Sentimental items- can you bring yourself to get rid of them?

Actually thinking about it, I have quite a bit of inherited stuff- from art to silver to China etc. All will be left to the children to do with as they wish.

I have a teacup and saucer from both my paternal great grandmothers - they will never be got rid of. I have jewellery from mum which will be passed down.

My beloved dog died on Monday, and apart from photos, I have kept his first toy which he played with for nearly 15 years. I will also keep a card sent to me by his vet showing a heart of paw prints - so appropriate and this will be framed.

I’ve got quite a lot of things I’ve inherited. I’m in the process of having furniture and pictures that I love and want to keep restored, and it’s really very satisfying to see them as lovely as they used to be, I think my grandparents would be pleased. The things I don’t love I’ve offered to my children then to my large wider family (9 nieces and nephews), and so far everything has found a home, which I prefer to selling it. I’m glad I never collected or inherited china or ornaments though, as that must be a real headache.

I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to sentimental things - OH is the exact opposite! We've just been having a bit of a clear-out, so lots of stuff has gone in the bin. I think it stems from having to clear out my inlaws' house last year after they both went into care, and finding the amount of stuff they had held onto over the years. We decided we didn't want our children to have to face the same, so I'm learning to 'let go' of a great deal of stuff.

I also have some lace which my great grandmother made. She was born in Nottingham (the centre of lace making). It's quite beautiful, but I haven't a clue what to do with it, so I keep it in a box labelled "keepsakes".

I have a SylvaC vase, which belonged to my mother. I don't like it much and it's not worth more than a few pounds, but she had it on her coffee table for as long as I can remember. Apparently, it was one of the first things she bought after her marriage for the new house.

Clawdy

There's nothing worse than that feeling of intense sadness years later when you're wishing you'd never parted with something.

I know.

Some books my father had as a young boy, inscribed by the person who gave them to him, who was well-known at the time. I sent them to Oxfam years ago when we moved.

One of DH's uncles cleared Grandmother's house (uncle's mother) and apparently threw *everything out as a "load of sentimental old rubbish".
Consequently we have no photos, nothing and have no idea what Grandfather looked like, although DH did meet his Grandmother.

Thankfully, my aunt had two photos of her parents, my paternal grandparents, otherwise I would have had no clue what they looked like either.

I have a large keepsake box to keep a few sentimental items. The vase my DGD painted at nursery is in the kitchen, must remind her. She'll have forgotten it but I haven't. 🙂

I need a sort out .....

There's nothing worse than that feeling of intense sadness years later when you're wishing you'd never parted with something.

I have far too many things that have sentimental value. My gran's hand sewing machine; my mum's wedding dress that my gran made; all the items my gran knitted for our boys when they were babies; a dinner service that her other daughter, my aunt brought back from Singapore; my own wedding dress and lots more besides. Good job we have big house .

I have a few things that I’m really sentimental about - a marcasite ring that belonged to my mother. She had very little in the way of jewellery. I don’t care for marcasite and I’ll never wear it, but it’s the only thing I have of hers apart from a few domestic items. I also have a watch stand that DS made in a woodwork class at school, and a spectacle case that DD made in a needlework class. I would hate to part with either of them.

I am not sentimental about stuff and have decluttered and downsized and got rid of loads. I split the family photos into two collections; one featuring my son; the other featuring my daughter and gave the photos to them. I kept a very few. My daughter has my jewellery because I don't wear it. I revisit the cupboards every year and do a clear out. I'm a fan of the Swedish Death Clear.

I am in the process of decluttering and when I come across an item that I am swithering over I ask my self what the fhildren will do with it. If the answer involves the bin, then I dispose of it. This approach works for most things but I recently found a little container with my son's baby teeth. I couldn't ditch that.

I have a few bits and bobs.

Nothing beautiful; a potato masher, and a spoon to dish up food with. Also, a little knitted top.

I tend to revisit sentimental items and find I no longer want them.

