Decluttering and Sentimental Items: Where do you draw the line?

Kim · 02-10-2008, 07:28 AM

I think all of us have some of these around; kids' outgrown clothes you can't part with, stuff from high school, things from deceased relatives, etc. How do you manage the sentimental things when you declutter? My husband is really bad at this. He hates parting with anything that has memories. I think a certain amount of memory stuff is OK - but where do you draw the line?

hawkshoe · 02-10-2008, 07:53 AM

That is a tough one. I think we are all guilty of it to some respect. Perhaps taking photo's of some of the things and making a scrapbook or putting them in a special photo album would allow us to get rid of the item itself. I know this works espcially well with kids artwork and such. If you put the picture of the item along with a picture of the person who makes that item special, you could creat a really special keepsake.

MsJoyce · 02-10-2008, 07:53 AM

I am doing so much better at this than my husband. Right now we are decluttering the things WE REALLY DON'T NEED. We have already done the WE DON'T WANT. This is harder. Just yesterday we were decluttering the garage and sorting into yard sale piles to price, Children's Spring Consignment to tag and things to throw away. My DH has a HUGE jumping horse..you know the BIG one on springs??? He has had it since he was 4. he is 48 now. Well it is so beat up and one of the front legs is missing. I said Gently...don't you think it is time to get rid of that??? He said "NO...that is my memories!! I said it is missing a leg. He said..I know it is broken I broke it when I was ridding it real fast to get away from the Indians who were chasing me because I was a cowboy. He even has pictures of him in his cowboy outfit on that horse. But pictures are not enough for him so I guess when we move to a home of our own he will have to bring it out of the garage and put it in the house...OH MY! Because I told him if you care about something..display it so you can treasure it our get rid of it....I should have kept my mouth shut because guess what I am going to have smack dab in the middle of my new living room oneday...lol

Oregano · 02-10-2008, 08:05 AM

This is one area where we don't have a problem. Dh and I are not sentimental about many things (any things?).

Kim · 02-10-2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsJoyce

I should have kept my mouth shut because guess what I am going to have smack dab in the middle of my new living room oneday...lol

Too funny. I'm glad that there is someone else who can relate to my frustration! Maybe your dh and mine should get together and create a "Man Room" full of all their old toys and junk. I don't want it in my house either!

P.S. I have a 4-foot Santa Claus that they could set up right next to the jumping horse!

MegNAbbysMom · 02-10-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MsJoyce

Because I told him if you care about something..display it so you can treasure it our get rid of it.

That's what they say on Clean House and Clean Sweep. I love those shows. If you really cherish something and it means that much to you, you need to have it displayed in a proper way and not in closet shelf or a bag in the attic.... unless it's a 4 ft Santa or a jumping horse

bananabellesmom · 02-10-2008, 08:37 PM

we are in the process of decluttering and I went through all of our clothes this week

dh had a hidious sweater that his mom knitted him that I put in the give away pile... he dug it out

I went through my high school stuff and through out a bunch of that.

I agree with pp's on having it displayed if I really cherish it.

Cookie2 · 02-10-2008, 11:08 PM

My biggest downfall with decluttering is I tend to give away things that have VALUE first and I keep the junk. I tend to hang onto those things that are of only moderate monetary value and no sentimental value yet are somewhat useful. For instance, last year DD convinced me that we have to save up grocery sacks for the 'eventual garage sale' (which I'm beginning to think I'm never going to hold). Now I've got grocery sacks falling on me everytime I go into that pantry. It's stupid. I know it. Yet that's the kind of decluttering quandry I get myself into.

To answer the question, we tend to have so much to declutter, that I prefer to leave the truly sentimental items alone. My husband is the same way as mentioned above. If I'm trying to get rid of something he'll claim great sentimental value and the item ends up staying. My experience is, EVENTUALLY, the item goes. It may take several rounds of a decluttering attempt but even hubby tires of moving the stuff around at some point.

If all else fails, I'll put all the sentimental 'junk' in one corner and either hubby or I will get a visual sense of how much we're really hanging onto. At that point it is easier to cull, especially when the useless sentimental junk takes up all the room we would need for the useful stuff.

Me? I'd proudly display the spring horse.

Claire · 02-10-2008, 11:11 PM

That is hard!

I know this will sound morbid, but since I have had to deal with it, I guess that is why I think of it like this.

Will this be something that, while meaningful to ME, will cause my children to have a hardship when they get rid of it after I die? If it is, I get rid of it. Like I said, it isn't always easy, but I try to do that.

Mainly because my inlaws are PACKRATS! I look around their house and while 99% of it is sentimental to THEM, I see it (as does dh) as quite the burden we have to look forward to in getting rid of 99% of the stuff.