“How does one balance keeping sentimental items from the past and living a clutter-free, simple lifestyle?” -Emily
As most of you probably well know, I disdain clutter. But even though I can get pretty ruthless in ridding our home of anything we don’t love and use on a very regular basis, I do keep some memorabilia.
Here are some things I consider when deciding whether to keep sentimental items:
1. Ask Yourself: Will I Wish I Had Kept This 25 Years From Now?
When it comes to sentimental items, my rule of thumb is to ask myself, “Will I wish I had kept this 25 years from now?” That really helps me in determining whether or not to hang onto something.
Photographs, letters, and journals are what I hang onto more than actual memorabilia. Sure, it might be fun to show your grandchildren the very first shoes you wore or the very first drawing you made and it’s totally fine to hang onto a few of these things, but if you don’t set some fairly strong ground rules for what you hang onto, you’ll soon have to devote an entire room or storage unit to memorabilia!
2. Ask Yourself: Can I Use It Now?
Just because something has sentimental value, it doesn’t have to be stored away. Some of my favorite sentimental items are things we use on a regular basis–such as my tea set from my grandma. Yes, we run the risk of breaking it if we use it, but it’s so fun to enjoy tea parties with my girls and to tell them about their great grandma whom the set came from.
I also have a set of embroidered dish towels from my grandma that I use almost every day. They are getting worn from use, but I think of her almost every time I pull them out to dry the dishes. To me, it’s much more special to be using her towels in my kitchen than to have them tucked away in a tub in our storage closet.
3. When in Doubt, Hang Onto It
This might seem to fly in the face of point number one, but I’ve been grateful that I’ve followed it over the years–especially with my ruthless clutter-ridding personality! If you’re not sure whether you’ll wish you had hung onto something 25 years from now, don’t get rid of it–yet.
I inherited a KitchenAid from my grandma after she died. I thought I would really love it. Instead, it sat in a closet unused. A couple of times I was seconds away from selling it in our garage sale, but I mentioned this on Facebook and a bunch of you strongly encouraged me to hang onto it. I’m really glad I did because I’ve since fallen in love with it and use it regularly in cooking and baking.
You can always throw something out or pass it on later on, but you can never get something back after you’ve gotten rid of it (well, unless you gave it to someone you know!)
Set Up a Special Memorabilia Storage Space
One thing that has been really helpful to me is to buy two big tubs with lids that I’ve designated specifically for storing mementos. Not only does this provide a place to put special cards or pictures that come in the mail, but it also keeps everything contained and not overflowing into other parts of the house.
We’ve found that two big tubs are currently big enough to house everything we want to hang onto–pictures, childhood memorabilia, letters, and things passed down to us from grandparents that we’re not currently using on a regular basis.
The other beauty of having a designated spot is that it provides boundaries for how much we can keep. When the tubs are getting full, we go through them and pare things down a bit so that we can have more space for new things that might come in.
What about you? How do you balancing hanging onto sentimental items versus having a clutter-free home? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
Emily (the original e-mailer) says
Thanks for posting this, Crystal! Very helpful tips, and thanks everyone for your suggestions. I’ve been making some serious headway on the spare room!
Weirdest thing I found in a box that for some reason I held on to… my wisdom teeth(?!?)
-Emily
Jamie says
I went through our sentimental stuff last year:
Kids projects are now displayed on shelves & in my office.
The love letters from my husband & I were scanned and put onto a disc, then I worked with a publisher to turn it into a hardcover book that I gave my husband for Christmas, it was expensive ($100) but it is something I know we will treasure and that will be passed along to generations. And now the letters are on the bookshelf and we sometimes sit and look through the book.
I dontated my wedding dress to a charity that rents them to low income brides, this one was hard but my daughter will want the experience of searching for the “one” perfect dress when it’s time for her to be married and I know my dress will bring joy to the brides that would otherwise have gone without.
Both our parents gave us huge boxes of sentimental items from our childhood and honestly 99% of the stuff went into the trash.
I do have 1 bin each for the kids and we have bins for special shirts from my grandmothers travels and my race t-shirts to make into quilts. One day our GG will be gone but the t-shirt quilts will be something that many generations will be able to warm themselves with and remember a wonderful woman.
