Would you consider yourself a sentimental person? I think most people would say they keep SOME sentimental items in their home. I wouldn’t consider myself a sentimental person at all. I can get rid of almost anything with hardly any thought (which is sometimes a fault of mine… Oops.) That being said, there are still a handful of things I would have a hard time parting with.
But there are a few questions I start to consider when working with sentimental items. Where does it all go? Does it stay in a box? Is there a good place for that box? If your items are tucked away in a box, is it necessary to even keep them? Do you access this box often?
My biggest advice would be that you don’t HAVE to keep all sentimental things.
If your great aunt gave you a picture frame 10 years ago and you haven’t hung it up because it’s really not your style, but you can’t get rid of it in case she one day happens to ask about it….. my advice would be to get rid of it. You can almost be certain she has forgotten about the gift, and you shouldn’t have to hold on to the guilt of that item. It’s sentimental in a way, yes. But it was also a gift that someone chose to give. When they chose to give, it was no longer theirs to decide what to do with. Make the decision for your item and be confident! If I gave someone a gift, I would hope they wouldn’t keep it just because it holds a sort of “sentimental value” and they feel bad for getting rid of it. If it’s not being used, I would want someone else to get use out of it!
Give yourself a limit on how many sentimental items you can keep.
Maybe it’s one plastic tub per person in your home. If you’re wanting to save something, but that person’s tub is full, it’s time to go back through and reevaluate the items you have kept and see if anything can go. It’s interesting how one day something can be very sentimental to you, and the next time you look at that item it may not hold as much significance. Giving yourself a limit will really help you make those more difficult decisions. It’s the container’s fault! You can only keep as much as that container allows.
Have a plan for your sentimental items.
Are you going to pass them on to your kids one day? Will your kids WANT those things when they get older? That may be hard to know, especially if they are young. But maybe you have adult children. Can you go ahead and pass those things along to them? What about the items that are yours. How often are you accessing them? Is there a way to display them instead of just storing them in a box up in the closet?
I have a treasure chest that I keep small keepsakes in from my childhood. The treasure chest is a decoration in my house, and my girls have looked through it many times. I suggest storing your items in something easy to access and in something that can serve as decoration. If your items are stored in a box in your shed, you will most likely never go looking through it. Make your things accessible, and even better, a part of your décor. Continually enjoy the memories those items bring to mind.
In conclusion…
There are some items that are irreplaceable keepsakes, and you should hold on to them if you like. Display them! Put them in an easy to access place! Give them to family members who would enjoy them even more! But not every sentimental item needs to be kept. We have all heard it said, the memory doesn’t live in the object. It’s separate. You can still remember the good ole days without an item attached to it.
If you’re overwhelmed with items you deem as sentimental, I would encourage you to try these tips today!
