How to Declutter Sentimental Items

One of the hardest things a would-be minimalist declutters is their sentimental items. Sentimental items have no market value. They can’t be sold. They also can’t be bought. You can’t buy another one if you decide you need it after all. If you donate a sentimental item, it’s gone forever. The end.

Recognition of these problems led me, an otherwise devoted minimalist, to hold on to sentimental items for years. Even when all my clothes were gone, my jewelry was sold, and my kitchenware was donated, my bins and bins of sentimental items still remained.

As I pared down my possessions further and further, my sentimental items comprised more and more of my belongings. Eventually, when I moved into my apartment in 2018, I found that my sentimental items made up nearly half of everything I owned.

So I said that’s enough. I’m not going to hold on to things just because they’re old. I’m going to sort through this stuff once and for all.

The guiding principle behind minimalism is to keep only what you regularly use. The intended use of a sentimental item is to summon within you nostalgic feelings about a time that’s passed. So for any sentimental item, you need to ask yourself:

1. Do I want to remember what it reminds me of?
2. Is it actually sentimental?
3. Do I actually use it to help me remember regularly?

Do you want to remember what the sentimental item reminds you of?

I think this is a great question precisely because people don’t ask this question about sentimental items very often.

Consider the act of keeping clothing that belonged to an ex. We’re all guilty of this one, especially in the days and weeks that just followed a breakup. But if your relationship is done and over, do you want to hang on to that old sweatshirt of his? What is that going to do for you? It isn’t going to help your heart heal. It isn’t going to help you find new love. It’s going to keep you stuck in the past.

While your emotions may tell you you want to hang on to this sweatshirt, the truth is that it wouldn’t be good for you to do so.

I used to be a keeper. I kept stuff from old relationships, even if I’d long since moved on and fell in love with others. There was a bin under my bed full of things previous lovers gave to me, be they handmade trinkets or purchased gifts. But after I got serious about minimalism, I realized they had to go. They served no purpose in my life anymore. I wasn’t with those people any longer, and hanging on to these things only kept me stuck in the past.

Is it actually sentimental?

For years, there was a book in my room, the kind with plastic sheets for pages so you can insert your own paper into the plastic covers. This notebook was full of my childhood drawings.

It took me twenty-odd years of carting this thing around before I realized I didn’t care about this thing.

Sure, it was old. And sure, the drawings were irreplaceable. After all, I would never be a child again. But it wasn’t sentimental for me. It was sentimental for my mother, for whom the drawings represented the bygone days of her young family, but for me, it was… well, it was junk.

When I got serious about minimalism, I realized I had a lot of junk like this. Old school papers from eighth grade, childhood drawings, little trinkets and things I’d carried around with me for years. I wasn’t holding on to this stuff because I really treasured it, but because it was old and irreplaceable and I felt that I shouldn’t get rid of it on principle.

That principle was nonsense. I got rid of all that stuff (gave it to my mother, actually, since it’s sentimental for her), and haven’t looked back.

Do I actually use it to help me remember regularly?

Sentimental items do you no good if they’re stuffed in the bottom of a plastic bin that’s shoved on the top shelf of your closet and has been for the last fifteen years. They can’t help you remember the good times if you never look at them.

Sentimental items shouldn’t be hidden. They should be displayed. If you have a medal that reminds you of your prized track championship from high school, put a nail in the wall and hang that medal proudly. If you have drawings from early college that demonstrate great skill and dedication, get frames for them, and hang them where you can enjoy them. These items are a much better use of your wall space than pointless decorations you buy from Target.

If a sentimental item spends more of its time taking up valuable closet space than it does being a valued and treasured item of yours, it’s not sentimental. It’s clutter.

I found that once I got rid of sentimental items I didn’t care to display, I didn’t miss them. There’s a lot of sentimental stuff I’ve gotten rid of (as I said, I used to be a keeper) that I don’t miss whatsoever. What few sentimental items I do still have are much more treasured as decor than they are tucked away in a box.

Now that I’m on the other side, I’m glad I decluttered my sentimental items. Many reminders of painful periods of my past are gone. Many things I felt annoyed by having to hold on to are no longer my responsibility. Most importantly, those items that do bring me joy are proudly displayed in my home, not buried in plastic bins under layers of clutter.

If you have a pulse, you probably find the prospect of decluttering sentimental items to be overwhelming. But you don’t just have to grit your teeth and get rid of things you value. No one is asking you to do that. Instead of feeling like you have to get rid of things, really look at your sentimental items sometime and ask yourself what you want to keep. Which items feel like a burden to drag around your life? Which are reminders of a painful past? And which truly bring you joy?

The secret: Get rid of everything but the last kind.

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