Saying Goodbye To Sentimental Items

sentimental items

Today I sold my favorite leather armchair. We spent fourteen beautifully cozy years together. Even though it was no longer stylish and spent the better half of the last decade tucked in a corner of my bedroom with the sole purpose of holding piles of clutter, I still had a hard time justifying letting it go.

Sound familiar?

Humans tie emotions to countless physical items. Maybe it’s those mixed tapes from decades past or that weathered wedding bouquet collecting dust in a random closet. Or maybe it’s that piece of furniture that’s been with you across several life stages.

As a professional organizer, I’m not immune to this human attachment to things.

As the tears flowed watching my perfectly imperfect leather chair drive away with its new owners today, I realized that there are some things that helped me get through the “letting go” process.

So here they are, in hopes that they can help you as well: My 5 tips to letting go of sentimental items.

1. Go Digital

Taking pictures is a great way to preserve the memory of an item. I’ve seen it work with greeting cards, kids toys, wedding bouquets and yes, even beloved armchairs.

With greeting cards, consider taking a picture of each one and tucking it away in its own digital folder (cards from Grandma, holiday cards from family, anniversary, etc.). That way, anytime you miss seeing that scrawling penmanship or sweet messages from those early days with your partner, you can track it down with a few simple clicks vs. digging around random boxes jammed with cards.

The same goes for special kids toys. If the thought of missing that Elmo stuffy with the missing eyeball is stopping you from letting go, take a pic. Anytime you or your littles miss him, break out your phone and take a peek. I talk all about this in a previous post, Tossing Toys Without The Guilt.

If you’re one of the many holding on to your wedding bouquet, I can guarantee that the pictures from your big day are far more meaningful than that dusty broken thing that’s stashed in some mystery closet in your house. Trust me when I say it’s not helping anyone there.

Picture of Sentimental Toy
This toy frog was a favorite with both of my boys. Saying good-bye was hard. We took this photo in case we wanted to see him again. 6 months later and we have yet to need it.

2. Donate Wisely

Whenever I donate, I think long and hard about who to gift my items too. This is especially true when it comes to letting go of sentimental items.

Do your research. Get opinions on favorite charitable organizations from neighborhood groups on Facebook or nextdoor.com. People are always waiting to spew their thoughts on this subject.

Here are a few rules of thumb that I follow:

  • Furniture: If I’m not selling, my first go-to is Habitat For Humanity. The idea of my gently used but no longer loved furniture being used to help families in need warms my heart.
  • Baby clothing: In our neighborhood, we have an organization called Eastside Baby Corner. Families in need can get gently used baby and kid items for free. To me, this feels so much better than stashing them in tubs in the garage for who knows how long. If you don’t have similar organizations, look for local family shelters are they’re often deeply in need of these items.
  • Books: Those out-of-date textbooks that you might need some day? Board books that you read each night to your littles who are now going into their teens? I love donating these to:
  1. Local children’s hospitals. The idea of sick little ones and their family members getting a chance to escape into story for a moment warms me to the core.
  2. Care homes for the elderly. Similarly, if my books can bring pleasure to those who are lonely, how can I not be a part of that?
  3. Local libraries. Libraries are often in need of bulking up their book inventory. I love the idea of my favorite stories bringing joy to those in our community.
Sentimental Books
Letting go of baby books doesn’t trash the associated memories of nighttime snuggles and story telling. Give others the gift of escaping into your favorite fantasy worlds.

3. Give Thanks

I laughed when I first saw Marie Kondo do this in her Netflix series. I thought it was absolutely mad to say thank you to your items as they’re placed in your donate or trash piles. But as weird as it sounds (and looks), there’s something strangely therapeutic with saying good-bye and thank you’s as these items leave your home.

I personally only do this when donating items that hold a special place in my heart, but to each their own. At the very least, give it a try and see where it takes you.

4. Stay Strong

How many times have you moved a precious something into the donate bin or car trunk only to change your mind before pulling up to Goodwill? Guilt is real.

All I can say here is to stay strong. Resist the urge to take it out of the donate pile. Do not cancel on that neighbor who’s buying that chair from you. Walk confidently into that donation center with your sentimental items in tow and don’t look back.

It also doesn’t hurt to remind yourself that things are just things. It’s hard to believe sometimes, but it’s true. It’s ok if you need to repeat this one a few times.

All I can say here is to stay strong. Resist the urge to take it out of the donate pile. Do not cancel on that neighbor who’s buying that chair from you. Walk into that donation center and don’t look back.

5. Mourn

When all else fails, allow yourself to mourn. Did I shed a few tears when my big, cozy armchair left the house? Heck ya. Did I also treat myself with some homemade banana bread afterwards? Absolutely.  And it felt real good.

Sometimes you’ve got to eat your feelings and that’s ok.

Letting go of sentimental items is hard, but the happiness you’ll feel when you’ve given them to good people helps to lessen the sting. You’ll also slowly start to see that it wasn’t the physical item tucked away in that random closet that warmed your heart, but the memories that it held. Those, my friend, are still with you.

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