Photo by John Valls

It’s not much to look at: Short and squat with one leg slightly gnawed by an anxious dog. But the little wooden stool, handmade by a grandfather in Wales, is a treasure. He spent his days a mile underground building supports to keep the walls of the coal mines from caving in. And when he surfaced for good with bad lungs and a retirement pocket watch that, as it turns out, was not real gold, he spent his remaining days making small furniture for the young grandchildren he hoped would live better lives. My husband has shipped that impractical little stool around the world at a cost that is totally illogical.And it makes perfect sense.Many of us have such objects. The things we hold onto tell the stories of who we are, which is why museums display not only masterpieces, but also everyday objects from the past. “We had a real desire to help people understand why ‘things’ matter,” says Christina Olsen, director of education and public programs at the Portland Art Museum. They launched the Object Stories project this past March, inviting people to bring in small objects and tell their stories in a photo and audio recording booth. The edited stories and images can be seen in the museum and online at portlandartmuseum.org.“I think that as you listen to the stories, you begin to quickly realize that people are telling the most fundamental stories of their lives through objects,” says Olsen. “I think about the booth like a meaning-making machine, and how people make meaning in the stuff of their lives.”It’s the meaningful stuff of life that transforms a house into a home.Five Portlanders share a few of their favorite things.