Jamie says
We had several bins of sentimental items that I went through last year – I decided to deal with the stuff then and there and if the items were not important enough to me to put in my home and enjoy everyday they needed to go. Both of our parents passed along huge boxes of things they saved from our childhood and I want to say 99% of it went into the trash, I don’t want to burdon my family with that or clutter my home.
I took the special projects from my kids and used them to decorate book shelves & my office, important artwork is filed in the order it was made to be made into a book similar to the one described below when my kids are grown.
I took the box of love letters from my husband and I that we exchanged over our courtship and throughout the beginning years of our marriage scanned them onto a disc and sent them to a publisher that I worked with to create a hardcover book that I gave my husband for Christmas, it was probably the nicest gift I’ve ever given and it will be special to us and future generations of our family.
I took my wedding dress and dontated it to a local charity that rents dresses to low income brides. This one was hard but I know my daughter will want to have the experience of searching for and finding her perfect dress when the time comes and knowing my dress that brought me such joy will bring that to others makes me feel good.
I did keep one bin each for my kids and we have seperate bins for special clothing (shirts from my grandmothers travels & race t-shirts) to make into quilts later on. I want to enjoy those special items and if it’s not special enough for me to enjoy everyday then someone else can allow those things to bring joy into their lives.
Holly says
I take pictures of my kids’ artwork and THEN throw them away. I keep the really special items. I like to do slide shows at their birthday parties and I include pics from the last year. I can include artwork pictures too.
Toby says
THROW IT AWAY!!!!
By the time you are my age, 56, you will be swimming in sentimental “stuff”. You will face, upon the death of your parents, the unhappy chore of cleaning out their homes loaded with sentimental “stuff”. This is very difficult and you will be tempted to keep many, many things. Then your grandchildren will give you sentimental “stuff” Pretty soon you will think you need a big house and why would this be – since it is only “the two of you.” Because you can’t get rid of your stuff, your parent’s stuff, your children’s stuff and your grandchildren’s stuff. Start early in your life to fight against this.
Anjanette says
We’ve recently inherited all of the things our parents kept over the years, AND the things one set of grandparents kept. It’s an overwhelming amount of memories to sort through – especially because it’s not organized. Over the last few months we’ve been going through box after box and sorting, pitching, and donating items.
Our focus has been, “what will OUR kids value when they inherit all of this?” We’re also working to archive papers and photos and organize in a way that will be easy to understand. I know that if I weren’t heading this up, my husband would have thrown everything away just to clear space. I have no doubt that at least one of our children will be the same way, and I want them to understand the significance of the things we do keep so it’s easier for them to judge whether or not they’d like to keep them.
chelsea says
My mom is a sentimental nut, so I naturally have a disdain for keeping unused items that sit in boxes and no one ever looks at.
When my parents sold their house that we grew up in, they gave each of use kids boxes and BOXES of stuff my mom had kept in the attic for years of pictures we’d drawn, trophies we’d won, and jerseys we’d worn. It was fun to look at once, but I ended up giving all of it away after that. Most of it was stuff I never would have chosen to keep in the first place, and where was I going to put all that? I think a single box or two per child is sufficient. I keep a few photo albums on the bookshelf that the kids love to thumb through, and the rest of our pictures are digitized.
Barb Littlejohn says
Years ago, I threw away a ton of old cards and letters. I simply thought it took up space and that I did not need these items. I now dearly wish that I would have kept these items as my father passed in October. I am now keeping anything I think I might like to have one day in the future. My advice to others would be that if it is from someone you love you should box it up.
Danielle says
I have been decluttering for several months (as it is an ongoing process), and have recently gotten a little more determined, as we will be moving soon. I went to tackle the coat closet with my husband, who had inherited a bunch of very nice coats/jackets from my Dad who passed away 2 years ago. We tried them on, and decided which ones were more my husband’s style, and started to pack to others up into a bag to donate. I was fine until I saw coat and after coat piled into a trash bag, and I lost it! We couldn’t use boxes because I needed to keep those for the move, but seeing my dad’s things shoved into a garbage bag was a difficult sight. I think I would’ve been OK if we would’ve just kept them on hangers all the way to Goodwill. So, I ended up choosing a much-too-big coat for myself, just because I felt I “needed” to, emotionally. It’s not one of the more stylish ones, but I remember him wearing it. Maybe someday, I’ll be ready to let it go; until then, I think it’s OK to keep it.
