So my journey of collecting started way back in 1977. I had always liked the idea of having something that I could collect and I settled on Salt & Pepper Shakers.
Well through out the years, I bought the ones that appealed to me, but then when friends and family found out I collected them, it soon became a common gift I received (quite happily). What this means though is that at one point I had a collection of over 170 sets. So needless to say they take up some space and actually, when we renovated our kitchen about 15 years ago, I specifically asked that part of the cupboards be designated to my
S & P collection because I wanted them in an enclosed area so I wouldn't have to wash them so often. Mission accomplished.
When our grandchildren were born and started to notice them, I would lift them up to choose which ones they wanted to play with. My daughter-in-law was concerned they might get broken, but my response to her was "Do you want them when I die?", and her answer was a quick "no".
The thing is, it's my collection and I get that it is not necessarily what others might like, so as I am beginning my journey of looking at what is important to me and what I don't want to leave behind for my loved ones to have to clear out. I began the task of releasing my collection.
I started out by asking if anyone else would like a set, something that called to them, so family and friends have chosen to keep a few in memory of me. Which is kind of cool I think.
I will admit, I couldn't just throw them out. First I took pictures of all of them, I also had a list of where most of them came from, so I wanted to have somewhere to record my collection and I accomplished that in the photos below. I still have a small collection I am still enjoying looking at and a few that we use all the time. But the rest are slowly being sold off or given away.
I'm wondering if there is anything in your home you could start to downsize, declutter, whatever you want to call it.
