Here's how you can begin to tackle family clutter

If you're sitting around the living room with your family and you feel like the room is shrinking around you, it might not be the eggnog.

It's probably the clutter.

As a professional decluttering coach, Kim Eagles of Moncton said more adults are inheriting unwanted household items and collectibles from their parents and grandparents.

"I call it the great burden."

She said people are overwhelmed by all they need to sort through when their parents downsize from their childhood homes. A similar stress is placed on entire families when a parent dies, leaving an estate full of items.

"Going through somebody's home that is packed full of stuff that you don't value is burdensome," Eagles said. "It's very hard on the families to do that."

Younger generations are less likely to find use for things like fine china, crystal and figurines like their parents or grandparents once did, she said.

But they often feel too guilty to tell their family, and end up with generations worth of boxes and bins in their own basements.

While everyone is home for the holidays, Eagles suggests having an honest conversation about why you're holding on to the clutter in your life.

One of the first things Eagles encourages seniors to do before they pass everything on to their kin, is to simply ask them: what of my things do you want?

In her experience, Eagles said parents are surprised by what their kids want. It often holds their own memories as opposed to what their parents perceive as valuable.

A daughter may want her grandmother's rolling pin, for instance, because she learned to make pies with it and can still use it for her own family.

Eagles said understanding this can help seniors and the person getting the items to narrow down what they want to keep for the right reasons.

"It shouldn't be out of guilt that somebody else had that connection to it," Eagles said. "It should be out of serving you and making you happy."