The authors of Love Your Home Again say its OK to keep sentimental items.
Most contemporary organizing guidance is clear: If it’s not immediately practical, get rid of it.
“But you do need to be intentional about what you’re keeping.”
Credit: Design: Better Homes & Gardens; Photos: Courtesy of Chronicle Books
Be Intentional
A key component of the Done & Done philosophy is the concept of Owning Well.
It boils down to keeping and purchasing items with intention.
But the pair’s intentional approach to organizing and decluttering goes beyond clothes.
Credit: Courtesy of Chronicle Books
“We will often find that people take more … than they actually want,” Lightfoot says.
“Enjoy it, use it.
If it happens to break, OK.
It’s been in the family for a long time,” Pawlowski says.
“What can you accommodate in the home that you live in today?”
Think also about who you share your home with.
By making physical room for your partner or household member, you also make room for your shared life.
“It comes from financial responsibility, it comes from wanting not to burden the landfills.
That doesn’t mean you’re able to’t pass the item on, though.
“It does help offset the bad feeling of having wasted money.
You made a mistake.
But also coming to terms with that mistake helps avoid making that mistake in the future.”
Don’t allow sunk costs to lead to future costs, either.
Avoid additional storage facilities as much as you’re able to, Lightfoot says.
That becomes expensive over time.”
