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Episode 175 – 10 Sentimental items to declutter today

Episode 314 – How to declutter a storage unit with Margie

Episode 313 – My decluttering journey with Christina Rudes

If you’re a sentimental soul and have sentimental items coming out of your ears then the answer is to focus on quality over quantity. In this podcast we’re going to talk about the 10 sentimental items you can declutter today.

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Transcript of this podcast episode

[00:00:00] Ingrid: If you're a sentimental soul and have got sentimental items coming out of your ears, then the answer is to focus on quality over quantity. In this podcast, we're going to talk about the 10 sentimental items. You can declutter today.

[00:00:17] Now, In today's podcast, we are going to talk about the hardest category there is to declutter, and it is the sentimental items.

[00:00:27] But there are categories that we can tackle and we can thin out because we need to go for quality and not quantity, isn't it, Lesley? 

[00:00:36] Lesley: Yeah, so there are definitely some items in sentimental items that are kind of no brainers and that's what we're going to talk about today. We have a habit if we're sentimental, so as Ingrid mentioned, just kind of keep everything.

[00:00:47] And so what we're going to say is actually you need to delve a little bit deeper and go really an element of realism needs to come in. And so there are certain things that you can absolutely let go of to no detriment to your sentimental soul. So, without further ado, Ingrid, let's dive in. Let's talk about a number one on our list.

[00:01:07] The 

[00:01:08] Ingrid: first one, Lesley, on our list is children's artwork. Quality over quantity is key in this because kids create a tremendous amount of artwork over the years, especially if there's multiple kids in your house, you might have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of their creative. Juices that have been put on paper from little scribbles to beautiful pieces of artwork, but you can thin it 

[00:01:40] Lesley: out.

[00:01:41] But of course, we are not suggesting that you get rid of all of your children's artwork. That would be basically very, very mean. Um, and so, but we're, we're going to focus on one area, which is that artwork where you have no clue. You don't know who painted it, where it was painted. Why it was painted. Those are the things that absolutely need to go because they don't evoke a memory.

[00:01:59] Sentimental items. It's all about keeping things that evoke a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when you look at them. And if you're not quite sure of the backgrounds that painting, those are the ones that can go because there will be plenty of others that do evoke those feelings. So keep the ones that evoke the feelings, let the ones go that don't evoke the feelings that we're talking about.

[00:02:20] Ingrid: And this is easier than people think. People think, Oh no, no, it's my children's artwork. I'm going to keep everything. Honestly, once you look at it, it's like, Oh yeah, actually. Oh, I remember this. And when you start to kind of laugh about something because you, something is funny or something like, Oh, that's so special.

[00:02:38] Those are the ones you have to keep, but there's going to be lots of stuff. You're like, I can't even remember this. So don't think this is an incredible hard category. This can be easier than you think. So 

[00:02:49] Lesley: yes, number one on our list is children's artwork with no name or no visible memory attached to it.

[00:02:56] And number two is a little bit more tricky. Number two is all about dinner services. Now, if we go back through the generations, there was this habit of buying everything. And so you would buy the dinner plates, the coffee mug, the sugar bowl, the charging plates. Everything to do with that dinner service, you would buy and these pieces, these dinner service would be 72 or 96 piece dinner services.

[00:03:18] And if they've been passed down to the generations to us, it's quite a big investment of storage space to keep these things. Now, it might not be that you're using these. things. They might be gathering dust in a cabinet, but you feel out of guilt or obligation that you need to keep these things. Now, what we're saying, if you know, in your heart of hearts, that you aren't going to use these dinner services, and you are just keeping them out of respect for the person that gave them to you, perhaps what you want to think about is keeping one component of that dinner service.

[00:03:49] Keep a cup of saucer and a side plate, keep a serving bowl, keep a coffee mug or a teapot or something like that. You don't have to keep. Everything to do with that dinner service. There are places that you can sell pieces of dinner services online and pass them onto someone who's going to really enjoy them.

[00:04:06] So really think that through. Sentimental items are all about evoking a very special memory. We do not have to keep every single piece of that dinner service to evoke that special memory 

[00:04:15] Ingrid: for us. Yes, Lesley, absolutely brilliant suggestion in our 10 things. And I've got another one as well. And that is.

[00:04:23] Photos of people. You've got no idea who they are. Even it happens in our own lives. We look back and go, who is this person? You know, it doesn't even necessarily have to be people from like old photographs from your, your parents or your grandparents. It can even be people that you think. I have no recollection of this person on holiday, who are these people in my holiday pictures?