Marlana says
Same here. I live oversees and CAN’T keep a bunch of things. I have one small box at my parents house, and I guess I have a few journals there as well. And that’s it.
Angi @ schneiderpeeps says
We also try to take pictures of those special things, like the lego creations that the creator doesn’t really want to take apart, or the science fair project that is just oh, so cool (and big). If it’s stuff from mine or my husband’s childhood it needs to either be useful to us now or we have to have very fond memories of it.
Also, when we go on trips instead of everyone getting a souvenier we try to find those squooshed penny machines. When we get home my huband drills a hole through the penny and each child puts them on his keyring. It’s a great way to jog the memories without having clutter.
Jamie says
The squashed penny’s are the souvenier my kids are allowed to get when we travel as well – they are small and mark the places we’ve been and it’s something inexpensive.
Patti says
I have a tub in my son’s closet for his school items. We just throw everything in there that we can’t part with at the time and in about a year or so we revisit it. It is amazing how little a lot of it means after awhile! I am such a clutter bug – this year I am really getting rid of so much. I am tired of owning it all and having it weigh me down.
Diane says
I once read a great idea – if something is sentimental to you, but you aren’t using it regularly – take a picture of it and part with the item. The picture will still stir up the memories, but you are not burdened with keeping a large item or items that you may even be paying to store!
Marie says
My husband had alot of t-shirts that he just couldn’t part with but couldn’t wear either. He grew up as a missionary so he was very attached to these t-shirts and the memories. We came to a compromise and he took pictures of each shirt! It was great because he had his memories and I had less clutter.
Also another idea I heard of for kids artwork is to take a picture of it and make a photo book of it. And then maybe just keep a few really special ones.
Angi @ schneiderpeeps says
If you haven’t gotten rid of the shirts, it would be pretty easy to turn them into a quilt. I’ve made several quilts for friends from childhood t shirts or from clothes from loved ones.
Angie D says
This is a huge topic for me right now and am loving the perspective. I am thinking of giving/throwing away my massive garage sale pile for the sake of space and peace of mind. None of it is that valuable and I want it OUT! On the sentimental side, my mom kept EVERYTHING and everything organized but while I appreciate some of it, I try to ask myself if my life is more or less rich or meaningful having the stuff around…now 20 years later. I ponder whether that momentary “ahhh…I remember this” justufies the space. I also try to ask myself whether I would want to move it to another house. It is a daily battle! Thanks for the encouragement!
lorena at Successfully Saving says
My boys each have one box designated for storing their “special” items such as artwork, post cards, birthday cards, and toys they just can’t seem to part with. If the items are too large to fit into the box, we take a photograph of the item and they add the photograph into their box. We also scan much of their artwork, school work, report cards, etc. so we have a digital copy of it and get rid of the paper clutter.
Jadzia @ Toddlerisms says
The tubs are a GREAT idea. I also digitize as much as I can, and involve the kids in making decisions about which things related to THEM we will keep (within certain parameters — i.e., “which ONE of these should we keep?”).
Jan says
Just a note–don’t store clothing or fabric items in those practically airtight plastic boxes (or plastic bags). Fabric needs to breathe or it will start to decompose. Wrap things in old sheets or pillowcases, or acid-free tissue paper instead.
My parents held on to a lot of stuff that others might consider clutter, but it meant that I didn’t need to buy furniture, dishes, pots/pans, or kitchen implements for my first apartment. My son read all my old Dr. Seuss books and played with my brother’s old Tonka trucks (now packed away for future grandkids!). And photography is a big thing in our family, so I have thousands of family photos dating back to 1859 (yes, 1859). I’ve digitized many of them, but would never ditch the originals or any negatives.
