I’m not overly sentimental.

I have my moments I suppose, but I’d say I’m probably lower than many on the sentimental scale.  If there is such a thing.

I like to have keepsakes and treasures but what do I do with them?

I get it, we want to keep things from our childhood, from our family and friends who have passed on, from our children…but we can’t keep everything.

I’m going to tell you what helps me be sentimental and happy without being a hoarder!

I find it important to keep the clutter down.

I’m not always successful at it, but when I have too much crap stuff around me, I start suffocating.  And when that crap stuff is unorganized, it’s even worse.

It’s just not good.

I do not function well in an unorganized, cluttered space.

Do any of us though?

I have had these words written down for years.

I’ve had it so long, I don’t remember where I even heard this.  I wish I could give credit where credit is due.

Probably Oprah.  Or Dwayne Dyer.

When I feel overwhelmed with stuff and I begin to cull, I think about these words.

TRUTH

What is the truth about why I am holding on to this item?

LOVE

Do I love it or just like it?

PURPOSE

Does it serve a purpose in my life?

MEANING

Does the item really have meaning to me and do I need the item to represent that meaning in my life?

Really simple questions.

But questions that make you think, right?

So, for the most part, I feel like if you are going to keep it, it needs to have a purpose.

(Do not send me hate mail, I did not throw everything from my son’s childhood away)

You guys saw this shot a few weeks ago from the design studio office makeover post.

These were Moto-Boy’s boots when he was little.  They make great pencil holders.

This tray was my grandmother’s.  Just a simple tray.  But we use it everyday.

We keep it on our breakfast table with condiments.

The Lee Doll was my Dad’s when he was a little boy.

Broken arm and a little tattered, Buddy Lee now resides in my laundry room with a hamper labeled remove sweat odors from clothes!

I took my son’s spin art, that he made when he was 4 or 5, and had it blown up into a piece of art on acrylic for his bedroom.

He’s almost fifteen and still thinks this is cool.

Now this is one of my favorite pieces in the entire house…

My Grandfather had this in his office until he retired.  When he and my grandmother both had passed away, I cleaned out their home.  For some reason, I could not bear to part with this art piece.  It was totally not my style, but my grandfather was in the Navy in WWII so the ship had significance to him.  On top of the fact that it is not my style, it’s huge, it’s 48″ wide so wherever it ended up it was going to make a statement.  Yikes!

When we had our giant yard sale before moving to the Casa a couple of years ago, I was very determined that nothing went to the new house that did not have great meaning or purpose.

So I looked at this painting that I had had stored away for years and decided it was time to make a decision.

Sorry for the crappy picture…I didn’t know I was going to be blogging 2 years ago!

I decided I either had to make it mine, so that I would want to hang it, or I had to sell it in the yard sale.

Here’s what I decided to do…

I had an artist friend of mine, Paula Gregg, add a giant octopus attacking the ship.

I know you are saying ‘this girl is weird’ in your head right now.  It’s ok.  I’m not offended.  I’ve known I’m weird for a really long time.  And I’m good with it.

Paula did such an amazing job, the octopus looks like it is original to the piece.  If you didn’t know it was added 50 years after the piece was originally painted, you probably would not notice.

Now the painting has enough quirk in it that it fits my style, but it still represents my grandfather to me.  This hangs in my home office and I enjoy it every day.

How do you display and keep your treasures and heirlooms?

I’d love to hear how you do it!