[00:04:47] There's 

[00:04:47] Lesley: something really special, isn't there, about photographs, where we feel obliged that we have to keep every single photograph that we've ever taken. And so, yeah, absolutely. If you don't know who that person is, it's very, very unlikely that that's, that lightbulb is going to, yes! I know who that is from 1972 when I was on the holiday in Benidorm.

[00:05:05] I totally know who that is now. You know, that's not going to happen. So if you don't know who the person is, do yourself a favor and get rid of that photo today. We can also declutter photographs. People are like, Oh, I just can't declutter photographs. Yes, you 

[00:05:20] Ingrid: can. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Definitely.

[00:05:23] Whether it's a hard copy or in your computer, a digital one, you. You can declutter them now. Let's go to the next category, Lesley. And this is going to be possibly a hard one because this is letters that people have written to you that have like a bad memory attached to them. So you open them and you're like, Oh gosh.

[00:05:45] Yeah. Oh gosh, this is a horrible situation or something happened or, and then we cling onto these letters, but. We know they're in that cupboard and we get a sinking feeling every time we think about them because it was a really hard time in our lives and we find it really hard to even talk about it.

[00:06:04] Why are we hanging on to all this stuff that is so negative? Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:06:09] Lesley: This is a really, really tough one to do. And the unfortunate thing is to go through that process of getting rid of letters with bad memories attached, you have to go back to that place again and reread the letter or see the letter at least and go down that route but honestly, Let it go because there's no space for negativity in your life.

[00:06:29] I think we keep it. Sometimes if somebody has hurt us, which is often the kind of thing, this is really hard to talk about, but often in these kind of letters, it's because someone's done or said something very, very hurtful to us. Keep proof that that's happened. And that's the reason why people cling onto these things, but really, you know, delve deep into yourself and say, is that going to serve me or the person?

[00:06:50] Well, if I keep on, keep on going over that kind of stuff, this is quite painful for a lot of people, so we won't talk about it anymore, but you know, whether you've got that letters in your sentimental items that are not bringing good memories with them, let them go. 

[00:07:05] Ingrid: I've got another one, Lesley, for our 10 things list, and that is paintings.

[00:07:11] You don't like, why are they on your walls? And you look at them every day. I mean, sometimes they've been there for such a long time. You actually don't see them anymore because you don't look at them, but why are they on your walls? And 

[00:07:24] Lesley: sometimes though, Ingrid, they're not on the walls and sometimes they've been taken off the walls because we don't like them.

[00:07:28] We kind of keep them. And so, you know, they might still be on your walls, which is even worse. A lot of times where they are is in a loft, in a kind of paintings section of things that maybe one day, actually, I might suddenly fall back in love with that painting and put it back on the wall. The chances are, if you've already made a decision that you'd no longer want that on your wall, let it go.

[00:07:51] There's no space for that. How many times do we see these piles and piles of paintings kept just in case you're going to suddenly decide. Yeah. I've really fallen in love with that 1970s, really, really old fashioned painting that I had, which I actually hated. Yeah. Let it go. Let it go to someone who's going to enjoy it because there are undoubtedly people who will enjoy that painting.

[00:08:13] Okay, welcome back and we're now at number 6 in our 10 things to declutter from your sentimental items today. And this is another one to do with...

[00:08:22] Photos and artwork. So it kind of combines the photos, one that we spoke about and the artwork that we spoke about quite often, we have frames upon the wall, on top of shelves, on pianos, on surfaces. And then we think, Oh, it's really old fashioned. I want to take that down. I want to replace it with a more current photograph.

[00:08:39] So we take the frame down maybe because the frames old fashioned, maybe because the photo is a little bit outdated and we keep those frames probably with the artwork section that we've got downstairs in our base. And we leave them in the frames and so we're not necessarily suggesting that you declutter the photograph because chances are that at some point that's been a very sentimental photograph, but declutter the frames or separate the frame from the photograph.

[00:09:07] Take the photograph out of the frame. Send the frame to charity shop if it's old fashioned or put a different picture in that frame if you like the frame. So separate out the photos in frames that you never put 

[00:09:17] Ingrid: up. I know Lesley, it's like these collages from like a holiday or something or for from a previous job and your, your, your colleagues gave you a enjoy your new job or anything like that.

