Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff
Books | House & Home / Cleaning, Caretaking & Organizing
3
Matt Paxton
America’s top cleaning expert and star of the hit series Filthy Fortunes and Legacy List with Matt Paxton distills his fail-proof approach to decluttering and downsizing.Your boxes of photos, family’s china, and even the kids' height charts aren’t just stuff; they’re attached to a lifetime of memories--and letting them go can be scary. With empathy, expertise, and humor, Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff, written in collaboration with AARP, helps you sift through years of clutter, let go of what no longer serves you, and identify the items worth keeping so that you can focus on living in the present.For over 20 years, Matt Paxton has helped people from all walks of life who want to live more simply declutter and downsize. As a featured cleaner on Hoarders and host of the Emmy-nominated Legacy List with Matt Paxton on PBS, he has identified the psychological roadblocks that most organizational experts routinely miss but that prevent so many of us from lightening our material load. Using poignant stories from the thousands of individuals and families he has worked with, Paxton brings his signature insight to a necessary task. Whether you’re tired of living with clutter, making space for a loved one, or moving to a smaller home or retirement community, this book is for you. Paxton’s unique, step-by-step process gives you the tools you need to get the job done.
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Author
Matt Paxton
Pages
320
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2022-02-08
ISBN
0593418972 9780593418970
Community ReviewsSee all
"If you're looking for a practical guide (which is what I thought this would be) on how to get over the emotional attachment to personal belongings and declutter, this isn't it. If you'd like to read stories about other people and their stuff and very vague references to how they managed to downsize, then this is the book for you. <br/><br/>Don't get me wrong, the stories, including Matt's, were very interesting and I certainly could relate to some of them. However, they don't really help someone looking to actually determine how to let go. There are a few practical tips but honestly they weren't anything new to me and certainly things you could find in a quick google search (written in a different way but essentially the same advice).<br/><br/>I wish there had been more ideas like this one: Matt saved trolley tokens from a great aunt, something that would seem meaningless to most people but important to him (and he tells that story). Instead of finally throwing them out or letting them collect dust in a drawer, he repurposed them and had them made into cuff links and gave to his groomsmen. That was a great story and a great idea of how to "keep" something without keeping it (he only kept one pair instead of dozens of coins) and more important, keep the memory alive. Sadly, there were not really many more examples like this which would have made the book a more valuable resource for me.<br/><br/>I think his Legacy List show has been helpful but beyond the interesting stories, I don't think this book was a very practical resource."
Sandra Lee