A Treasure Keeper

I’m a big believer in your home telling the story of you. The things within it may not always be expensive or heirloom quality, but they bring back a memory or have a great story attached.

Maybe you got your salt and pepper shakers that look like British guardsmen from your trip to the UK and they make you smile every time you see them. Maybe you found your perfect piece of furniture on the side of the road with a sign that said ‘free to a good home’.  Both of these are just part of the story of me.

Maybe that old mixer that works like a charm has been handed down through the family and you’re just so thankful that you have it. It’s not the latest and greatest, but it makes both a mean meringue and your heart sing. And that is good enough for you.

Just because your things don’t look like a catalogue shoot, doesn’t mean that they don’t fit in your home. If you love them and especially if you can still use them, then they are yours to cherish. Even if the things you love cost you next to nothing to obtain, display them proudly and let them tell your story.

I’m not a minimalist and I never will be. I truly believe that it’s ok to love what you have and for you to keep it. You don’t have to fill your house with clutter to be a treasure keeper, it can still be an organised, useful space, just with the things that you love on display, telling your story.

I think it’s all about finding that balance of a space that makes you smile when you enter it, and not feeling overwhelmed with all the stuff! I’m a very sentimental person and I find it hard to let go of things that are not just objects but the memories and the people you associate them with. There’s no rush and no need to be brutal when deciding what stays and what goes. It’s your home and you can take all the time you need.

A treasure keeper, to me, is someone who keeps the things that tell the stories you want to remember and the ones you want to share with someone else some day. In the same way we keep photos – not only to jog our memories, but so that we can tell someone the story behind it.

It’s about keeping the things that really mean something and allowing ourselves the chance, even giving ourselves the permission to let go of what we don’t love and don’t need. In a world of rules and trends, our homes are our spaces to put our own little mark on and give the things we love a space. So that when those memories rush through our minds like a flood, there’s no guilt mixed in from not giving it the space we feel that it deserves.

You know what you love and what you want to be reminded of, and that’s where you can start. Treasure keeping may not be for everyone, but for some of us, it’s a great way to keep our memories close to hand for when we need them most.

Are you a treasure keeper like me? What’s one thing you love and have on display? I’d love to know.