I like this! I'm currently having to pack my entire house for flooring install and we're decluttering as well, and it's been HARD getting rid of the goofy junk from my childhood and teen years.

I'm FINALLY able to get rid of stuff I've received as presents over the years that I've kept despite them not being my style. That is a very liberating feeling!

I'd add to the list - anything that you set aside for mending that you haven't gotten around to in 1 year... ditch it! You have either forgotten about it or already replaced it by now.

I'm so guilty of this and these are all good suggestions. Love the idea of a valise packed with the most precious stuff.

Another question that helps me is the 'Flood or Fire' question: If I lost everything in a flood or a fire, would I replace this item?

This doesn't help with the most sentimental things (i.e.ugly china from beloved grandparents) but does help with clothes I've held onto too long because they remind me of something enjoyable.

I handle sentimentality this way: my junk I can take to Goodwill can be just what someone else need, and this is vice-versa, for your junk can be just what I need

This particularly works when having to get rid of stuff a loved one who has passed away -- How much better to know someone is using the clothes, or kitchen ware, etc, rather than rusting or molding away?

"...This particularly works when having to get rid of stuff a loved one who has passed away -- How much better to know someone is using the clothes, or kitchen ware, etc, rather than rusting or molding away?"

I really like that sentiment. This has helped me with some things that I inherited from my parents, but can't use or is just not my style. I like the idea that there is someone out there that can use these things.

I like to keep in mind that things are not memories. They're not the time you had, they're not the people you had an experience with. You will always have the feelings and memories, even without the object.

Oh my goodness...I was doing some snacking and reading and this stopped me right in my snack tracks. I DO have an old Benetton sweater from the early 90's that I can't get rid of. It's fuzzy pink with flowers and provides so much nostalgia for that time in my life that I haven't been able to part with it. This is indicative of lots of things that I have yet I always aim to actually get rid of stuff. Thanks for the tips.

Honestly, while I agree with these suggestions, I feel like they're aimed at people who already get it. I find the whole issue with keeping things when you maybe shouldn't is based on irrational attachment, for whatever reason - not wanting to be wasteful, being afraid to give away things that were gifted to you, afraid to let go of memories, whatever. What I would like to see is some way of helping these ideas make sense to those who have trouble letting go.

I could get rid of most of my possessions with little regret or long-term concern. But in the wise ways of the world, I am married to someone with distinct sentimental attachment to certain items - especially items from childhood.

Thank you Alisha! This is a great post and it feels like a direct response to a comment I left on another post about de-cluttering. I'm going to keep these clauses in my back pocket, but only figuratively -- I don't need another sentimental piece of paper hanging around ;)

Every area of my life needs de-cluttering.
A thought - the things we just can't part with - for whatever reason - take a photo of those things. The memories are there always, and if you need to 'see' that thing - look at the photo. My 2 cents.

"The someday clause" is excellent. I like to have a party dress on-hand in case I get invited to wedding or a party or a fancy night out.... but when that invite comes, invariably I want to go get something else for the occassion. But of course I probably have too many party dresses.

However, my gilt snake skin Vera Wangs can sit in their acid free box for a decade until I get the next opportunity to wear 'em.

Ha! I do have the Benetton sweater I wore in High School :)

@LoveDecor: During a move, I asked my, ahem, therapist if he thought it was silly to take pictures of some of the things I had trouble getting rid of. He said if it helped me get rid of the clutter, then do it. I feel so great now getting rid of my stuff and knowing that someone else may be getting use out of it!

The happiness clause is the one that works best for me. If it's clothing, do I feel just awesome when I wear it? If not, it goes away. The things in my house: do they make me happy or instill a sense of tranquility when I look at them? If not, they go away.

Know what doesn't make me happy? A bunch of unused junk all over the place. :o)

This is very useful...esp since i planned to clear up and de-clutter things from my apmt. The last time i did..i ended up throwing away only 1 or 2 item...

At my parents house, I drove my dad nuts when i insisted to hold on to this stacks of old magazines i've bought since 4 yrs before! it was more of i-might-need-to-refer-to-it-someday. Later i was 'forced' to throw it because i needed the space and found that i don't actually miss it...

So, again, i shall remember the space that i will gain when i start clearing things tomorrow :)

I just other day took a picture of a sentimental mouldy old handbag and then threw it away.

I do one of two things with possessions I can't bear to part with:

1) Upcycle them into something useful (make clothes into throw pillows, repurpose old furniture, etc.);
2) Give them to close friends who really like/need them, then enjoy those things vicariously. I can still see them, and know they're being loved!

Convince yourself that if you get rid of stuff, you can replace them with new shiny ones!

Or you can just go to a shelter or orphanage to get some real perspective on life.

I play a game I call "One Hefty Bag". When I'm feeling claustrophobic, I walk around my place with a Hefty bag and fill it with things that would do better at Goodwill.

I usually end up with another one for the trash.

