Small care home room - storing furniture?

[ThunderFog]

Looking for ideas - DER is in a nursing home, in a tiny room. He has some furniture - chairs,desk, pictures, ornaments, several bookcases full of books. As a quick solution, I put the things in storage.
No relatives have space for these - has anyone dealt with this situation and what did you do?
DER isn't able to make decisions about his things, and does ask where they are. Is it covered by property and finance POA? Could I dispose of things? They wouldn't fetch more than the cost of a month's storage.

I'm guessing you've never had to clear out a house...

It is strange territory to be caring for the very elderly and there is no map. I am going to try to find homes for the things, and anything unwanted will have to go to the tip.

I couldn't do that with DER - he has enough cognition to say "my meds are sorted, I want to go home now". He thinks home is a city fifty miles away and eighty years ago.

If there are particular books, photos of pictures which your relative may want, and there is space for them at the care home then keep those. Furniture can be sold but any money must go back into your relatives account.

There certainly is. Especially in the 'Get rid'

they're someone's belongings, their history, their lifes momentos a little respect goes a long way.

there's pragmatic & there's nasty.

If it's larger stuff like pieces of furniture, sell or otherwise dispose of it.

If it's stuff like books or pictures, you could pick out a few things and take them (if there's any room).

I had POA for my mother and when she moved to a dementia care home I had to clear her flat. I used a house clearance company, she did not have anything worth selling and sadly a lot of it could have been described as 'junk'. The only things I kept were things she would use in the care home, clothes obviously and smaller stuff like photos. She gave me POA to make decisions in her best interests, so that's what I did.

Not everything is precious mementoes and meaningful things. The most precious things, my DER already gave to important people, for instance a framed photo of parents to his brother. There are a few items that have stories attached. Other items are things he wanted to dispose of anyway. He didn't want his stuff to become a nuisance, as he had cleared out a few houses himself.

Interestingly, DER said he didn't want his pictures on the care home wall - "I want it to be a liminal space, so I know I am going home soon."