LEHI, Utah & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ancestry®, the leader in family history, has teamed up with The Home Edit to provide spring cleaning solutions to refresh the home and make the most of beloved heirlooms, family photos, historical documents and precious keepsakes. In a year where families have spent unprecedented time at home, The Home Edit professionals Joanna Teplin and Clea Shearer will document how to preserve treasured items by uploading images to Ancestry, giving families around the globe the opportunity to make discoveries and share stories for generations to come.
“There’s so much unexpected magic that comes from going through these boxes of documents and keepsakes hidden away in your home,” says Crista Cowan, Corporate Genealogist at Ancestry. “Uploading something as simple as a single photo or handwritten letter can help empower you to build deeper connections with your loved ones while you’re physically apart, and discover untold stories about those who came before you. It allows you to share these memories with new family members across the world -- and the number of people that one image can reach is almost limitless when you attach it to your family tree on Ancestry to be shared.”
Professional organizers Clea and Joanna show how to organize precious keepsakes so you can finally clean out that corner of boxes in the basement, and discuss the value of taking photos of these items and attaching to your family tree. Whether you’re using a computer or the Ancestry mobile app, which makes it easy to upload as you go using a smartphone or tablet, each member can decide if they want specific pieces of content to be private or made public so it can be shared publicly for your family across the globe to discover.
Spring Cleaning Tips from Clea and Joanna:
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Edit Your Items: Start with those dusty boxes in the basement or in the back of the closet -- go through all of your sentimental items and create categories. This includes photo albums, tangible keepsakes, clothing, documents, etc.
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From Out-of-Sight to Digitally Thriving: It's really easy to lose or damage priceless family documents and keepsakes. By preserving them digitally, you can *always* go back and print a hard copy, but not the other way around. This is especially important for one-of-a-kind items, such as pages from a journal, handwritten letters, and family heirlooms. These can provide the richest insights into someone’s life. They’re the key to preserving an ancestor's personal stories, their personality, and what their life was like at that time. And imagine how many others could benefit if you share images of these things with family across the world just by uploading and attaching them to a public family tree on Ancestry.
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Get Specific: Every photo tells a story, so as you’re uploading them to your family tree to make them discoverable for more family, try to provide as much detail as possible. You'll want to include the year, names, location, etc. Start with what you know and if you need help, ask other family members to help you fill in the gaps.
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Store vs. Display: Once you sift through everything and find the most important keepsakes, we love displaying them in a shadow box or frame -- it can add a personal touch to any space!
- Create a System: To create a physical archive in your home, we recommend using archival photo boxes to keep the items protected for generations to come. You can either store in broad categories, such as year or family member, or subcategorize by occasion. The system you create depends on how you will access these items in the future.
“If there is ever a year to take an active role in preserving your family history, this is it,” said The Home Edit duo. “Spring cleaning is traditionally thought to be a time of decluttering and clearing, but there is also an opportunity to bring rich new meaning and thoughtfulness to the age-old tradition,” says Clea Shearer. “I’ve been an Ancestry member for years and was delighted to uncover a photo of my great-great-grandparents and their four kids. Putting faces to my family members’ names for the first time took my breath away, and it was all thanks to a distant cousin who decided to upload the photo to their family tree. It really showed me the power preserving these items has in sparking meaningful connections with more family and a new understanding of those who came before us.”
Those who want to start their own spring cleaning project can visit Ancestry’s blog for a full “how to” guide on uploading memories, starting with creating an account on Ancestry.com -- it’s free to create an account and all you need to begin building your family tree.
Photos are available to download here.
About Ancestry®
Ancestry®, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, empowers journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. With our unparalleled collection of 27 billion records and over 18 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain actionable insights about their health and wellness. For over 30 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.
About The Home Edit
Clea and Joanna are both California transplants, currently living in Nashville. Brought together by a mutual friend, it was friendship at first text, and business partnership immediately thereafter. The goal in starting The Home Edit was to reinvent traditional organizing, and merge it with design and interior styling. While every project is rooted in functional systems that can be maintained for the long term, there is just as much emphasis placed on transforming the space visually and adding their signature stylized aesthetic.