Clean & Clutter Free Professional Organizing Services

CLEAN & CLUTTER FREE BLOG

Simply Organized

  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • VIRTUAL ORGANIZING
  • Blog
  • Testimonials/Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Press Releases
  • Resources

4/27/2017

WHAT TO DO WITH FAMILY KEEPSAKES

0 Comments

Read Now
 

WHAT TO DO WITH FAMILY KEEPSAKES
​

Picture
Whether you are considering childhood memories or family heirlooms that have been passed to you from a loved one, following these guidelines should help you to sort through keepsakes and make decisions with confidence.


 
1.  Don’t keep family keepsakes out of guilt.  It is easy to hold onto items that do not have any personal value to us simply because we think that someone else would be disappointed if we let them go.  If these items cannot be given to the person that cares for them, let them go to a new owner who will care for and cherish them. Why would your loved one want you to hold onto something that you don’t really want?
  
2.  Don’t keep any items that trigger negative memories.  When making a decision about a given keepsake, pay attention to the way each item makes you feel.  If it sparks joy and a happy memory, then keep it, if it does nothing for you emotionally, or if it triggers any negative thoughts, by all means, let them go.  Why keep anything that brings us down or reminds us of something negative? 

3.  Don’t keep other peoples treasures.  Keepsakes have very personal values attached to them, just because your mother treasured a set of china, does not mean you are obligated to treasure it as well.  Decide for yourself how each keepsake item makes YOU feel, if it does nothing for you, let them go to a new owner who will treasure the china and give it the love it deserves just as your mother did. 

4.  Find an honorable home for personal family photos and other treasures from the past.  If you have too many vintage family photos and other antiques from past generations, choose the ones you want to keep, and offer the others to any family members who might be interested in having them, then call your local historical society or a local museum see if they want what is left.  Museums appreciate these items and what better way to honor family heirlooms, then to proudly display them for others to see? 

5.  Tackle keepsakes last.  Keepsakes are the most difficult category to make decisions about, and they also trigger the most emotion, so if you have a large amount of belongings to go through, hold off on the keepsake items until the end. Then, tackle them at the beginning of the day when you have the emotional and physical energy to go through them and make decisions. 

6.  Only keep a sampling of each collection.  Rather than keep an entire set of your grandmothers dishes, consider keeping one place setting and let the rest go. If your mother made multitudes of beautiful quilts, choose a few of your favorite ones and gift the rest to others so that they can enjoy them.  A sampling of a given collection will bring you just as much joy as the whole collection and more is not necessarily better.

7.  Keep in mind that we hold special memories in our hearts, not just in material objects.  You don’t have to turn your home into a shrine of the past in order to hold onto or honor the memories of a loved one.    Material objects will never measure up to the memories that we have in our hearts so it is okay to be selective about what to keep. 

8.  Set tangible limits for yourself.  Consider reducing your load by deciding how much you are comfortable with keeping, for example: Choose 1 or 2 plastic totes, and stay within that limit.  As you sift through keepsakes, place only the most cherished items into the bins and when you have reached your limit, be willing to let the rest go.  You can also take photos of items before letting them go and place the photos into the bins with the rest of the keepsakes.  

9.  Consider displaying your keepsakes.  If you have made a decision to keep something, consider displaying them in your home rather than leaving them stored away in a box.  After all, if they are worth keeping and you enjoy them, perhaps others should enjoy them too.  

​
Written by Laura Coufal
Clean & Clutter Free Professional Organizing Services
 


Share

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Categories

    All
    Antique Dishes
    APPRECIATING OUR BLESSINGS
    Avoiding Family Chaos
    Avoid Organizing Mistakes
    Avoid Wasting Food & Money
    Back To School
    Basements
    Black Friday
    Blessings
    Busy Families
    Buying Foods In Bulk
    Catching Memories
    Change Of Seasons
    Christmas Decorations
    Christmas & Grandparents
    Cleaning Tips
    Closets
    Clutter Build Up
    Clutter Control For Creative People
    Cluttered LIfe
    College Dorm Room Organizing
    Coronavirus
    Craft Room Clutter
    Decluttering
    Dining Room Organizing
    Distractions
    Establish Helpful Routines
    Estate Planning
    Fall Wardrobes
    Family Keepsakes
    Family Members Belongings
    Family Organizing
    FRAMED PHOTOS
    Get Organized
    Gift Buying
    Giftster
    Giggle Log
    Grocery List
    Haiti Mission Trip
    Home Staging
    House Cleaning
    Imperfection Rules
    January Purging
    Just For Laughs
    Keep Pantry Simple
    Keepsakes
    Kids And Keepsakes
    Kids Artwork
    Kids Room Clutter
    Kitchen Organizing
    Lazy Susans
    Less Is More
    Life Simplified
    Living In The Present
    Living Lighter
    Make More Room In Your Pantry
    Memories
    Money Saving Tips
    Moving Tips
    Organized
    Organizing & ADHD
    Organizing Children's Toys
    Other People's Clutter
    Pantry Organization
    Photos
    Physical Therapy
    Practice Doing Less
    Routines
    Scrapbooks
    Senior Downsizing
    Senior Moving Tips
    Serving Others
    Shopping
    Simple Organizing
    Simplify LIfe
    Simplify Your Home
    Slowing Down
    Small Spaces
    Spice Cabinet Organizing
    Spring Cleaning
    Stop Multi-tasking
    Storage Rooms
    Storing Christmas Decor
    Stress Free Organizing
    Stuffed Toys
    Teaching Organizing Skills To Kids
    The Danish Art Of Hygge
    To Do Lists
    Too Many Sets Of Dishes
    Wardrobes
    Weekly Planning Sessions

    RSS Feed



    Archives

    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    September 2013

    Laura Coufal

    Laura is the Owner of Clean & Clutter Free, professional organizing services.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • SERVICES
    • VIRTUAL ORGANIZING
  • Blog
  • Testimonials/Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Press Releases
  • Resources