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Old family photos can be surprisingly difficult to declutter, as we found out after my father-in-law passed away. Even if a blurry vacation snapshot or a box of duplicate school pictures may not mean much to you, throwing away someone’s face can still be a struggle. The problem becomes even harder when the photos belonged to a parent, grandparent, or another loved one.
Fortunately, you don’t have to keep every photograph that has made its way into your home. (And you shouldn’t if decluttering your home is the goal.) While it might be hard to let go, there are several options for dealing with old family photos that you no longer want.
Offer the Photos to Family Members
Before getting rid of family photos, allow relatives to look through them. A picture that holds little meaning for you may be important to a sibling, cousin, aunt, or adult child.
You don’t necessarily need to invite everyone over and spend an afternoon sorting through boxes. Take pictures of small groups of photos and send them in a family text or upload them to a shared digital folder. Set a reasonable deadline for relatives to claim anything they want.
Digitize (And Organize) the Photos You Want to Preserve
Scanning photographs allows you to preserve the memories without keeping several bulky boxes or albums. You can scan them yourself with a flatbed photo scanner, use a photo-scanning app, or send a large collection to a professional digitizing service.
A scanner generally produces higher-quality files than a phone, especially for small or faded photos. However, a phone app may be sufficient if your goal is simply to preserve the image rather than create a high-resolution print.
As you scan, create folders organized by family name, year, event, or family branch. Give each file a useful name instead of leaving it as a string of random numbers. For example, “Grandma-Mary-Wedding-1958” will be much easier to locate later than “IMG00472.”
Keep a Small, Curated Collection
You don’t have to choose between keeping every photo and keeping none. A small collection of meaningful images is better than dozens of overfilled albums.
You can place the selected photos in a nice quality album or a cute picture storage box. (I like this box.) Avoid storing valuable pictures in damp basements, hot attics, or garages, where temperature and humidity fluctuations can accelerate deterioration.
Create a Family Photo Book
If you have many meaningful photos but don’t want to store the originals, use the scanned images to create a family photo book. A printed book takes up far less room than multiple albums and can be copied for several relatives.
Organize the book by year, household, generation, or theme. Add names, dates, short stories, recipes, and family memories alongside the photographs. Even brief captions can make the book much more useful to future generations.
You can order photo books at places like Shutterfly or even CVS.
Repurpose Old Few Photos to Create Memorable Family Gifts
Crafting can give unwanted photos a new purpose, although it is best to work with copies when the originals are irreplaceable.
Scanned copies can be used to make:
- Christmas ornaments
- Family-tree displays
- Framed collages
- Recipe books (How cool would that be?)
- Bookmarks
- Memory boxes
- Decoupage projects
- Personalized calendars
- Labels for inherited furniture or heirlooms
A framed collection of several small photos may be easier to display and appreciate than an album that stays closed in a cabinet.
You might also place a copy of a photograph beside a handwritten family recipe, an old letter, a map, or a short story to create a more complete keepsake.
Shred Photos That Contain Private Information
While most of the pictures you don’t want can be dropped in the trash, you may want to destroy certain photos before throwing them away. This can be useful for images that contain personal information, embarrassing situations, identifying documents, or people who would not want the photo circulating.
Throw Away Photos You Truly Don’t Want
It is okay to throw away old family photos.
A photograph is an object, not the person or memory it represents. Keeping hundreds of unwanted prints in a box does not honor your family more than thoughtfully preserving a smaller collection. In fact, it can just add stress of having one more thing in your home to manage. And trust me, living in a decluttered home can bring you the peace you’re after.
So after you’ve sorted through and found the photos you want and given relatives an opportunity to claim any others, it’s more than okay to throw them away.
