Home » Home Improvement » Home Improvement Ideas

Preserving Family Heirlooms: Katarina Blom’s Guide to Saving Stories and Legacy

Embrace mindful sorting to turn sentimental clutter into meaningful family heirlooms.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 23, 2025

Embrace mindful sorting to turn sentimental clutter into meaningful family heirlooms.

Katarina Blom on the Art of Preserving Family Heirlooms and Legacy

In an age of rapid change and minimalist living, the question of what to keep from our family’s past can be challenging. For many, family heirlooms—cherished dishes, vintage jewelry, faded photographs—hold more than physical value: they are tangible bonds to ancestors and stories that shaped our lives. Katarina Blom, noted Swedish happiness psychologist and co-host of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, brings wisdom from both her professional background and personal experiences to address a crucial issue: how do we ensure that the stories and significance behind heirlooms endure, even as we declutter and reorganize?

Through expert advice, actionable steps, and emotionally intelligent guidance, Blom’s insights empower families to preserve their history—not just their possessions—by capturing the memories interwoven with cherished items. As we recognize Family History Month and reflect on our own legacies, Blom’s approach—recently presented in collaboration with the National Funeral Directors Association—offers a fresh, compassionate perspective to organizing, recording, and ultimately sharing our family treasures.

Why Heirlooms Matter: More Than Objects

Heirlooms are infused with stories, lessons, and emotions that span generations. A simple jadeite bowl or a piece of costume jewelry might awaken a flood of memories—reminders of family gatherings, milestones, or lost loved ones. Yet, as time passes and stories fade, even treasured items risk becoming anonymous artifacts, their meanings disintegrating unless preserved with intention.

Heirlooms serve as anchors for memory, providing context to family history.
Stories connected to heirlooms can resolve family debates or confusions about the origins of specific items.
Preserving the narratives behind objects can ease transitions and foster a sense of continuity, especially in times of loss, change, or downsizing.

Introducing: Swedish Death Cleaning and Legacy Preservation

Swedish death cleaning (döstädning) is a philosophy and process that encourages individuals—particularly in their later years—to thoughtfully sort through their possessions in anticipation of the future. Contrary to its somber name, the practice is about celebrating life, lightening the load for one’s family, and cherishing what truly matters. For Blom, the heart of death cleaning is less about discarding and more about retaining meaning—through both storytelling and conscious distribution of heirlooms.

Main Principles of Swedish Death Cleaning

Intentionality: Only items with genuine emotional, practical, or historical value should remain.
Reflection: Evaluate what possessions say about your journey and what you wish to pass forward.
Communication: Involve family early—open conversations can soften the process and clarify wishes.

Step 1: Recording Your Family’s Legacy

Blom emphasizes that, when an heirloom is passed on, their true worth is carried in the stories, hopes, and lessons they embody. She advises families to create a record of each item’s history:

Walk through your home with a notepad, documenting significant items.
Write notes detailing the origin of the item, what it symbolizes, why it matters, and the reason for its transfer to the next generation.
Attach notes directly to the relevant heirloom, ensuring their stories travel alongside them.

This exercise often uncovers stories that even close relatives may not have known—stories of triumph, resilience, humor, and cultural evolution. For example, among Blom’s own keepsakes is a medal from the Swedish king awarded to her great-grandmother, who became Sweden’s first female children’s dentist after being widowed. Such narratives lend context, pride, and inspiration to the practical act of bequeathing belongings.

Determining the Next Custodian

Conflicts sometimes arise when multiple relatives “call dibs” on cherished objects. Blom suggests that hearing the stories first can clarify which family member is most connected and appropriate as future guardian of a given item. In Sweden, the word for “dibs” is “pax”—but the process is more meaningful if grounded in narrative rather than impulse.

Step 2: Balancing Emotional and Practical Tasks

Sorting possessions with deep emotional resonance can be overwhelming, so Blom recommends a rhythm that alternates between emotionally charged and neutral tasks to maintain energy and motivation.

Start with “obvious trash”—items that have no sentimental or real value and are easy to discard.
Establish a sorting station with three main categories:
- Trash: What you’re ready to part with.
- Donate: Items that could benefit others but hold little personal meaning.
- Sentimental/Special Items: Things with emotional, familial or historical value.

