My DH is from a poor farming family and about 20 years ago his older brother inherited the family farm and everything in it when their DF died. He gave DH the chance to choose a couple of items from the house as mementos. DH chose photos, a couple of chairs and a clock his grandparents had owned.
The clock is hideous. Even my DH admits this. It has a flimsy wooden frame that at some point someone has cut down with a saw, probably in order to fit into a smaller space. They've just sawn the frame raggedly at a slight angle. It's also been kept somewhere very damp, which has meant the wood is discoloured, the mechanism has rusted and the face is covered in mildew spots. When DH came home with it I took it to a clock restorer to ask if it could be fixed. The restorer told me he wouldn't take it on — that it was a cheap, mass-produced clock which was worth almost nothing even in good condition. He said there were loads of them to be found in antique shops and his best recommendation was to go and buy a replacement but not pay more that £30. I have never told DH that: I know that the clock has sentimental value for him.
For years it's lived on a shelf in a dresser in the dining room, which we rarely use. Much of the time it's almost completely hidden by plants or other items. Now we've decided to remodel the house and the dining room wall will be knocked through and the dresser will have to go. The builder is due in the third week of January and we will be clearing the dining room once Christmas is over and clearing out and disposing of quite a lot of clutter and furniture.
For the last 20 years DH has never given the clock a thought. I'm the one who dusts it down every so often. As far as I'm aware he hasn't paid it the slightest attention since bringing it home. Earlier today we were talking about what we'd have to dispose of and agreed that the dresser and our old dining table and chairs, which we bought many years ago to fill in until we decided what we'd prefer, were going. I looked at the clock and said 'We'll need to work out what to do with the clock'. I didn't suggest disposing of it: I was quietly thinking it could go in the loft. But DH went into meltdown. He's said that he knows I hate the clock, even though I've never said anything about it in all these years. He grabbed it and hugged it to him and said it was his grandmother's and he'd part with it over his dead body... I kind of backed away quietly and said nothing. It's absolutely out of character for him. I know he has a very different attitude to things than I do but I've never see him react like that. I have very little sentimental attachment to stuff, even stuff from my late family. I keep one or two discreet small items but it wouldn't break my heart to lose them.
So obviously the clock is here to stay. Now, though, it's likely to be in a position where I'll have to see it every day. Has anyone else here inherited horrible heirlooms? How did you fit them into your home?