A Gordonsville family will be filmed next week for the PBS series "Legacy List with Matt Paxton."

“We’re finding the items in your home, and we share the really fond stories of your loved ones,” he says. “I think the difference is we purposefully don’t talk about the financial value. We only want to know the emotional value.”

I was determined not to be one of those people who didn’t accomplish anything during the pandemic. So, I got rid of 44 boxes of stuff. Like losing weight, it was difficult work, but I did it slowly and mindfully. It feels great to have that tower of boxes gone. And the process offered moments of pure joy and laughs during a lousy time.

I was determined not to be one of those people who didn’t accomplish anything during the pandemic. So I got rid of 44 boxes of stuff. Like losing weight, it was hard work, but I did it slowly and mindfully. It feels really great to have that tower of boxes gone. And the process offered moments of pure joy and laughs during a really lousy time.

In his PBS series "Legacy List with Matt Paxton," downsizing and cleaning expert Matt Paxton encourages people to make a list of the most important items in their house. But did Paxton follow his own advice during his recent move to North Georgia?

During decluttering, Paxton uncovers incredible finds—including a Picasso sketch, a couple of pieces by Salvador Dali, and even what may be part of the Underground Railroad.

Matt Paxton is surprised to find a Picasso and two Salvador Dali pieces during his latest home organization session on "Legacy List."

Matt Paxton is surprised to find a Picasso and two Salvador Dali pieces during his latest home organization session on "Legacy List."

Matt Paxton is surprised to find a Picasso and two Salvador Dali pieces during his latest home organization session on "Legacy List."

In the process of helping families downsize their house contents, Paxton and his team look for important items that have been misplaced over the years. His team finds and presents the things on the Legacy Lists to the families. The show encourages viewers to consider what item would be on their Legacy Lists and what needs to be located, labeled and put in a proper place.

White said she hopes readers will be inspired to look into their own family histories and realize the importance of learning and telling those stories, even if they feel their stories are “insignificant.” “Everybody has a story,” White said.

An Oneonta man will appear on a national television show in February, exploring the secrets of his famous father's art collection. David Hayes Jr. will speak about searching through the estate of his late father, American sculptor David Hayes Sr., in the PBS show, "Legacy List with Matt Paxton."

Say you wake up and your house is on fire. Your family’s OK. What do you grab as you head out to safety? That’s the idea of a PBS show that helps people find those important things in packed attics and garages. The second season of the show came to Manheim to dig into the family history of Chris and Jean Gerding. The episode airs on WITF on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

At age 25, Matt Paxton cleared out the homes of four relatives who died within months of one another. The painful experience of sorting through lifetimes of possessions and memories was life-changing. He went on to have a career as an extreme-cleaning specialist and professional downsizer who now appears on two TV series about people dealing with an overflow of stuff.

Every week, Jura Koncius helps you in your quest to achieve domestic bliss. She and weekly guests, whether Martha Stewart, Marie Kondo, or the Property Brothers answer your decorating, design and decluttering questions. For more than 20 years, our Thursday Q&A has been an online conversation about the best way to make your home comfortable, stylish and fun. We invite you to submit questions and share your own great tips, ideas and gripes. No problem is too big or too small.

It's not every day that you stumble upon a priceless painting or historic relic in your attic but for Matt Paxton, host and producer of the APT-produced show "Legacy List with Matt Paxton," it's just another day at work.

Two reality shows airing this winter grapple with what to do with our family heirlooms.

The PBS reality show “Legacy List with Matt Paxton” goes into the homes of people who are downsizing to help them declutter and to find forgotten family stories hidden in the crush of possessions. In its second season, which starts on Jan. 14, the crew visits the Coventry home of the late sculptor David Hayes.

“Legacy List,” with Richmond’s own Matt Paxton, is back for its second season on PBS.

Moving out of a family home can be an incredibly emotional experience; as each room is decluttered and every box filled up with a lifetime of belongings, decades of personal history can be unearthed.

US pubcaster PBS has renewed antiques series Legacy List with Matt Paxton for a second season, produced by Michael Yudin’s New York-based MY Entertainment (MYE).

Matt Paxton is filming a new show called “Legacy List” that will air on local PBS station VPM.

Paxton and his team go through the house of someone 50+ who’s about to downsize and they scour for family memorabilia — often items the owner can’t locate. Some of the possessions to unearth are sentimental; some are historic; some seem to tell stories of descendants. Earthly treasures, all.

After leaving the show and TV, Matt told me recently, “I started to kind of look for a real job and I didn’t want one.” He create that job instead: he started his own production company and developed a new reality show focused on telling positive stories, which he thought the world needed and wanted—and that networks rejected.

Matt Paxton helps people downsize their homes and shares the stories on PBS television.

Matt Paxton is right where he wants to be. He’s back in his hometown, raising his kids in the Bon Air neighborhood where he grew up, and he’s back on TV telling the stories he really wants to tell.

When you think about downsizing your home and relocating, there’s a word that probably comes to mind: yecch. The process can be time-consuming, agonizing, frustrating and just plain sad. But, as the new public television series Legacy List shows (check local listings), downsizing also has an upside.

As baby boomers downsize living spaces and settle estates, THE LEGACY LIST WITH MATT PAXTON helps aging homeowners catalog a lifetime of belongings, locating treasured heirlooms and unexpected valuables in the attic, closet, or even under the floorboards.