The one thing I highly disagree with unclutterers and organizers on is sentimental items. While I agree that they don’t replace the relative or friend whom they belonged to, I don’t think that means you shouldn’t keep them. If it makes you feel good to keep it, then keep it.

The key is having space for it. This means that you need to have a defined place for it and a use for it. In the case of furniture, its use is obvious. If you are taking other furniture instead of this antique furniture that you want to keep, reconsider that.

Ideally, find a family member that will use it, with the understanding that you can have it back when it is time. And if necessary, the climate controlled storage is expensive – but IMHO worth it. You aren’t storing junk.

What I would reconsider is the move. If you intend to return and you consider your current location home, then why leave?

Or you can do what other people said and take it with you, you do not want to regret anything.

Take photos to remind you and then sell them or take them to get appraised and auction them or something.

Just what I think is if you aren’t willing to take it where you are going, I think maybe you do not want it as much as you think so just do whatever you agree with above me and pass it on to someone who will cherish it a little more.

Of all the stuff I have decluttered, this is the one regret I have. They were a gift for my 21st birthday ( I am 51 now) Dad knows I sold them and I know it hurts him. I would give a lot to have them back.

so i guess what i’m saying is that u can always update the look of the furniture to fit your style if it means a lot to you, and u want to keep it around. You can always paint, stain, reupholster, etc. but if u can’t use it right now, i think seeing if a family member can hold onto it for you is a good idea– thanks mom!

I really needed to be reminded of that. At present, I am finally attempting to deal with the parental leftovers–the stuff I inherited when they passed on in 2006 that has no real value or sentimental meaning, but was just their everyday “stuff”. Until you’re there, you would never understand how difficult it is to let go of a half-used stale bottle of perfume you don’t even like BUT for the fact that it was Mother’s and that it sat in the bathroom for 40 years.

I’m not throwing away Mother or Dad, I’m throwing away THEIR clutter.

For Lisa: if you definitely can see wanting them, see if a friend or family member nearby can take the pieces on loan with the understanding that you will retrieve them upon returning (or send for them when you find more permanent digs).

I would give them a timeframe and a deadline for disposal, though, and get it in writing–such as, you will collect them within five years of X date, after which they are allowed to dispose of them as desired with no repercussions.

I’d also consider giving them a bit of “rent” for their trouble if they are storing them for you, unless they are allowed to use them freely. Having been the custodian of others’ belongings and being stuck with one item for nine years (then never hearing from the person again), I can say that I wish I’d done this rather than leaving it open-ended.

I had a piano I carried around the country for years, even though I didn’t play any more. The idea of selling it broke my heart.

It is now at my sister’s house, on “permanent loan.” Meaning it’s hers, but if she decides to get rid of it, giving it back to me is the first option.

I know it’s being appreciated and played, and I never had to cut the ties – they just faded over time. Until recently, I’d forgotten I had a piano!

As an organizer having lived in a military town, I worked with numerous clients who stored furniture and other items for a future home (and moved them across country, sometimes several times). When I am called in to finally help them simplify and get organized, they often decide to let go of 90% of what they had stored for years because the items were in poor condition, outdated, no longer their style or it didn’t fit into their space (or lives) today…even though they obviously felt strongly enough about the items when they decided to pay to put them into storage.

This is all food for thought and ultimately, Lisa will need to make the best decision for her. If she does decide to let go the furniture and a family member cannot take it, I recommend taking pictures. It sounds superficial but pictures can evoke the same memories.

Re-categorise the furniture as “essential” and take it with you!

(And take the trouble to have it “international wrapped” so that it is encased in special bubble wrap and cardboard to avoid damage – movers will do this if you request, even if it’s a domestic move.)

Why do I say this?

1. You write that you can “definitely” see yourself wanting the furniture in the future. (I interpret this as you saying that you DO like the pieces. If you hated them or they weren’t your style then you’d be saying something different.)

2. If they are good antiques from your grandmother’s period then they are likely to be of better quality than anything you these buy new for a sensible price. If you were to sell them, could you later replace them for the price of the selling cost? (I suspect not.)

3. If you end up staying in your new location and making a permanent home there then you will have with you the pieces that you imagine being a part of a future permanent home. You won’t have to ship them from a storage facility or family member across the country. If you end up coming “home” then you simply ship them back home with your other essentials.

4. Storing furniture is expensive and pointless unless you are quite certain that the move is very short-term and temporary by definition (e.g. a 6-month international posting).

5. If you like something and it’s beautiful and has sentimental value, why not keep it around? Take the lovely antique table as your “essential”, for example, and ditch the Ikea table (to use an extreme example). Remember, after a short period of time it’s cheaper to move furniture with you than to store it and it will give you more pleasure if it’s with you in your home.

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I write from experience. I have four pieces of mahogany French-polished furniture that my late father made for me. I will never sell these as they count amongst my most beautiful possessions, they are exquisitely crafted, and they represent a very tangible memory for me of my father’s practical love and creative values.

When I made an international move a few years back I had the choice of leaving these pieces with my mother or taking them overseas with my other household goods. They would have been safe with mum, but I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them, and I worked out that the pro-rated cost of shipping these pieces would be far less than the cost of replacing them with something of similar quality and aesthetic beauty in my new home. And let’s face it, I was going to need a chest of drawers, a cheval mirror, etc. anyway. So I took them with me. And naturally I brought them back home after three years. I don’t regret doing that for a minute.

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Moral: don’t limit yourself when defining what’s “essential”.