Linda says
I like your idea of “would I be glad I had this 25 years from now?”. I had a lot of collections from when I was single and when I decided to get rid of them, I took pictures of them. Just things like my magnet collection from places I’d visited. In that case, the memory of seeing the magnet in a photo was as good as having the magnet… and not needing to worry if little hands will take it away or the dog will chew it up.
Julie says
We recently did a big purge of all our closets. What made it easy was always the question… “What do I want more? This thing, or the space that this thing takes up?”
The space won every time.
Patti says
Hi I am a childcare provider so I understand about all the extra stuff. I encourage my parents to use the back of the childrens art work to send
letters to grandma , aunts etc. The art work makes great wrapping paper
and the children are so proud. I have also used sentimental hankies and scarfs for wrap. My daughter has one trunk from childhood and all things
from when she was a little go in there . It also doubles as a window seat.
This year I started to pass on things to my nieces. I gave them charm
bracelets from a great aunts estate they just loved them.
Grace S says
My Mother in law started me on this, she saved certian toys that my husband and his brother played with as a child. She also has toys my Father in law played with. She lives close by and my son loves going over and playing with Daddy and grandpas’s old toys. So I plan keep certain sets of toys that my son has played A LOT with. His Thomas the Train sets (wooden) and legos ( which he still is playing with) have made the cut.
StacyAnn says
we have a family art wall with a giant frame on a giant wall in our living room.It’s our little museum. At the beginning of each month we start fresh. we take a picture of the art going up and then a picture of the entire wall. They are allowed to choose three extra special projects that has meaning( writing is a separate thing we do… Binders for each child !scrapbook and folder) ( sadly I still cave so we put extra in ones in draw and that becomes the lets think about draw. Once some time goes by it is much easier for us all to typically toss)and the rest we give to others or put in the trash.having three children requires constant evaluating what is truly a keepsake and how we are going to preserve the memories.We plan to keep taking pictures and compile them onto discs and print for individualized albums for each child. I have nothing from my childhood so maybe I go little too far but the children love seeing who they where , what they did and how they hve grown.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Coupons says
I toss most things. If it really means a lot, I keep it, but usually if it tugs just a bit at my heartstrings but isn’t the least bit practical for me (my grandmother gave me a little girl jewelry box for my 10th birthday, but I have other things – like jewelry – from that grandmother, so I won’t keep the box), I may take a picture before I give it away. I got rid of all of my Girl Scout memorabilia several years ago. I kept all my tshirts from my dance team and college years and am making two t-shirt quilts with them so I can keep the memories and make them more useful.
So far I haven’t missed anything I have purged.
Sakura says
I’m learning to declutter, and it’s very hard for me. Thank you for all the ideas.
Mary says
I love your suggestion of keeping something if you aren’t sure. I came from a dirt poor background as a single mom of 4 and we shared EVERYTHING. My daughters were so hurt to learn I had not saved one article of their baby clothes and they wanted to see something they had worn. They got over it (and so did I) but you shared a great point with others.
dona says
I have kept Christmas decor clutter to a minimum of three tubs for the last 15 years. Each Christmas I pull out those three tubs and if I get some new item……I make sure it can fit or I get rid of something. Our tree decorations, tree skirt, a few special nativity scenes etc. So keeping a tub for memorabilia or in my case holiday decor really helps in setting limits. I now apply this principal in many areas of my home and it really helps me to keep my clutter quite low 🙂
karen says
When my great grandmother died, she had 15 sets of embroidered dish towels. All hand made by her and set aside “for a special occasion.” My mom made each of us kids a quilted wallhanging using the embroidered portion.
My husband is a t-shirt collector. I’m in the process of making all his high school and college t’s into a quilt. Something useful as opposed to just taking up drawer space.
I do have a hard time with kid artwork/school stuff. I want to save things that are meaningful but I haven’t found the right balance between quality and quantity.
DL says
I kept a Rubbermaid tote for each of my children and called it a memory box. I also saved several baby outfits from each child. When two of my children announced the news of grandbabies on the way, we celebrated with a special dinner and I decorated with their favorite stuffed animals and hung their baby outfits on a line made of twine. It has been great fun to see my grandson in an outfit his father wore as a baby. I so enjoyed the evening my two older children, now married, went through their memory boxes. I would encourage finding space for a few saved items from childhood if possible.
