Tip Tuesday – Meaningful Memorabilia And How To Manage It

Meaningful Memorabilia and How to Manage It 

Among the clutter in clients’ closets, drawers, and cupboards, I often find sentimental items that my clients feel compelled to save. But please remember not ALL keepsakes are worth keeping! I encourage you to manage your memorabilia using the acronym HAPPY:

H = HAPPY – “Does it bring HAPPY memories?”
Don’t save that breakup letter (text or email either) from someone that broke your heart. You know it happened; you don’t need a physical (or electronic) reminder to bring you negative feelings.

A = AMPLE – “Is it an AMPLE reminder of the event/person?”

Your best friend sends you a birthday card every year and you love her for it. But do you need to save them ALL? Find one card in which she wrote an especially meaningful paragraph on your decades-long friendship, and tuck THAT one away in your “memories box.”

P = PHOTO – “Can a PHOTO of this be enough?”

Instead of saving an enormous piece of heirloom furniture that is not to your taste, will a photo of it suffice? The same idea goes for outdated clothing, artwork, children’s toys, and anything else that has memories attached to it but takes up space you don’t have.

P = PIECES = “Can a PIECE of this be enough?”
Instead of saving all of a deceased loved one’s clothes because of the cherished memories they bring, I encourage you to create a quilt out of them, as I did with my mother’s clothes. You can also have quilts made of marathon t-shirts or beloved baby clothes. A friend is making face masks out of her children’s old clothing. What a great way to honor these items by repurposing them into something you can USE.

Or, instead of storing the entire 18-piece set of your grandmother’s china in your studio apartment, save two tea cups and saucers to display and drink from regularly.

Y = YEAR/YORE – “What YEAR is this object from, and what is its lore of YORE?”

Do not save anything without dating it with at least its year. This is especially important for paper-based memorabilia like letters, cards, and photos. And the more you can explain about an object’s heritage or history and WHY you are saving it on a label, the better. Believe me, future generations will wonder about the object and wish that you had!

Finally, please do not feel OBLIGATED to keep anything, especially if your space is limited. Perhaps a photo or a piece will be enough to keep those happy memories in mind? Tell me what keepsakes are keeping you awake, and how I can help you manage them, in the chat of our friendly FB community, “Organizing Solutions with C.Lee of Simplify You.”