[00:09:29] And they give you a collage of funny pictures and you think. Yeah, I'm not going to put that up anymore. I'm past that. And it ends up in your loft indeed. So let it go. Let it go. Brilliant. Number six in our list, Lesley. 

[00:09:43] Lesley: Number seven on our list is all about greetings cards. Now greetings cards is something that people keep an awful lot of.

[00:09:52] So much so that we've already recorded an entire podcast about decluttering sentimental cards. So if you need more than a one thing in our 10 things, maybe go and listen to episode 119, when we delve a lot deeper into decluttering sentimental cards. But for now, if a card just has, hi, Lesley, dear Lesley, Merry Christmas, love Ingrid, with no sentimental attachment whatsoever.

[00:10:16] It's just a perfunctory card, as it were. Let it go, because it's not that special. 

[00:10:20] Ingrid: Lesley, loving your suggestion, but I've never heard the word perfunctuary, so what does that mean? I'm learning something every day, listeners! 

[00:10:29] Lesley: Yeah. Perfunctory. Not perfunctory. What did you say? Not perfunctory or whatever.

[00:10:34] It's perfunctory. Good word. Eh. Oh, 

[00:10:37] Ingrid: very good words. Yeah, very good word. 

[00:10:39] Lesley: Um, it means where you, it's just performing a basic function so there's no real interest or excitement or sentiment behind it. So it's just basic. That's what I would say perform was, but you like it. You like my vocabulary this morning.

[00:10:52] Well, that's good. Thank you. Thank you. And you can use that now. If you could say it, go on practice 

[00:10:57] saying 

[00:10:57] Ingrid: it. Can you say it again? Because I forgot how 

[00:11:02] Lesley: it's supposed to use it in

[00:11:10] the next, in 

[00:11:11] Ingrid: number 8. Okay. Right. So, let's go then to number 8. We've done the cards. We've done the cards. Let's go to number 8 on our list. What we see in houses... This is multiple bags of children's clothing from either, you know, it can be baby clothes while the kids are now 13 or 14 years old. It can be clothes from all the way when they were young, lots and lots of bags.

[00:11:39] I can't use the word perfunctory in this, in this topic. Yeah, just like, yeah, 

[00:11:44] Lesley: this is definitely nothing stupid. I'm 

[00:11:46] Ingrid: like, I'm trying to, I have to think too hard now how I'm going to use this. So while I'm losing the thread. But anyway, so yes, multiple bags of children's clothing. It is all too much. If you know that you're not going to have another child, you've got bags and bags full of stuff in your loft with clothing.

[00:12:05] Pick out a couple of special items that is not everything, but you know the ones that are special. And the rest, donate it, give it away, sell it, or whatever you're going to do with it. But don't let it go to waste, because the longer it's in a black bin bag in your loft... The more it's going to deteriorate.

[00:12:26] Deteriorate is a 

[00:12:26] Lesley: good word. So

[00:12:30] you did get a big word in there. All is not lost. Okay. Okay. So we are now on to number nine and this. This is a tough one as well, actually, because we have copious amounts of soft toys in our homes, don't we? Um, this might be from our own childhood, and so it's not just necessarily if we've got children.

[00:12:52] This might be from our own childhood, where we have loads and loads of soft toys. And they are so cute that it's very hard to say goodbye to a little cute looking teddy bear, isn't it? It's like, how can we do that? How can I just throw that in a charity bag? But soft toys are huge. They take up huge amounts.

[00:13:10] space, don't they? We keep them for years and years and years. The key is to constantly keep on going with those soft toys and really look at the ones that are less special. You have to be quite ruthless when it comes to soft toys to keep the right amount, don't you? 

[00:13:25] Ingrid: Oh. Hundreds, hundreds, but do get your kids involved.

[00:13:30] I mean, not when they're like two or three years old, but when they're a little bit older, they can tell you which the favorites are because sometimes we think as, as parents like, Oh no, no, no. That's a special one. The kids are like, Oh no, we can go. I've got another one now. So get the kids involved, but don't suddenly go, okay, we've got 150 soft toys.

[00:13:48] We're going to keep five, not going to work, not going to work. 

[00:13:53] Lesley: Yeah, I really definitely feel like it's a phased approach that works when it comes to soft toys. You just keep having to keep chipping away at it and keep getting these volumes down. And, and as Ingrid says, wait until they're a little bit older to do that.