Mary S. says
I second the suggestion others have made about being sure to ask your children or other relatives before you get rid of something. If another relative wants a certain item you could make them happy and free up some space by passing it along. Then you know the item is going somewhere where it will be appreciated, you don’t have to store it, and the other person is happy. Also if there is an item you don’t want anymore and no one else is attached to you will feel a lot less guilty getting rid of it.
My one other tip is to go over the things you have chosen to keep every couple of years. After a few years you may no longer be as attached to all the baby clothes or toys like you were when your child had just outgrown them. It may be much easier to weed out a few more items after some time has passed.
Jamie says
One of my dilemmas has been childhood “collections”. My aunt bought me glass cats. My family bought me Precious Moments. I’ve realized recently that these move around with me in boxes and never come out for display. So I’ve decided to pick one or two favorites from each collection and to sell the rest.
Tara G. says
I had a Precious Moments collection started for me, too. I sold every single one of them at the base thrift shop and don’t regret it a bit! {Such a pain to move those every 2-3 years when I just didn’t treasure them.} I did keep the PM ornaments and my girls use them on a girly tree in their room, but when they’ve outgrown that, I’ll probably pass those on to someone else, too.
lori says
I have two large binders with plastic pages inside, one for each of my children. Every couple of months, when the kids create a really nice art piece or story, I date it and put it in the binder. I also make sure to include any milestones (first drawing of the family, first time writing their name, first time doing addition, etc.) It doesn’t take up much space and the kids have as much fun looking through it as I do.
amanda says
My mother died suddenly when I was 25. Being young and having moved a lot through college I didn’t keep any of the cards and letters she had sent me through the years. I do have a few emails she sent me with recipes in them but not many. I would encourage everyone to hang onto cards and letters even if you don’t think you will ever look at them again. I lost her over 8 years ago and this still makes me cry to think about. I have a lot of her things, dishes, jewelry, etc. But I wish I had the cards.
Angela says
I am experiencing this very thing now. A sweet, close family friend died last week. She was like another grandma to my boys. She was always giving us cards and I haven’t saved any of them. One card that she gave me last spring haunts me that I threw it out because she was so sweet and it epitomized her so well. I would give anything to have that card today. I am pretty harsh with clutter too, but after this I find myself questioning more closely before I trash things. I just don’t want to be this heartbroken again. Especially over a card that could easily be tucked in a drawer.
Melissa Z says
We’ve started scanning items like that- they take up so much less room & if you’re computer is backed up, you won’t lose them if there is ever some sort of disaster (because how many of us keep our keepsakes in fireproof/waterproof/damage proof containers?).
Emily @ Our Frugal Happy Life says
Amanda – I lost my mom when I was 19 (freshman in college) and I can sympathize with you. Because of the terrible circumstances surrounding her death, I don’t have many tangible memories of her. There are still some things but not much.
{Hugs to you!}
skottydog says
Our litmus test is this: What tangible items in our home would we be sorry about losing if it were lost in a fire or a robbery?
That narrows our list to almost NOTHING…except family photos and video. Unfortunately, 95% of the rest of it is clutter, which we would love to lose in a robbery or a fire!
Jill says
I always look at this way would I want my children to have to go threw my things and have the burden of having to get rid of stuff and figuring out what to keep. I would rather do that for them. What are they going to do with a certificate that says I am done wearing braces? I threw it out to save them the trouble of having to do that.
KP says
Try finding another use for the item:
I inherited my grandmother’s cookie cutters. These were ones I remember using in her kitchen as a child.
Unfortunately, they were metal and some rusted over time. They would not be safe to use for cookies now and for several years I had them in a box in the back of one of my kitchen cabinets.
I just couldn’t part with them though, so I decided to figure out a different use for them…I made them into kitchen art. I took some old frames we had in the basement and placed fabric on the outside of the glass and sewed the cookie cutters to make 3D pictures.
While shopping one day I happen to run across the perfect wall art to go with my display (on clearance!). It’s a sign that says “Life’s short…eat more cookies”.
