Losing a loved one can be one of the most difficult things to deal with in our lives. What most people don’t know is that the loss doesn’t end with the funeral, memorial or the reading of the will. Usually there is a lot of extra business that needs to be taken care of by the family.
This is particularly true when older family members who have collected a lot of furniture, personal items and memories passes. What to do with all their things? If you have inherited a houseful of a loved one’s belongings, it can be difficult to know what to do.
Throwing all of their belongings away just doesn’t seem right. It can be therapeutic in the grieving process to share the experience with family so everyone can help decide to donate furniture and other household items, while saving certain personal effects that might mean something to a child, grandchild, niece or nephew.
While donating a lot of big items might solve part of the problem, there is still a whole houseful of things that will need to be dealt with, and depending on the situation with the loved one’s apartment or home, you might not have a lot of time to decide. Here are some tips that can help you know what to do in this situation:
Rent a Moving Truck in Fall River
If you need to remove the items from your loved one’s home or apartment in a hurry, you should consider calling to rent a moving truck in Fall River that you can use to move their items to a storage facility. If you don’t have room at your home or garage for all those things, consider calling a storage center in Fall River, such as Affordable Storage.
Rather than making a rash decision to just throw out items that you might regret getting rid of down the line, it can be helpful to rent some storage space. Affordable Storage also has space for vehicle storage if a loved one left behind a car or recreational vehicle that needs to be checked out or sold.
A self-storage unit gives you the opportunity to safely store those items after the funeral and gives you time and opportunity to go through the stored items at your own pace. There are lots of sizes of storage space available to choose from that can give you the room you need to move items around to separate them into groups, such as donate, sell, save or trash.
Garage Sale
If you have a lot of items that still have a lot of value, you might want to consider having a garage sale. If you are selling the entire home’s worth of items, you might want to list it as an estate sale to attract more buyers. Make sure you still go through everything to ensure that you don’t leave a sentimental or valuable item in a drawer, purse, pocket or keepsake box.
While you won’t “get a lot” for selling items at a garage sale, it can be a great way to get the furniture and other items to people who need them and might treasure them just as much as your loved one did. Make sure to check local city ordinances for rules about posting garage sale signs and to find out if there are any restrictions on when and where they can be held.
Keepsake Photos
Even if you are looking to sell the items because you simply don’t have room to keep them all, you might want to take keepsake photos to remember them by. For most people, its the memories of the item with regard to the loved one and not the item itself that has value. Take photos of all the items and save them in an album of memories.
Taking photos is also a great way to catalog items stored in a self-storage unit to share with other relatives that might be interested in taking them from your storage center in Fall River. If you put something in vehicle storage, make sure to take a photo of it as well, just in case you want to sell or give the item to another relative.
Again, it is important not to rush this process. You might need to give yourself some time to grieve before making decisions about what to do with these items. When you are ready to donate or sell the items, just rent a moving truck in Fall River or ask donation centers to visit you at your self-storage unit to retrieve the sorted belongings.
Share or Lend
You might have a bunch of items that you want to keep, but nowhere to currently keep or use them. Another option is to share the items with cousins, siblings and other relatives. Tell them they can use them, but that they have to return them rather than discarding them if they no longer want to use them at their home.
If your loved one was a collector and you inherit a large box of duplicate items, this might be a great thing to share with grandchildren or other relatives that would enjoy having a keepsake to remember your loved one by. Little ceramic figures, books, artwork, handmade items – anything can be a memory-filled keepsake to someone.
Affordable Storage in Fall River
If you are looking to rent a self-storage unit or rent a moving truck in Fall River, contact Affordable Storage. With a wide variety of options and opportunities available, including vehicle storage, boat storage, truck rental and an online calculator to help you figure out how much space you’ll need, Affordable Storage is there to help you with all your moving and storage needs. Give them a call today at 508-675-1177 to learn more about all they have to offer.