Wow....sometimes I'm really glad I'm an only child on my mom's side! Although...*sigh* the house she and my step-dad live in was his mom's house. They moved in after she died and there is still a lot of her stuff there. Even after, I might add, 2 of my aunts on dad's side came in after Grandma died under the pretense of getting some pictures and took a LOT of stuff out. Furniture, carnival glass, all sorts of things. (And THEN had the kahonas to order this huge floral arrangement for the funeral and send the bill to US!) Because of that, the first thing I will do when the house becomes....um...unoccupied, will be to lock it up tight. There is still valuable things in the house (antique funiture and figurines) that I will hand out if need be. None of dad's side has really shown any interest in how they are doing and the ones who have been by, only come when they want something.
Personally, there's not much of their own stuff that I would want and only 2 things that were Grandmas that I want. Mostly I will want to keep pictures and sentimental stuff. There is still something floating around that was my maternal grandmother's that I want. An aunt has it now but doesn't have kids and knows that I want it. It's just a little thing and I seriously doubt any of my cousins will complain if I get it.
On my bio dad's side though....that will be easy. The nice furniture (antique) that they have was passed down to step-mom from her side so that will all go to my sibs. Dad's stuff could be a bit more difficult but I think we'll work it out by age/need/sentimental etc. Plus, some things my step-mom has already passed down. My oldest sister for example, received a ring that step-mom got when she turned 18. It had been SM's grandmother's, passed to her mother, then her and she gave it to sis when sis turned 21.
I do dread the thought of cleaning mom's place out when the time comes. That house was built by dad's father and has been there for over 60 years. I wouldn't say Grandma was a pack rat, she just kept stuff till it was useless but she took care of her stuff. I don't envy you guys at all Daisy!