How to Approach Collections and Antiques Like a Museum Curator

From old collections to family keepsakes, people can accumulate a lot of stuff. Inevitably, a time comes when people need to move or pare down collections and keepsakes. It can be daunting to sort through boxes of family photos or seek a new home for unneeded antiques or artwork.

While working in Cleveland museums and art conservation, Jennifer Souers Chevraux said people often asked her who to turn to for help managing their collections. She said she did not have a name to offer them at the time, but it gave her the idea to start her own business, Illumine Creative Solutions, to consult on managing personal collections.

Chevraux, of Shaker Heights, previously worked for the ICA Art Conservation, a regional hub for conserving artwork, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Here are some of her tips.

What’s the story?

“When you go to a museum and you see a piece of furniture, they don’t want you to just look at a desk, they want you to understand why this desk has meaning,” she said.

When sorting through collections, identify pieces with meaning and write down the stories behind them. That will also help preserve history when passing down items to another generation or family member.

Tastes change

Antiques might not command what you paid for them years ago, Chevraux said.

Before tossing antiques that are not in high demand, like brown furniture (dark hardwoods often used for dining sets and bedrooms), she points out that styles come back.

“The stuff that you could have picked up literally on somebody’s tree lawn about 20 years ago, all that mid-century stuff that people were clearing out and thought it was… dated, now it’s of the moment,” Chevraux said.

Handpicked gifts

For those who want to share some of their valuables – both the sentimental and monetary kind – it could be helpful to determine which specific items to share with others.

Some people are uncomfortable with the idea of browsing through someone's personal belongings like an aisle in Target, Chevraux said.

If you want to give someone a part of a collection, consider how that person’s interests relate to what is there.

Chevraux presents “How to Manage Personal Collections Like a Pro” at the Shaker Heights Library’s Bertram Woods branch on Wednesday at 7 p.m.