Sentimental Overwhelm

The things associated with people we love are the hardest things to let go of. This Valentine’s Day, treat yourself to freedom from our stockpiles of sentimental objects. By gently culling our memorabilia, we can give our most cherished mementos a more central place in our lives. Consider the following suggestions to let go of the clutter and celebrate the memories you hold dear.

Curate Your Collection

When it comes to mementos, more is not always better—especially if having a dozen settings of your great grandmother’s wedding china means that you never take so much as a teacup out of the cupboard. It can feel disloyal to separate items from a collection, but it can also be freeing to pick your favorites and celebrate them.

• Heirlooms: Choose the favorites from your collection and put them to use or on display.

• Photos: Pick a few favorites from each collection. Toss duplicates, bad shots, faded photos and ones that don't hold significance. Throw away negatives unless you’re actually going to print them. If you already have a photo album from a particular time period, throw away the loose photos.

• Kid Art: Select the best of your child’s art/school work. Choose their first, favorites, or most unique pieces. Let go of the rest—your child will appreciate the more selective collection.

Feature Your Favorites

Choosing a couple cherished photos or objects to stand in for the rest means you can put those chosen ones in the spotlight. A client with a bag full of airmail letters her grandfather wrote to her grandmother during World War II chose two and mounted them in a shadow box. Now letters that were once stuffed in an old suitcase have center stage in her family’s life.

Frame a letter like a work of art; display your wedding crystal, wear your grandma's jewelry; cut swatches from a beloved blanket and display them or sew them into something new. When you make your great grandmother’s teapot part of your morning routine, your past becomes a source of daily joy.

Digitize the Rest

If you’re ready to let go of sentimental objects but worry that you’ll get rid of something you’ll miss, take photos. Scanning letters and art preserves them and makes them available to share with family members and others, while freeing up space for more memories to come. VHS tapes, old film and CDs can be digitized. For kids’ art, ArtKive and Plumprint will turn it all—including multimedia creations and sculptures—into a beautiful, coffee table art books.

Make a Memorabilia Bin

When you’re curating collections, you can give yourself helpful parameters by designating a keepsake box or airtight bin for the things you want to keep. Consider one box for photos and one box for objects.

Even better, create a memorabilia bin for each child in your family as a “time capsule” of their family history. As you put together their bins, think about what each child will cherish as they become an adult; stick to the items that have real emotional impact, and not too many of them.

One of the biggest gifts you can give those you love is not to leave them with all of your stuff.

Give Yourself Time

Sentimental objects have a powerful hold on us. The project of cutting down your collections of beloved photos, letters and objects can be exhausting; set aside time to focus—a few hours, or a whole weekend—to give yourself space for the feelings that may come up. Handling mementos of beloved people is not just a decluttering task; it’s a trip down memory lane.

Happy Valentines Day! ♥️

Best,