Making early progress with easier items offers a sense of accomplishment (“I can breathe better now”), generating momentum to tackle harder decisions. Most importantly, respect the process as a journey, not a race—Blom notes that even in small spaces, it can take weeks or months to thoughtfully declutter and document family heirlooms.

Step 3: Creating a ‘Dilemma Box’

Some decisions are simply too difficult to make immediately. Enter Blom’s practical tool: the Dilemma Box.

Label a box as your Dilemma Box and add items you are uncertain about.
Set a review date—typically one month ahead. Mark it clearly on the box or in your calendar.
After the wait, revisit the box. If you can’t recall the items inside or they no longer elicit a strong emotional reaction, consider letting them go.

This approach provides valuable emotional distance and prevents decision-making fatigue.

Step 4: Involving Family and Friends

Blom encourages broad participation: “bring them in as much as possible.” While some moments of sorting are deeply personal, sharing the process with loved ones can:

Offer fresh perspectives—relatives are less emotionally attached and can help with practical decisions.
Create opportunities to share stories, clarify histories, and forge new memories over old objects.
Distribute the emotional load—reminiscing and organizing become less daunting when shared.
Aid in decision-making—sometimes it’s clear who “lights up” at a particular keepsake and should receive it.

Blom even suggests inviting a close friend or family member to a “memory afternoon”: gather a handful of beloved items, share coffee (as Swedes do), and talk through the memories they spark. Such sessions, sometimes guided by conversation prompts or memory card decks, can be joyful as well as cathartic.

Step 5: Passing on More Than Things—Crafting a Family Legacy

The essential outcome of Swedish death cleaning and mindful heirloom preservation isn’t just a clutter-free living space, but a durable family legacy. By matching items with stories, each transfer becomes an occasion to honor the past, teach the present, and inspire the future.

Heirloom	Who Gave It?	Why It Matters	Recipient	Story Attached?
Jadeite Bowl	Aunt	Baking memories, tradition	Current holder	Yes
Vintage Necklace	Aunt	Fashion, connection, daily wear	Current holder	Yes
Medal from Swedish king	Great-grandmother	Trailblazing, resilience, family pride	Descendants	Yes
Pressed glass sugar and creamer	Great-aunt (debated)	Historic piece, ongoing family debate	TBD	No (ongoing question)

FAQ: Preserving Family Heirlooms and Legacy

Why is it important to record the stories behind heirlooms?

Without the context of who owned an object, why it was significant, and how it came into your family, valuable historical and emotional meaning can be lost over time. Recording stories transforms items from anonymous objects into powerful family touchstones.

How do I start a conversation about heirlooms and death cleaning with relatives?

The topic can be delicate, but Family History Month or anniversaries of ancestors are natural occasions to begin. Approach with curiosity and respect, inviting loved ones to share memories and reasons for keeping specific items. Blom suggests normalizing conversations about death and loss to remove stigma and encourage openness.

What should I do if my family argues over who gets what?

Invite everyone to learn the stories behind the items first. Understanding the full narrative may influence who feels most closely connected. Consider group discussions, family meetings, or even chance (like drawing straws) as last resorts—but stories should always come first.

What if there’s not enough space or energy to sort everything at once?

Dedicate one area as a sorting station and be patient: it’s normal for the process to take weeks or months. Alternating emotional with easier practical tasks helps sustain momentum and reduces overwhelm.

How do I decide what truly matters?

Ask yourself what values and lessons the item represents, and whether it brings you (or could bring someone else) real joy, usefulness, or pride. Bringing in friends or family can offer objective perspectives and make hard choices easier.

Resources for Further Reading & Support

Check out Katarina Blom’s blog and podcast for more in-depth stories and strategies on death cleaning and legacy preservation.
Visit the National Funeral Directors Association’s “Remembering a Life” website for conversation starter kits, memory card decks, and step-by-step guidance.
Consider local genealogy societies, family history workshops, or memory recording apps to facilitate storytelling and archival work.

Conclusion: Your Family Story Lives On

While the process of sorting, decluttering, and passing on heirlooms requires effort and courage, the rewards are profound. By coupling practical organization with meaningful storytelling, you not only preserve cherished objects, but also ensure your family’s values, lessons, and humor persist for generations yet to come. Embrace these conversations. Record the stories. Keep the legacy vibrant and alive.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

Read full bio of medha deb