Decluttering: 6 Ways To Deal With Sentimental Items, Tips

[appalachiablue]

X-Post from Home, https://www.democraticunderground.com/10931687

[emmaverybo]

1. Thank you. After mom passed, moved into her home. Dealing with decades of family stuff

and them emptied my apartment where I had lived 30 years. I will eventually have to downsize so I must deal with thus huge decluttering project. Leaving it to my daughter to do won’t be fair as she takes 24/7 care of a very ill partner.

I am glad to know there are professionals who might help. At least in my move-out, I did do
some ruthless pruning. Hardest to part with was my library of mostly (money-wise) worthless books.

Like so much else I have had to say goodbye to, I will always miss them, though not nearly as much as the people whose memorabilia I must now decide to toss or to keep.

[appalachiablue]

3. Library collections are hard, and multiple generations of things

I'm familiar with. A couple organizers I've met can be fairly businesslike, even cut and dried but considering that the projects can be huge and must get done it's bearable. And which is worse, looking at and fretting over the stuff or diving in to organize and remove it esp. with a helper or two. Procrastination was my middle name for a while-- not good. It can catch up to you in an ugly way, esp. if there's a sudden move, health issue or other factors.

[LakeArenal]

2. We boiled our life down to 20 boxes.

Sold the rest at a very successful auction.
And moved to a one bedroom casita in Costa Rica.

We lived in our American home for 35 years. There was four seasons of clothes and recreational items. Lawn mowers to
Stuffed toys. All sold.

It’s very liberating. We don’t miss any of it. And in those 20 boxes, way too many clothes. Probably needed only 15 boxes.

[appalachiablue]

4. Good for you, wow. That's a major achievement, liberating is the word.