I'll always need a potato masher and a serving spoon,though.

One sentimental possession which I hope will be kept is the lovely christening robe made in 1866 for DH’s grandfather. It was worn by his two daughters, by DH, by DD and DS and by DGD1 but the likelihood of it being worn again for its proper purpose is remote. Apart from anything else, it is designed for a baby of only a few weeks old, but it is a thing of handmade beauty and ought to be treated with respect. Can’t imagine what its fate will be.

Many years ago I helped a lady (an acquaintance) and her children for several weeks when she was ill in Germany and both our husband were serving in N. Ireland in the military. When she was better she insisted on giving me a ring she’d inherited from her late mother. She absolutely wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I chose the cheapest of the three offered: it’s a marcasite and silver four leaf clover. I have worn it ever since, out of respect really because it was such a meaningful gift. I regularly have to replace lost marcasites and it’s very ‘old fashioned’, but both my daughters covet it. Otherwise I’m not really sentimental about ‘things’.

No prizes for guessing that as an antique dealer I am VERY sentimental about old things. My grandmother left me the contents of her house and I would have loved to keep much more of it. Alas I lived in a small flat and did not have the space. Most of it went to Christies. However I did keep some smaller pieces of the lovely middle eastern furniture with mother of pearl and ivory inlay. I would never get rid of them and they do have a value.

I have told the person I am leaving my estate to do what I did regarding my nan's house which is to get in someone from one of the better auction houses for an appraisal. They can advise what is worth putting into an auction where it wil go on to other collectors and give them pleasure. The money raised my heir can spend in his own fashion.

When clearing Mum’s house after she died, we found a little white nylon smocked dress which I had worn when I was a train bearer at the school May Day celebrations, when I was 5.

Had no idea she had kept it.

It hangs in my wardrobe now, I don’t feel really sentimental about it, but the fact Mum had kept it all those years….

If something makes me happy then I keep it, if it has sentimental value then to me it is worth keeping. It's ok having a photographic copy but I wouldn't want everything just to be digital or virtual, it is nice to have something tangible. Can't understand why people want to get rid of everything and store them digitally. It's lovely to pull something out and physically gain enjoyment out of the memories it provides. Just my view.

My Dad was totally unsentimental and wouldn't keep anything..much to my frustration!
His efforts at clearing things included photo's etc which I'd have loved to have seen / kept as an adult.
However, after his death when clearing the house I found my first little cutlery set wrapped up and kept in his bedside cabinet - I sobbed.

I had to radically downsize a couple of years ago, so I took photos of lots of items and stored them in an “album” on my iPhone named “Memories”. That helped me enormously. I’m in the process of now scanning in hundreds of photos onto a “photo frame”, so I don’t have to keep the actual photographs themselves.

Mine is collections of letters which chart important parts of my life. I simply cannot destroy them though I doubt whether they will be of real interest to my descendants as they reflect an ordinary life with little glamour. I have therefore put them in some sort of logical order and left them to be someone else’s problem.

I find sentimental value usually wears off after a time. We are currently clearing two houses at the moment and a lot of sentimental itemshave one to other people, charity auctions, that 10 years ago I would not have parted with.

There will always be one or two items that are deeply sentimental that I could never part with, my grandmother's needlecase, my dear sister's moonstone ring, far too small for me and of a base metal that cannot be expanded, but it is a 'statement' ring that my sister wore a lot, I suspect bcause it showed off her tiny beautifully shaped hands - those two I could never part with.

I have found it very difficult, but I know I must make myself do it, so as not to pass on the problem to the children. I keep a lot of family heirloom type things because I would feel guilty if I got rid, not because I am attached to them.

I have my children's first pairs of shoes. .
I also have a mystery letter which was amongst my father's belongings. It was sent to him by a friend during the War. I don't know who the man was but he was obviously a pilot as he talks about pals having "not made it" but also that he can't resist the thrill of flying. I wonder if Dad kept it because he was killed. It doesn't seem right to throw it away.