[00:14:03] You can't really wrestle them away from when they're three years old. So we find ourselves in group number 10, 

[00:14:11] Ingrid: don't we? Yes. This is a brilliant one as well, Lesley. It's all these little ornaments and trinkets that we kind of, I don't, I don't. Sometimes you wonder how they come into your house and you're like, how did this end up in my house?

[00:14:26] It's things that we kind of get given or we pick up when we're on holiday or it's a memory of something. And then. It clutters up our shelves. I mean, it's too many. There's too many. I know 

[00:14:40] Lesley: I've said so many times, sometimes the easiest place to declutter in your house is things like window sills and mantle pieces, because those things just stay on there.

[00:14:48] We never ever changed them or move them. And so quite often we look at these things day after day after day. And sometimes it's like, I really don't know why that's there. Cause I absolutely hate it. And it's just gathering dust. And so often these ornaments and trinkets are things that have been special in the past, but there is a passage of time, you know, if something's been on your mantelpiece for ten years and you've looked at it every single day, it can go because it's served its useful purpose.

[00:15:10] And so don't be scared of getting rid of ornaments and trinkets that you no longer like or that you are keeping out of guilt, which is quite often what happens, because often they're gifts, aren't they? 

[00:15:20] Ingrid: Yeah, and I think as well, Lesley, I think the ornaments and trinkets, as soon as there's too many, It all is like one blur.

[00:15:28] You can't even see anymore. There's so many things and it takes your mind to so many different places, that actually the one or two that are super special, you can't even see among all the other kind of cheap stuff. And I think it's also a lot connected to if you collect something that people think, oh yeah, that's nice, oh yeah, she's the owl person, we'll give her another stone owl or another.

[00:15:50] And it all just gets too Much it all goes out of control and it all gathers dust and it takes longer and more effort to clean your house as well 

[00:15:59] Lesley: Definitely. So 10 things, sentimental items that you can declutter from your house today. Yeah. I think that's quite a good list actually. They're no brainers, aren't they?

[00:16:10] They're absolute no brainers. Some of them might take a little bit of time. I mean, I say 10 things that you can declutter from your house today. I'm not sure that you could go through all these things today. We can say today, 10 things you can think about decluttering from your sentimental items today.

[00:16:26] So 10 things that you can start a plan to do clutter over the next few weeks from your house today, maybe that's going to be the 

[00:16:33] Ingrid: title. Yeah, but I think, you know, Lesley, I think we see sentimental items like one big thing. It's like, it's the same when we think of paperwork as one big thing. I think this podcast really shows people like, okay, we can break it down into categories and one category is not the other one.

[00:16:51] And, and I think that's really, I think what we're trying to share with our listeners today is to kind of make you think about, okay, yeah, that's actually a good point. I hadn't even thought about it this way. I'm going to mull that over and I'm going to take one of these things and, and, and tackle that and go for the quality and not the quantity.

[00:17:09] So that is, I think our main aim with this podcast. 

[00:17:14] Lesley: Yes, and next week we are continuing our chat about sentimental items and we have a very a very special guest and Ingrid is beyond excited, of course, as she always is with our American guests from the TV, no less. Ingrid, do you want to explain? Who is your guest on the podcast next week?

[00:17:32] Ingrid: Well, um, my I'm, I'm absolutely bursting with excitement. Let me tell you. So I am talking to Matt Paxton and Matt is one of the top cleaning, downsizing, decluttering, and hoarding experts in the U S he has been hoarders for, I think about. 10, 12 years. Everybody knows who he is. He has written the book and he's going to tell us all about it.

[00:17:59] So I am beyond excited to be talking to him. 

[00:18:03] Lesley: I know. I don't know how you're quite, how you're going to contain yourself. You're going to be fangirling next week. Yes. Yes. Right. Okay. So Ingrid, 10 

[00:18:11] Ingrid: things. Done. Done. Liking it. Loving it. So I hope you loved it too listeners. Thanks for being here and we'll see you soon.

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Looking for more info on managing your sentimental items? Check out our blog post here...

ARE YOUR MEMENTOS MANAGEABLE?

Imagine the scene – your birthday comes round, and you are so happy to have had lots of lovely cards sent to you. They sit on your mantelpiece, you truly enjoy looking at them, and then a couple of weeks down the line, it’s time to take them down. So you bundle them together and add them to your ever growing collection of keepsakes.

Some memories are special

In your lifetime, there have been a lot of birthdays, and celebrations, and weddings, and christenings, and new homes and sadly there are illnesses and bereavements too – all of these things bring with them memories – sometimes happy, sometimes sad.

