Post 16 / Sentimental Send-Off

16 Week Space Refresh

Dec 30

Written By Visuable

Ancestry Altar, Photo taken by Tori Klotz
2024, Image showing how to cherish sentimental items that inspire your growth and align with who you're becoming.

“Make the top shelf of the bookcase your personal shrine.”
— Marie Kondo.”

The calculation

Days tidying: 20

items tossing: 16 + 4 boxes
items donating: 209 + 13 boxes
items selling: 87
items kept: 1155

Total items tidied: 1467 + 17 Boxes

GRAND TOTAL from sold tidied goods:

$485.12 AND GROWING into 2025

GRAND tidying cost equation:

(sold tidied items) - (tidying supplies cost) = net cost:

(-$168.62) [WITH MANY ITEMS YET LISTED IN MY SHOP ON BOTH ABEBOOKS AND POSHMARK, I AM POSITIVE THAT IN THE LONG RUN, I WILL BREAK EVEN AND GET TO THE GREEN WITH THIS OVERALL PROJECT AND LIFESTYLE.]

The confidence I can complete this project:

In the final week of this project, I'm only 80% sure I'll complete it. While I'm excited about a solution for family photos and have tackled asming for permission over Christmas break after finding the perfect, hygge moment to swoon over family photos among openig presents, the sheer volume of sentimental items feels overwhelming. Still, with the calculations so far (excluding future sales from Abebooks and Poshmark), I'm confident I'll break even on costs as I transition into the next 9-month phase focused on essentials like toiletries, groceries, and gas.

Sentimental Simplicity: Wrapping Up 16 Weeks

Thank goodness the sentimental category comes last. It’s the most challenging! I have to be honest: I’m not finishing this category within the 16-week timeline I set for this project. Despite the joy of sifting through family photos over the holidays and packing them up for digitization, the sheer emotional weight of sentimental items has left me feeling defeated.

That said, I’ve made some meaningful progress and discoveries. For example, my beloved tea set, a gift from Grandma Judy, brings me so much joy that I couldn’t bear to gift it to my niece. This set reminds me of childhood tea parties with imaginary friends and how my love for tea deepened during a recent trip to London. Inspired by Marie Kondo, I’ve created an ancestry altar to honor this cherished item alongside candles and family photos. It’s a beautiful way to breathe new life into sentimental pieces. I highly recommend dedicating a bookshelf spot for this type of altar.

I’ve also realized I started this sentimental journey years ago, shortly after college, when I insisted on taking all my belongings, including my parents’ sentimental items about me, into my own space. I’ve already sorted through tupperware bins of mementos from middle school, high school, and college. It’s only hones to share that this head start allowed my to slide through the holidays like a breeze, knowing the family photos were my main focus. I know, for my readers, you’ve got all these items to potentially yet consider.

Before I drove home, with all our family photos packed in the back of the car, I did, however, tackle one sentimental item that you might not have. My wicker box of chock full of greeting cards, neatly sorted by giver. I am attached to this box. I remember coming up with the concept to capture all the greeting cards I ever get in my life and cherish each person within this little wicker wonder. But, on this tidying journey, I needed to remind myself that cards, like gifts, are meant to convey a feeling in the moment. Although it was time to hit the road to make it home for Christmas dinner, I know that I will need to thank them for their joy before letting them go. This was a true test of my 16 weeks of tidying.

The sentimental category is a marathon, not a sprint. After accepting some defeat that I would not finish this project in the time I had set out, I realized I was ok leaving this last category for a future me. Because everything else in my living spaces is now meant for my future me. All my sentimental items are in a specific place in the home for project space. A space in which I envision future me taking time to cherish the past and sort through these items, slowly and with intention, not on a sprint to reach future me. Because future me is upstairs, represented in the way I reach for my clothes in the morning, take care of my skin, or make my morning cup of coffee. I’ll need more weekends to give these items the care and thought they deserve, bringing my timeline closer to 26 weeks. And that’s okay.

As I close this 16-week series, I leave you with a truth from Marie Kondo: “Tidying is just a tool, not the final destination.” Our space should reflect the person we are becoming, not the person we were. With that in mind, I’m excited to introduce the next chapter: a 26-week journey of mindful consumption, focused on only purchasing essentials like toiletries, groceries, and gas.