Or, if your item isn’t something you can re-purpose, take a picture of it. If you have a bunch of items from your grandmother, take photos and turn them into a wall collage or scrapbook.
Sandy B says
What a wonderful, creative idea! I love the idea of repurposing some of the sentimental items. I tend to throw out more than I should so I don’t have too many, but I’m going to look at them with new eyes and see what I can do!
Sarah says
Give yourself some distance! It is hard to make a decision right away. For instance, I keep my daughter’s year worth of artwork (believe me, she can churn out some massive amounts of artwork) and then go through it at the end of the year. That way, I can pick out a few things that are representative of the year without keeping every scribble she wrote her name on. Same with baby clothes, blankets, and other sentimental items. I also go through the entire bunch every couple of years and find out as more time goes by, the more willing I am to get rid of things.
Melissa says
Growing up, my mom gave us each a Rubbermaid tote to keep our special memories in. We could only keep what would fit in that tote. I do the same with my kids. We go through the totes each year both for fun, and to see if there is anything we don’t remember, or can get rid of. Somethings we photograph for scrapbooks if they are to large to hold onto, or do not serve any specific purpose. Definite keepsakes have been coming home from the hospital clothes, along with one or two outfits I handmade for each kid. The only thing that does not cont in the box requirement is the quilt their Grandmother made each of them as a baby and a doll I made them that looks just like them. I figure if the “sentimental” things cause you more stress than happiness through their clutter, then it’s time to say goodbye. Take a picture, write a story about the memory and put it in a journal or scrapbook and move forward!
Erica says
I deal with this A LOT. My mother keeps everything! I always swore to never be like that and have stuff everywhere, but I married a very sentimental man and it is a daily battle over rather to keep all of my daughters coloring pages etc. And trying to get my husband to get rid of papers he has had since gradeschool. Well I might as well give up on that one!
Shannon L says
We also have my husbands papers from gradeschool. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this problem. Then again, I feel your pain. Lol.
Shelah says
I also have one big rubbermade bin….that should be enough.
Flylady (I think) talks about not keeping things that make us feel guilty. It’s crazy but some of our sentimental things may also make us feel guilty. That principle has helped me over the years.
Sara@Save Money, Live Joyfully says
I’m a very sentimental person, so I can find value in just about anything. But, I also hate clutter!
One idea I love is to take photos of kids art projects and turn them into a photo book.
I have a filing cabinet just for letters/notes/cards I want to keep, but eventually I’ll probably just scan them.
Both of my children (even the yet unborn one 🙂 have their own Rubbermaid bin in the garage. If it doesn’t fit in there, we don’t keep it. If it starts to get full of random littles, I go through it and assess what we really want to keep. For example, the “Welcome Baby” sign from our baby shower was fun, but we didn’t really need it.
Lori Blackburn says
You have great ideas, so I want to give you one little piece of advice. I, too, kept a tub for each of my children in my garage; they contained their going-home-from-the-hospital outfits, baby books, all kinds of keepsakes. I found out the hard way (EF5 tornado) that the garage was not the best storage area for such special things. I don’t know if you live where such storms occur, but you may want to move your tubs to a basement or safe room!
Jessica says
Likewise important documents like birth certificates, social security cards, etc.
I am so sorry you lost your family heirlooms in such a violent way.
Katie says
Another option is to keep a small piece of something – my 2 daughters are VERY sentimental about their special clothing, so we are making a “quilt” of the very special ones (cutting out a square from each piece).
KP says
This was helpful. I’m a huge minimalist and tend to throw everything away. I’m missing my Nintendo from the 1980’s and my Macintosh from 1992. Those are relics now and it would be nice to have them. Throwing (giving away, selling donating) things away feels so good though.
Anna says
I love to re-purpose something sentimental into something useful. For example I recently cleaned out our closet and my husband will not let me get rid of any of his college or high school running shirts. Ahhh! they were taking up so much useful space I couldn’t stand it, so I had a friend make the shirts into a cute pillow that we can enjoy everyday!! I just love it and he get’s a little “trophy” of all his races. It’s very special to us, and we supported a friend in the process.
