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15 Decluttering Targets for Artifcters

September 14, 2022

People love to prescribe decluttering. Often, they even give you tips on how to get started. The lists to help you think through what “goes” typically go something like this: 

      • Is it broken? 
      • Is it a component (like a cable or remote) to a gadget you no longer own? 
      • Do those clothes even fit anymore? Are they sporting holes? 
      • Holding onto legal and tax documents beyond their usefulness (e.g. 7 years for most tax documents)? 
      • Hmm, you don’t even know what the object is or why you have it?  
      • Is it expired, as in cleaners and paints, make up and fragrances, or spices? 

And so on. All valid options for a quick declutter of your home. 

More frustrating is that the advice usually ends there or will weave in a, “Get rid of it, but take a photo first.” Really? I have 1,000s of photos to scroll through, I’ve forgotten the details, and, again, what am I supposed to do with the physical photos anyway? I’ll just do nothing, thanks. 

Why We Have to Talk About This 

We think standard decluttering advice is partly helpful, partly a clever ruse to distract you from and avoid an entire segment of ‘stuff’ - the stuff that also has sentimental value. "Time to let go," they will say. And how exactly should I do that? Will you pay for my therapist? 

We’ve tapped the Arti Community for a fresh take on decluttering targets full of all those sentimental, history-filled, "just cool," or "you never know what it might be worth one day" things that make decluttering especially challenging. We know how hard it is.  

Let us know how these targets help you and which are missing. And, when in doubt, call in a specialist to help! We provide some ideas at the bottom of this article.

15 Decluttering Targets in the Age of Artifcts: Artifct, Share, and Let Go!

With contributions from Matt Paxton, host of the PBS series "Legacy List with Matt Paxton" and author of "Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff." 

1. OLD CAMERAS 

You know, the type that used actual film. And other gadgets that you remember the good ol’ days when you see. Anyone still hanging onto an original iPod?

* Expert tip: Like a passport, Artifct the camera and all the places it’s been! Then … how old are we talking? Maybe a local school or a child would be interested? If you want to sell it, you could check specialized marketplaces, including KEH Camera. As with any technology, please do not throw it away. Contact your local municipality about recycling, try tech vendors like Canon, or pop into local stores, such as Best Buy.

2. THAT OUTFIT YOU WORE ...

… when you graduated, honeymooned, won the big deal at work. If you’re Dolly Parton, yes, that sequin-embellished gown will likely go into a museum, so let’s just set those exceptions aside. For the rest of us mere mortals, you know the drill.

* Expert tip: Artifct it, and include a photo of you wearing it back in the day, if possible. 

3. CHILDREN'S ARTWORK

We all know it’s bountiful. So, let’s pick and choose what we keep, and no matter what, keep the stories. So, record the basics in each Artifct. They gave it to you when? How did they make it? What is it? Better yet, record them telling you and include the photo and video. There’s nothing like hearing those tiny voices again when they are all grown up.

* Expert tip:  Tag the Artifcts with their name and age or grade for easy sorting: #Amara #1stGrade. 

4. FURNISHINGS

Come on, we’ve talked about this! We know whole rooms in houses not to mention pricey monthly storage units exist that are bursting with furniture you remember from parents and grandparents or are considered family heirlooms but that no longer have a place in your current life. Better than those bulky items hanging about are the stories that they bore witness to when you slept there, relaxed on those, placed family photos on them. 

* Expert tip from Matt Paxton: If you’ve decided to try to sell the item, list it on Facebook Marketplace and if it doesn’t sell in, say, 24 hours, then move it over to a Buy Nothing group and get it out. Remember your time is worth at least $25 an hour; do not spend six hours selling a $100 item. And don’t forget – you already decided you don’t want it, and you have the memory on Artifcts, which will easily outlive the use of the furniture. Don’t let haggling over the price ruin your decision to make space in your home. 

5. HOLIDAY DECOR

There could be any number of reasons—it’s faded, maybe slightly damaged, out of style—why you never take it out to use or display anymore. But you likely have a lot of history with it to Artifct and share.

* Expert tip: If it’s still useful, consider getting it to a donation center a few weeks before the holiday so others can pick it up to enjoy! 

6. VALUABLES

Consider your crystal, jewelry & watches, and collections (coins, stamps, statues, art): Are they worth more to you as cash to reinvest in other items you will care for or use more? Or could they be of greater value to someone else in the family? Dont' even get us started on collections of dubious value that you're holding onto just in case the value sky rockets. Take a hard look.

* Expert tip from Matt Paxton: I tend to Artifct the item and share it with my family members to see who has the best memory or story of the item before then making the final decision to sell it or gift it (and to whom). To help with your sell vs. gift decision, seek out the best industry specific site to price the item (e.g. Worthy.com for a wedding ring) or send the Artifct to Heritage Auctions using the “What’s it worth?” feature for a free valuation. 

