@gidgetgh wrote:
@drizzellla- I'm kind of tough love when it comes to decluttering.
And I really like the Konmari method of decluttering and recommend Marie Kondo's book on it often. It's a quick read and she offers good tips on how to look at your things, decide what gives you joy, how to declutter and then how to keep what you have, storage tips.
One of the best pieces of advice she gives is to declutter by categories. She starts you with clothes and shoes, because they're the least likely to stir much emotion. As you go on, you head to other things, ending with pictures and things like that, the more sentimental things that are more difficult to make clear decisions on.
If you're intent on "reclaiming" your dining room and maybe other areas of your home, why don't you start with things that are more cut and dry than the photos and medals. Save those till the end. Get in a groove with the rest of the decluttering and then see if you're ready to tackle those when you get to them. Don't bog yourself down early on with the emotional things. Tackle the easy things first. Work your way up to the more difficult things.
It's a personal journey, decluttering is. I think you've done a good job reaching out to family members about the pictures and medals. They apparently don't want them. So you pretty much have two choices- keep them or get rid of them.
On the medals, maybe a local VFW would like them to add to items they display???? We had a flag that was given to our family when my grandfather passed away, at his funeral. My sister and I inherited it when my dad passed away. We didn't want it. I didn't want to "just" get rid of it. I called the VFW and they were thrilled to get it. They told me they'd either display it or, have a ceremony and dispose of it. I was totally at peace with that so off it went.
I can only speak for me, but I'm not a big "put them in a tote and shove them in a closet" kind of girl. I like to save what I like to save and what makes sense to keep, but I'm not big on out of sight, out of mind.
But you have to do what makes you comfortable. And my advice, after this long winded post, would be to tackle that dining room and start with the cut and dry, non emotional stuff.
This is excellent advice @gidgetgh.
In the process of purging those 'easy' things, and things without much sentiment, one should start to internally put some things into perspective in relation to what is important and what isn't.
For me, clothing would be easy, I have no attachment to it, mine or anyone else's. I don't enjoy buying it, putting it together, etc. So that is where I'd start.
By the time one reaches the more sentimental things like the pictures, there should be a momentum going by that time, and a lot of uncluttering of the space and mind to really focus on those things that will be a harder call.
And I will say again, somethings in our possession are about more than us and what we want. Pictures and other family documents are some of those things. If we have been chosen for the role of care taker, it does require more thought and effort and declutting one's space and mind before tackling what and how to proceed with those things makes perfect sense.
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