Kim@GoingThrifty says
I laughed out loud when I read this post. I was listening to Dave Ramsey once a long time ago and he said, (and I quote) “People hold on to junk for years and call it memories…” How true. I really only keep the handprints, original stories, etc. My kiddos are 16, 13, 11, and our new little one from Ethiopia just turned 5. I have to say I have much better clarity with her in what to keep and what to toss.
I have a friend that gave each of her kids a large pizza box at the beginning of each school year. They could keep whatever they wanted all year as long as it fit in that pizza box. They were then labeled and stacked in the top of the closet.
Holly @ Faithful Womanhood says
There are some things that we keep (mine and my husband’s childhood teddy bears for example) and other things that we take a photo of and then toss out. Certain papers go in a scrapbook box (wedding invitations, funeral programs, etc.). My mom has an individual scrapbook box for the artwork that each of her kids made, but only the “best” pieces go into it (not every Sunday school coloring sheet).
Christy Burcham says
I also ask myself if it can be re-purposed. Sometimes it is just as special to have something made from an item as the original item – like using scraps of fabric from favorite clothes in a quilt, or making a pillow or stuffed animal from a favorite tablecloth, afghan or doily.
Lizzy says
I just wanted to say I have followed you daily for years and this is one of my favorite posts! I am VERY similar in my disdain for clutter, but do respect keeping certain things–I have def. had a few things I’ve wished I kept, but not too many–clutter free feels so good. Still I just appreciate all you said here-it affirmed me and encouraged me!
Blessings!
AnneJisca says
I try and narrow down the memorabilia to a few things. For example, I inherited a lot of dishes from my Grandma. Some of them are very pretty and get used fairly regularly with guests, and some of them were very plain. I narrowed down to the ones I used. My husband inherited TONS of stuff from his clutter-loving grandma. Over the years, I’ve gently encouraged him to narrow down to a few things that actually are meaningful (he’s much more sentimental than I am). He has, and our home is less cluttered than it used to be!
My Grandparents received a very pretty set of dishes when they married. My Grandma kept it aside for “one day”. Life went on, children were raised and moved out of their home, and their dishes sat unused. Grandma finally decided to use them when my Grandpa was disagnosed with cancer. Those dishes are not broken or chipped, nor do they hold the sentimental value they could have had if they had been used. I often think of that story to challenge myself to just USE what I have, make the most of it, and enjoy it.
A tip I’ve often heard is that if there is something big you like but shouldn’t keep, take a picture of it! Print the picture to look at when you want to revive the memories, and get rid of the clutter. 🙂
Stefanie says
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I was wondering just a day or two ago about stuff from our wedding (cards, bows, etc). Yes! I still have those things but why? Anybody have any suggestions for stuff like that? My mom saved everything (like the tag from my first Easter dress!) and I guilt about getting rid of stuff.
Diane says
I went through all my wedding cards a couple years later and kept just the cards that had special things written in them. I threw out all bows. Now every few years I go through cards and throw out the ones that don’t really mean anything to me any more.
Becky says
Same here.
KP says
I took a scrapbook punch and punched a piece of every wedding card and made a scrapbook page of it.
Laura @ Laura's Crafty Life says
For your wedding items, could you hang on to just a few of the items, like one bow, one candle, etc. and put them all in a shadow box to display them and then get rid of the rest? The cards, you can get bound into a book at an office supply store, or put them in a binder of some sort so you can keep them and look at them.
H says
I once kept EVERYTHING and am still in the process of repurposing and getting rid of things. I saved all my silk flowers from our wedding cake. I plan to make a wreath out of them. Maybe you could do something like that with your bows and cards? Even if you make something you could pull out for Valentine’s day each year.
Amy H. says
I think it’s important to remember that feeling bad isn’t the same is feeling guilt. It’s okay to feel bad about giving up things that invoke good memories, but it’s not like you’re doing something morally wrong where guilt would be appropriate. Accept those feelings, embrace them, but don’t let yourself be controlled by them. I think the key is being in control of the stuff instead of letting the stuff control me.
chelsea says
I have our wedding invitation framed and hung in our bathroom. I look at it every day and love that its still getting so much use, considering what we paid for them 🙂
shawn'l says
I began taking pictures of my kids projects with them in the picture. It gives a great perpective of their age at the time of the project as well. A digital picture takes up A LOT less space then a science project volcano!
lori says
Great idea!
