How to Fill a Hope Chest

A hope chest is a chest that a young girl keeps to collect things for her future wedding and marriage. Some girls start as young as preteen age with filling a hope chest, and some women don't start until they are engaged. A hope chest is a very individual thing with different meanings for each person, but it is universally a place to store your dreams. Here is how you can fill a hope chest in anticipation of the future of your romance no matter what stage it's currently in.

Instructions

1. Decide what your favorite colors are, and think about what colors you'd like to make a significant part of your future home. Learning your sense of style and favorite color schemes are important in choosing things that you will love well into the future. It's a huge part of the fun of filling up a hope chest. Each item is carried along with a dream and hope for the future.

2. Buy and store linens at the bottom of the chest. You want these to be well preserved and covered upon storage. You don't want the colors to fade or the quality to be marred in any way. That would defeat the purpose of preserving the items at all.

3. Place delicate items like dishes on top of the linens. You never want to stop anything heavy on top of dishes. Even dishes that are well protected in boxes can be smashed if the box is moved, or if the weight of something becomes too heavy. Pay careful attention to how you pack your chest so that everything is protected in turn.

4. Put in a journal of passion in your hope chest for some spicy fun and anticipation. These are journals that are meant for lovers. They come often wrapped in plastic protection. You can wait until your honeymoon to open it, and you and your husband can one day fill the journal together. That is a fun way of daydreaming with your hope chest.

5. Store gifts you would like to give to your husband once you are married. Some things should only be given to a husband, and you can store something in your hope chest for him if you just have to buy it now. That's a fun way to add some originality to your hope chest.

6. Use your imagination to put in items that you think you'd enjoy in your future home once you are a married woman. It can be anything from a cheese grater to an expensive comforter. It's up to you. You simply need to fill your hope chest with what you dream about using within your marriage someday.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that your tastes may change in the future, especially if you are starting this hope chest very young. Bright pink may be your favorite color today, but you may not want bright pink linens when your time comes to get married, and your future husband might not want a hot pink living room decor. Think ahead, and choose palatable colors when picking mainstream items for your future home.

• Don't get too serious or worried about the items in your hope chest. You can put anything in there that you want. It's your dreams that are going into it, and it is your life. No need to worry about tradition when it comes to a hope chest.