Editing, Moving & (possibly!) Eliminating Collections

I recently added a new service to May I Suggest Designs: Editing for Downsizing! It’s a natural progression for my business as clients request my guidance in re-homing beloved items uncovered during the course of a project, or they ask me to reassemble items within a bookcase during a living room refresh. I love doing those things, however, I have found that “editing collections” can be oh-so-endearing!

Just a little back story about me

And how I got here:

Until a few years ago I was working as a full time residential interior designer, but prior to that I worked for a law firm in my hometown. The firm was small, established and friendly. The attorneys I supported became family, and when I decided I wanted to spread my wings, they wished me well. During the transition I returned every so often to help out as needed. So, for the first two years of my life as a (*famous* ha ha ha) designer, I kept one toe in the legal world while trying to grow my business.

After a few design years equalling a “good ole’ college try” I decided to return home to the law firm. I felt defeated and relished the safe welcoming atmosphere.

The attorneys I supported specialized in Wills, Estates and Trusts, and I thought could it get any worse? Not only had I watched the dream of being a successful designer die a slow death, but now I was dealing with an inevitable demise of the clients we served. Depressing, right?

Through client meetings discussing wills, codicils, trusts, POAs, HCPOAs, etc., I found a common thread that unraveled, circling me back to my dream job of interior designer. When I met clients and shared my story a common response was, “I have collections my children don’t want, and I don’t know what to do with them”, or “I don’t want my children to have to deal with the mess in my house after I’m gone. What should I do?”.

Ta-Da! Boom! What a light bulb moment! I realized can use my design skills to help the aging population (or any for that matter!) edit, clean up and prepare their homes for their next destination! Something I had experience with, but never highlighted as a “service” before.

One of my first clients when getting started hired me to help her move into a new senior living community. She wanted her townhome to be a reflection of the things she loved complete with a furniture plan to direct the movers with me there to oversee the process and made quick decisions (if needed). I met with her in her original home, made a list of the items to be kept/ moved, and a list of what should be sold at a garage sale. I measured her new space, created a furniture plan and got busy for moving day.

We executed the plan, and I helped make her new space feel like “home”. Recently widowed, she and had a large collection of Department 56 & Dickens Village Christmas Houses. Prior to the move all 26 little houses had lived in an antique pie-safe, and were haphazardly plugged in to extension cords so keep them lit every day! Each one had been a gift from her sweet husband, and she liked to see them and think of him. Creating a space to house this collection was a large part of my design service! I designed new built-in bookcases to highlight individual vignettes of the tiny homes. She was thrilled, and I felt good honoring something that was so important to her.

This living room refresh went from maximalist/ stuffy to updated/ clean with minimal changes. We lightened the wall color, edited and removed the clutter on the bookcase shelves, selected a grasscloth that would allow objects d’art to stand out in contrast white keeping important pieces front and center. With minimal effort in editing and rehousing of family photos, this refresh looks fantastic!

As of late, I have been working with a client three to four hours a week. We are editing her current collections and having a great time in the process. She’s sure her sons don’t care about her purses or the vintage costume jewelry worn by her mother. So, she quickly shares the history and endearment attached to such items, and as she does her history unfolds: good intentions, past vacations, dearly departed parents. I have come to the conclusion there’s a je ne sais quoi about sharing your history with someone… It’s in the telling, not the collecting, that your story lives on.

So, share your history, what’s important to you and the WHY with your designer. As a professional, I want to be respectful of what makes you happy as well as allow you to see your collections in a new light– even if it means editing for content, determining “gifts” and/or donations and removing what no longer serves you. I’m here to help and most certainly listen.

If I can help you, or someone you know, edit, create a plan and downsize, please contact me at (919)710-3146 or shoot me an email at Charlseysmith@yahoo.com. I serve the greater Triangle area of North Carolina. Pricing for editing/ downsizing starts at $200 for a 3-hour block of time with each additional hour billed at $75.