Lea Stormhammer says
My mom would hang my paintings/drawings/pictures in a certain spot and then take a photo of me with them when the spot was full. The photo when into a scrapbook, the items got pitched. Larger items (a cardboard box robot horse! – for example) got photographed right away.
She kept the things that had handprints/footprints or were otherwise special (a drawing I won an award with, my first drawing of our family, etc.).
I love being able to go back to the photos and am very grateful I don’t have all the “stuff”!
Lea
Liz @ Wonder Woman I'm Not says
It really depends what sentimental stuff means to you. I didn’t keep a lot of sentimental stuff from my high school days (i.e. stuffed teddy bears from my husband) but I do tend to keep sentimental items that are in the form of an heirloom or can be repurposed.
Some of the things that I do keep include:
Homemade items from when my kids were little if they contained a foot print or hand print or something else special from that time
When my husband’s grandma went into the nursing home we all got to go through her house and pick out stuff. I chose items like her aprons, sewing kit, tin measuring cups, etc so I can remember her every time I use them.
In it’s current state my wedding dress is taking up space but I plan on repurposing it into two baptismal dresses (one for each of our children to have). I’ve also seen women make their wedding dresses into doll dresses for their daughters identical to the original wedding dress.
If you do decide to get rid of items that may have sentimental value to other people I would encourage you to offer them up to other loved ones. My grandparents died about 15 years ago. Everything was left to my aunt and she chose not to share any of the items with anyone. Now, out of vindictiveness she either threw everything away or donated it to charity even though I asked to go through some of the items. She thought it was about the money (trust me – nothing was worth any money) when I really just wanted a couple of things that I remembered from my childhood.
It’s definitely a balancing act. If you have the space and it will fit in a tote keep it otherwise weigh the sentimental need with your need for simplicity.
Good luck!
Marlene says
I also keep all my childhood “stuff” in two rubbermaid bins. And after moving quite a few times, I realized what really mattered to me. My kids use some old toys that I kept, but as for sentimental items, they fit in the bins, and yes, I have gone through them and pared down as you have. I love this post . . . I can so deeply identify with it! lol I am currently working on the same system for my children. My son (he’s 8) is starting to appreciate the value of a clean, uncluttered room (espcially since it’s his job to clean and organize it), so he chooses what he wants to keep – the letter from Grandpa he keeps and puts in a bin (or a more special place for the time being), random birthday invitations and other unimportant paperwork, he pitches. Hopefully my daughters will feel the same way! You either own your stuff, or your stuff owns you – cheesy, but so true!
Martha Artyomenko says
I do similar to you! I found though if there is something that you know you will really miss, even though you never use it and you don’t really think you need it, like those cute, worn out baby shoes your oldest wore out or the first outfit they wore, your graduation dress…..take a picture of it, maybe a couple and scrapbook it. Get rid of the item and keep the memory.
Another thing, ask your kids, even if they are young. My mom had two things that were really special, I thought. She had a graduation dress and a dress that she made (the first thing she sewed). I loved them! She did not have a wedding dress and we looked forward to when we would fit into that graduation dress. In a spree of getting rid of stuff, she decided to get rid of them. She needed the space. I cried and cried. She is not sentimental at all, but later found out it was not just me, but my little sisters too. We were all really sad. She had no idea it meant anything to us. So, ask your children too…..it might not mean anything, but it might!
Christy says
I have heard of some people saving one tub of favorite toys for each child. My sister did this and now my sons have toys to play with when we visit from out of town and her grandchildren will also have special toys to play with that used to be their parents so I think this is a good idea and the one tub idea puts a limit on it.
I take pictures of my children’s artwork from school and church after keeping for awhile and then throw it away (when they are sleeping). I only save things with handprints or footprints. I am going to make Snapfish photo albums with them. I put the handprint/footprint things in scrapbooks. I am also trying to do the same thing with clothing–save going home from hospital clothes, things knitted by grandma, etc. for their kids one day and take pictures of them in other outfits I just like.