But why are they so sentimental? Because they represent milestones in your life and milestones are special. Because some of these cards are sent from people going through milestones of their own.

Those cute cards from your grandchildren. The thank you cards from your children when they left home and thanked you for everything you did for them. That heartfelt message from a friend when you lost someone special or that card from your partner when you first feel in love. These are truly special and deserve their place in your home.

Not all memories are made equal

But what about the cards that are not quite so special? The ones that don’t have an extra- special message, the Christmas cards from a neighbour or a work colleague that you have to wrack your brains to remember who they are, the cards sent on your child’s 6th birthday from every member of the class…

The sentimentality behind these fades over time yet they are still bundled up with all the other truly special ones you have kept with your keepsakes.

There will undoubtedly come a time in life when those cards become overwhelming. They have stayed in those boxes untouched and unloved for years if not decades.

You may be allocating valuable space in your home to sentimental items of average or low value, and that space would be better used for things you are using on a more regular basis for the life you are leading now.

So how should you tackle sentimental cards?

The vital component when you are tackling sentimental items is to favour quality over quantity. Once you start to focus in on the truly special ones, you will retain a more meaningful collection of keepsakes. But it can be an evocative, sometimes difficult, journey to tackle sentimental items, and it is often something we have procrastinated over for years.

Once you have made your decision to declutter your cards, you need to be ready for a change in mindset. Sentimentality is a vital part of human nature, but when the amount of cards you have means you can’t enjoy the truly special ones, it’s time to really focus in on quality over quantity.

6 Tips for decluttering cards

Here are a few tips to help you along your way:

Who are the cards from and is that person special to you?
Look carefully at the message inside. Was the message personal? Does it give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside?
Can you make the decision to only keep cards from special birthdays – 1st, 21st, 50th, 60^th, for example?
Get well and sympathy cards can take you to a very sad place. It is worth thinking through whether that is having a positive effect on your wellbeing.
If you have a celebration where you receive big volumes of cards, for example, Christmas, these can be a simple place to start your decluttering.
If you want to do something with the cards, like scrapbooking or putting them into digital format, do you have the tools you need to start the project?

Tackling your sentimental items can be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable decluttering projects you will ever do, but it can be tough to make that mental leap to favour quality over quantity.

If you want a helping hand, you can purchase our SOS course or our membership. We can help you work through the emotions that are holding you back from making the right decisions when you are decluttering your sentimental items.

This article was first published on Sixty and Me on 6th March 2021. It can be found here.

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Recent Posts

Episode 314 – How to declutter a storage unit with Margie

Episode 313 – My decluttering journey with Christina Rudes

Episode 312 – 10 clutter hotspots and how to fix them

Episode 311 – How to declutter when everything in your home feels sentimental

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Mary says:

2 March 2023 at 7:40 PM

should I declutter newspaper clippings and magazine articles concerning the plane crash which killed my 36 year old brother?

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  6 March 2023 at 9:34 AM
  
  Hi Mary,
  
  I'm so sorry to hear that your brother passed away in a plane crash. That must have been devastating for you and your family.
  Your question whether to declutter those clippings and articles is a very hard one. Some people find these items make them sad and decluttering seems the right step, while others see it as a memory items however painful to keep. There is no right or wrong in this situation.
  
  If you have other items from your brother that make you think of him and you treasure the clippings could be let go off, but really think this through before taking action.
  
  I hope my answer helps,
  Ingrid
  
  Reply
2. Megan Turner says:
  
  6 October 2024 at 8:55 AM
  
  Why don't you make a memory board of your brother which includes all the times that you have photos of him? Then you can honour his memory and remember his entirety each time you look at the board without forgetting his flying. I use a photo album of my family (digital if you want) so I can flick back to it for memories when I choose to. Each year I gift mum a photo from special occasion/s (often of her dogs or picnic by the river etc) during the year which she puts in the photo album. Hope this helps a tad. Hug to you. M
  
  Reply

Episode 175 – 10 Sentimental items to declutter today

ARE YOUR MEMENTOS MANAGEABLE?

Some memories are special

Not all memories are made equal

So how should you tackle sentimental cards?

6 Tips for decluttering cards

Episode 314 – How to declutter a storage unit with Margie

Episode 313 – My decluttering journey with Christina Rudes

Episode 312 – 10 clutter hotspots and how to fix them

Episode 311 – How to declutter when everything in your home feels sentimental

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