my glass and moved it to the garage, but was not brave enough to go through the closet! It was filled with toys, sports cards, just about everything I acquired from the last 15 years or so. Just boxes of wires and other junk cluttered it up until a friend went through it for no reason except an agreement he could keep some of the random junk. He cleaned it up very nicely and got it down to about 5 boxes so I had tons of room. The closet is about 5 feet deep and 10-12 feet long. I have recently began cluttering it back up once again with my newly aquired antiques, but it's very nice to look around in when I'm bored now! :-D