Have your adult kids go through their memorabilia.
You’ve got the trophies, the yearbooks, the stuffed animals, the old clothes. These are all items that are probably taking up space in your storage room. But if your kids are grown up and moved out, should you keep all their stuff? We’re helping you decide whether to keep, toss, or pass those sentimental items on.
Professional organizer Tracy Bowers shared a few strategies to lighten your storage load.
The Emotional Challenge
There is an emotional difficulty in letting go of your children’s belongings. “I think a lot of parents get into this phase of life where these are all the memories that you have left, but it’s hard to get rid of it.” Tracy emphasized.
“It’s so hard to get rid of it. I’m a professional organizer. I hate stuff. I hate clutter. I don’t like little knick knacks. I just, I don’t like stuff,” Tracy said. “But when it comes to my five kids’ memories, it is so hard for me to let things go.”
Is It Always a Problem?
Tracy said that keeping your kids’ stuff isn’t always a problem. The key is organization and only keeping the items that are meaningful and have a designated space. “We have clients who have storage rooms full of memories and bins, but they’re organized. They’re labeled. They have a place for them,” she emphasized. “It’s only a problem if you don’t have the place to store them, or if you’re keeping things you no longer need or want.”
“When we lived in California, we had this amazing storage space in our attic, and that is what I designated to be our place to store memories,” Tracy explained. Every time they filled a memory box, she would just put it up in the attic. “It was out of the way. It was neat, tidy, organized. So it wasn’t a problem.”
When they decided to move to Utah, they pulled down 22 years of memories. “We of course, did not want to pay to move it,” Tracy said. “ I thought, ‘What is this? I don’t want all of this.’ And so it was time to take action.”
Get Your Kids Involved
Tracy had her daughter come and go through her own keepsake bins. “She went through [10 bins], but she tossed tons of stuff,” Tracy said. “Having your kids come over and help you go through it makes a big difference.” They took pictures of some things, kept some tangible items, and Tracy’s daughter left with one out of the 10 total bins.
Making Quick Decisions
If you’re struggling to make quick decisions, Tracy said you only want to keep things that really have meaning. “There are things that you would have displayed at the time to make them happy, but then you can throw them away,” she emphasized. Get rid of all the schoolwork. Just keep the things that took their creativity, things like stories, poems, things that really meant something to them.
Digitizing Memories
Digitizing is a great way to preserve memories without holding onto physical items. Tracy has used Artkive, a service that does the hard work for you. They will send you a box that you send back with your memorabilia inside. “ They take the pictures, they make this beautiful book, and it’s awesome because they do everything,” Tracy explained. She did mention that it is in the pricier range, about $200 for a substantial book.
Tracy also recommended using Timeless Memory Media in Salt Lake. “ She goes into the home, she helps you make those decisions that are so hard… but she’ll take them away one bin at a time,” Tracy explained.
Find more organizing advice from Tracy on Instagram, @organizewithtracy.
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