{"id":229490,"date":"2023-12-05T17:52:41","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T17:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/professionalorganizing.de\/keep-it-forever-the-memory-box\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T17:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:49:23","slug":"keep-it-forever-the-memory-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/professionalorganizing.de\/en\/organizing-tips\/keep-it-forever-the-memory-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep it forever: The memory box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photos, letters, diaries or your favorite shirt – these pieces have a special place in our hearts. With a memory box, they also get a special place in our home. <\/p>\n\n

Why keep memorabilia separate at all?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

When I’m working as a professional organizer, I always stumble across items with my clients that can’t be fit into a category well. It’s the band shirt that hangs in the closet but is not worn anymore. Or the birthday cards that have accumulated over the years, but take up space in the desk drawer. And the old stuffed animal that was carelessly stuffed into a corner. <\/p>\n\n

There are two important rules of organization:<\/p>\n\n

Every object has a home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

and<\/p>\n\n

Like with like<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Therefore, it seems logical that the old band shirt hangs in the closet with the other t-shirts. But it’s not! After all, it’s no longer worn and is therefore in the way when you’re looking for an outfit for the office in the morning. <\/p>\n\n

In a memory box, all these things find a safe place. <\/p>\n\n

By the way, it is a nice idea to start a separate memory box for your children – and to hand it over when they move out or on their 18th birthday.<\/p>\n\n

Which mementos do NOT go into the memory box?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\"Keep
Only keep memorabilia that are really close to your heart. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Let’s start with the most important rule first: A memory box is not a “garbage collection” or an “I-don’t-want-to-decide-yet-collection”! It is worth choosing exactly which things you want to keep in the long term. Because if everything has “meaning”, nothing really has meaning. Curate your favorite memorabilia and think carefully about which things you want to pick up again in 20 years. Take each object in your hand and pause for a moment. Just because this thing is or was important to other people, you don’t have to feel the same way. You don’t have to keep gifts or heirlooms, if they don’t mean anything to you. And let go of the things you associate negative memories with. <\/p>\n\n

What should you put in the memory box?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
\"Mementos
Diaries and small souvenirs are perfect for the memory box. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n