I’m glad you asked that question because my folks had so much stuff after being in their house for 57 years.  I was really afraid they’d be heart-broken to live apart from it.  Boy was I surprised at how much of a relief it was for them to not have to care for all their belongings.  When I needed to dispose of the stuff, I did all of these:

• Checked with my parents to see that I was clear what they wanted to “leave behind” and how they felt about that.
• Asked my family if they had any interest in taking some of the items
• Put a few items in storage
• Held a Garage Sale   (some of my friends with more valuable items held an estate sale through a professional company)
• Donated the remaining items to Charity and got my parents a tax deduction.