6 Family Heirlooms People Hate Having in Their Homes

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When my parents got married, they were given a number of beautiful wedding gifts that, alas, went straight into their closets to collect dust. One of these gifts—a crystal punch bowl with matching glasses—simply wasn’t very useful during the early years of their marriage, and it didn’t exactly gain usefulness later on once they had kids.

After I grew up and moved into my own place, my parents passed that punch bowl set along to me, thinking I might finally give it some love during an Instagram-worthy dinner party. Alas, it languished in my dining room closet for three long years until—overcome with guilt and sadness over these long-ignored items—I finally brought it out this past Thanksgiving.

As it turns out, I’m not the only one weighed down with sentimental but highly irrelevant heirlooms from generations past.  As the taste for formal dining rooms has waned, so has our appetite for fine china, fancy silverware, crystal goblets, and other high-end housewares that have long dominated wedding registries. And yet even that stuff is far more useable than some of the other weird things that people have passed down to later generations.

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So what are some other family heirlooms that people hate having in their homes? We asked, and boy did people fess up.

The deceased’s ashes

“When my father-in-law died, my wife and I inherited her grandfather’s ashes, which are a very weird heirloom to have. They live in the same place they did in her father’s house—our guest room closet.” – Jessica Beroldi, Alexandria, VA

Racist antiques

“My dad was a professor/priest who was committed to the civil rights movement of the ’60s. As such, my grandma thought it was OK to gift his eldest daughter—meaning me—with a family heirloom: a topsy-turvy doll, which are toys depicting crudely caricatured African-Americans. Suffice it to say I don’t display this in my home.” – Becky Garrison, Portland, OR

Tacky dishware

“Most hated heirloom? Scandinavian engraved crystal glasses with topless mermaids … or they might be milkmaids. As a teenager, I got in trouble once for pointing out the nipples to my sister at family dinner.” – Daisy Alioto, New York, NY

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Too-large collections

“My great grandmother left me a whole house full of amber glass bottles and containers. While the pieces are beautiful and I have incorporated several into my decor, her collection is so extensive—just entirely too much. I was forced to box them up and move them to the attic!” – Tiffany Hutton, Chattanooga, TN

Ceramic figurines

“Any sort of ceramic figurine is wasted on me. I have one pair dressed in Victorian or maybe Georgian outfits from my grandmother. I hang onto them in case they might be valuable one day, but they will never be out in my house where people can see them.” – Anne Rushing, Edinburgh, Scotland

Home decor that just isn’t their style

“My husband’s grandmother gifted us with this dragon airbrushed ice bucket from her trip to Japan back in the day. It sits on top of a high bookshelf in my guest room. I don’t want it looming over me in any of the rooms of the house that I frequent; it’s just so not my style.” – Amy Barger Roberts, Memphis, TN

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So what family heirlooms do homeowners actually like?

That said, homeowners don’t hate all heirlooms. Here are a few items that people love keeping.

Love letters

“I will always cherish a couple of love letters Grandpa sent to Grandma during the war. I love sentimental things that tell stories.” – Becky Pallack, Tucson, AZ

Vintage books

“I have an original, author-signed copy of ‘Gone With the Wind’ that my grandmother received as a birthday present. It’s old and tattered, but I’ll never, ever, ever get rid of it.” – Katka Lapelosová, New York, NY 

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Holiday keepsakes

“When my mom asked me what I wanted from my grandmother, I desperately asked for a glass candleholder that my grandmother always kept lit on Christmas Eve. It’s one of my prized possessions, and I use it for decor at Christmas.” – Sarah Kennedy, Athens TN

Jewelry

“I love having a small diamond ring that was handmade in Italy out of a pair of my great-great-great-grandmother’s earrings. It’s tradition to pass it down, oldest daughter to oldest daughter.” – Katie Elizabeth, New York NY

Religious items

“My grandmother and I were very close. Before she moved to a nursing home, she told me to take her wooden jewelry box, and gave me her plastic rosary and her prayer book. She had the book since the ’60s. It even has her old New York City address. When I look through it, I can imagine her writing in it, and taking notes. She only went to school until fourth grade, but she knew how to read because of her faith.” – Sarah Betancourt, Colchester, VT

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