10 Surprising Treasures Illinois Residents Should Hold Onto

The next time you're on a mission to declutter your home, here are 10 items you should probably hold onto, unless you like living with regret.

Sentimental Treasures vs. Junk

Right now my husband and I are on home improvement mission. We aren't doing any major construction projects, but we are decluttering and painting all the walls and trim.

My goal is to have our upstairs done by the time spring arrives, but we've hit a major hurdle: what stuff qualifies as sentimental keepsakes, and what qualifies as junk that needs to be tossed.

It should come as no surprise that my idea of  "keepsakes" is quite different from my husband's, and neither of us is willing to back down on our beliefs.

I keep boxes filled with old cards, sentimental high school memories, photos, and pictures drawn by our kids. I even have a box for special outfits my kids wore as babies. My husband keeps some cards and pictures too, but he also feels my hoard of sentimental items is tad too excessive.

Is he wrong? Maybe not, but I will be using this info as ammunition for my "sentimental keepsakes" argument.

10 Items You Will Regret Throwing Away

During a recent search for decluttering inspiration I came across a Real Simple article about 10 things most people regret throwing away, and it felt like it was written specifically for me.

If you too are struggling to decide what items in your home should be kept, and which ones should be tossed, hopefully this list will help: