In this video update, I’m sharing how we cleaned out our Italy house. It was full of furniture and personal belongings when we bought it. All of it needed to be sorted through to decide what was trash and what could be saved before the house renovations began. It took about a year to do.
What You See in the Video
- We set up a staging area on the ground floor to go through furniture, smaller items, and personal belongings.
- Valuables and other items we wanted to save were put in storage bins.
- Furniture was stored in the barn, sent to the furniture restorer, or thrown away if it was beyond saving.
The Story Behind-the-Scenes
Cleaning out our house in northern Italy was an enormous job. We needed to empty out 200+ years of history from the family that lived there.
The house has over 5,000 square feet and every room was full of furniture. Some rooms, like those on the top floor, were even furniture storage rooms themselves and contained so many nightstands, wardrobes, and chairs. Each cabinet, drawer, and chest were filled with photos, old bills, linens, school notebooks, diplomas, toys, clothing, gifts, kitchen items, and even a petrified loaf of bread!
It’s easy to get caught up in the tasks of cleaning and organizing. But when I stopped to think about these items and who they might have belonged to, it was impossible not to recognize the sadness and beauty of it all. Each handwritten note or certificate of accomplishment was a very real reminder of how so many things in our everyday lives seem larger than life when, in fact, our worries, problems, and even moments of joy are all short-lived.
Physically, this work was exhausting. But by going through the many personal items, we learned so much about the house and it felt like being part of a story where we were the next chapter. And even though it was tempting to keep it all, I knew that bringing the house back to life would honor all the previous generations and memories that lived inside more than keeping every last item stored away in boxes.
Not to worry, though! We did keep many things that told the story of the house. I plan to show some of them in an upcoming update.
Where To Next?
See all the renovation updates in order by heading back to this renovation journey page.
Or watch more now using the navigation links below.
Previous Update: House Tour Part 2: Upper Floors
Next update: Renovation Begins: First Days Overview