Ahhhh....

I agree with those saying to take pictures of the items that are sentimental. I am a visual person, and I hold onto sentimental things because seeing it is what triggers the memory. I feel like if I can't look at, I'll forget what the item looked like or I'll forget the memories that were associated with it. By documenting the item in photos, then I can get rid of it and feel good knowing I can revisit the item digitally any time I want. Having a digital database of the sentimental stuff also is easier to organize. I can group things by type, by year, etc.

I realize this doesn't work for everything, but it can cut down on a lot of clutter from artwork from childhood, old notes/cards/letters, old clothing, etc.

And if you do this, remember to back up your files!

I'm trying my hardest to pare down while the family insist on holding on to this-or-that for whatever reason. But at the same time, Real Simple is saying we should save something from "real life" for the kiddos, things that aren't from a wedding or baptism. I mean, how cool would it be to be able to see how tiny and um-mom-like your mother used to be and get to try on her Benetton sweater? Conflicted!

After drowning in inherited useful and sentimental items, added to my own collections (can you imagine a combined 4 sets of china?), I edited the sentimental clutter down to twelve boxes - one for each month (the boxes are about 12" square from The Container Store) - and I rotate sentimental belongings to a few key spots in the house. So I still have some of the clutter but I'm only seeing it out once a year which means I'm never bored with it (or haunted by it). For the things I couldn't use or didn't want I sold them, donating the money to my late relatives favorite respective charities, or if I couldn't sell it I donated or offered it on Freecycle. Some things were a natural for reinvention: painting oddball vases and lamp bases, remaking favorite old sweaters into pillows. Decluttering has been challenging but so very worthwhile and I'll keep at it until it's all completed. Still to come: Christmas decorations, library, artwork, and fabric for sewing/upholstery.

My husband and I were sentimental clutterers. For years, even considering letting go of furnishings from his deceased parents was upsetting. It helped us to remember that releasing mementos from deceased family members doesn't mean that we won't always remember them with love.

@Jaymie. I agree with you. I think what it boils down to - at least for me - is finding a few reasons that make sense to me and then really giving myself permission and persuasion in applying them.

Like you said, if I'm holding on to something because I don't want to be wasteful, I ask myself what else am I wasting by holding on to the item - shelf space, energy efficiency, constant mental energy worrying about it, possibly even a relationship if it's an item of contention with someone. (I usually literally write out a list.)

I have to do that with each item individually, not collectively. Those who don't attach emotionally, just don't get that process.

I find that the older I get the less I care about my past "moments". (It goes the other way for some people, I guess.) I live in "the now" and the only reason I haven't destroyed my paper mementos yet is because they are in two boxes in my closet that aren't in the way and don't scream for attention. I know I would cringe in pain to read my angst-ridden journals from college, I don't even WANT to revisit that time. (I had fun, too, but I WROTE when I was depressed.) If I had a wood-burning fireplace, I'd "ceremonially" burn the junk, but I have a gas log, so it will have to be trashed or recycled. If I run into anything family oriented, I might offer it to my brother or cousins, but since I don't have kids to hand things down to, if it doesn't mean anything to me now, it might as well go away.

As for clothes and things, I have recently gotten more ruthless about those, too. I had a top I LOVED -- but every time I put it on I fidgeted with the fit and finally accepted that safety pins are not wardrobe enhancers -- if it exposes too much cleavage, it's too small -- get rid of it! (It was so pretty...)

It can all be hard decisions, but facing the truth is the only realistic way to move forward. And the truth is often: "I don't need that".

I'm with the previous commenter(s)--taking photos of my favorite knickknacks, t-shirts, even paper items (like greeting cards, postcards, flyers, and concert tickets) has allowed me to throw tons of stuff away!! And I love putting the photos up on Flickr, I always get lots of fun reminiscences from friends. Much more satisfying than keeping the things tucked away in my house.

I'm commenting late on this one, I know. Just seeing this now because I did a search on decluttering. I have been taking really great photos with our new camera of my stuff I have sentimental attachments to. Then I save those photos on my computer, and toss or donate the actual stuff. I have the photos to look back at and remember, without the actual material item. It has helped me out a lot!

I like this Post, I live in a small apartment, and I have to constantly keep things decluttered. I think stuff can have a lot of emotional ties, My partner died a few years ago, and I still had a good few of his things, and I felt that getting rid of stuff was in some way, saying that I had forgotten him, and stuff. Now three years on I realise that I will never forget him, and that the memories are in my head and heart. I don't need to keep stuff of his, I had a French Duchamp Duvets and sheets, I found it really hard to get rid of them, they were really worn, and beginning to tear.

I am not too bad with clothes, and now I only keep things I really really love. I think taking a photo of stuff is good too. I will always remember going to a friends funeral, and on his remembrance card was a saying he held
dear. It was " The best things in life are not things" so I learned from him, that experiences are more important than holding on to stuff that you dont like or need.