7. HERITAGE AND HISTORICAL ITEMS

Baby bassinets, antique gowns, family bibles, tools of trade, we pass these items down through the generations, often with little care for their preservation. And they take up a lot of space, especially if you are the ‘family keeper’ and have the majority of the items.

* Expert tip:  Small museums, historical foundations, and even professional archives may be interested and will in fact preserve them! Here are tips if you are considering donations to archives and similar.

8. RECIPES

Hanging on to a cookbook for a single recipe that was beloved? Combine a photo with your secret methods and ingredients and send that book on its way. And if you have a mess of recipes from a loved one that you never make but are holding onto just because, photograph the collection for a single Artifct, along with any singleton standouts, and then recycle.

* Expert tip: For truly special recipes, consider preserving or framing them. Maybe even turn them into something new, like this Arti Community member did with her mother's rolls recipe.  

9. PHOTO ALBUMS

Bulky, yellowing, photos slipping, and, hmm, who is that in those pictures that are a bit blurry, too? If you have only one or two albums, this is really not a good category for you. If you have more, and they sit in shelves and boxes never opened, consider whether now is a time to digitize the pictures and Artifct the memories. Maybe you’ll even opt for archival-quality photo books to recast the past with fresh perspective in a coffee table friendly format!

* Expert tip from Matt Paxton: Trim down the massive collection to a more manageable pile before Artifcting, digitizing, printing for photo books, or sorting and gifting to relatives. Get rid of what you no longer need: duplicates, negatives (you haven’t used them yet, you don’t need them), generic landscapes (e.g. beaches and mountains with no identifiable people), and pictures of people you don’t know or don’t like. It’s okay to throw away pictures of your former in-laws that you haven’t spoken to in 20 years.

10. T-SHIRTS 

These are sneak-y! Durable, especially if they end up in the back of the closet or bottom of the drawer, as well as inexpensive, gift worthy, and great mementos. Suddenly you have dozens, some don’t fit or have yellowed stains, and/or they are otherwise ready to be retired. Some you might elevate to framing, others to those popular t-shirt quilts, a few in good condition to vintage clothing shops, and the rest, simple Artifcts with great stories.

* Expert tip from Matt Paxton: You could always offer them up to your favorite niece and Artifct you and her wearing your favorite Duran Duran t-shirt 30 years apart! If you think it’s cool, it’s probably cool to the next generation, too. Worst case scenario, Artifct them and give them to Goodwill. My biggest tip here is to make sure you are detailed when Artifcting. Give the details of the band, when you saw them, who you hung out with and WHY you loved the t-shirt so much. My kids loved my skateboarding t-shirts when they found out I met Tony Hawk at Mt. Trashmore in 1989. The beauty of Artifcting is that it allows you to put your family and friends in the moment with you to enjoy the memory as much as you do 

11. BASEBALL (FOOTBALL ETC.) TRADING CARDS

Those skinny boxes literally pile up, and you never kept them as pristine as you think. Share them with a neighbor kid or post them on freecycle or similar. Just move them on out.

* Expert tip: Suspect there’s hidden value? Artifct them and click “What’s it worth?” and Heritage Auctions will take a look!  

12. GLASSWARE, CHINA, SILVER

If you’re using them, this category is not for you. If you are dusting and polishing for "remember when" or "they belonged to {loved person}," Artifct them instead, check with family, and if there’s no taker, out they go.

* Expert tip: Not a tip, more of a confession. Co-founder Ellen Goodwin thinks a genius Etsy shop would sell gorgeous mixed china pattern sets. Unique design + reselling = a win win. Put her on the waitlist so it can join the family silver she saved!

13. BOOKS

Do you catch yourself reflecting on a funny passage, what was happening or where you were when you last or first read it, or maybe where you got it, and saying “Nope, it can stay for now.” How many books are in this category? Don't lie. Books carry intellectual and personal growth and even sometimes spiritual weight. But even with books you can capture the essence of what it means to you and move it on to the next reader.

* Expert tip: Check between the pages and then consider taking them to school book drives, local donation centers, or even shops like Half Priced Books. 

14. STUFFED ANIMALS

Okay parents, confess, how many of these creatures are more sentimental to you than your child (or future unborn grandchild)? And what about all those that are forgotten moments after receiving them? Or loved soooo much that they are probably a health hazard? Before they declutter those stuffed animals too aggressively, read this ARTIcles story.

* Expert tip: Local requirements vary, but you can offer cleaned toys to some fire stations and animal shelters and lovingly reminisce with Artifcts. 

15. TRAVEL MEMENTOS

We’re willing to bet if you collect them all in front of you, you could pick out the especially valuable ones to you from the lineup. Maybe the details have even grown pret-ty fuzzy. A memento might be cool, but if you feel a clutter crisis closing in on you or you simply want to lighten the load, it’s time to pare it back. 

* Expert tip: Matching items to photos or stamps in a passport, maybe with a bit of audio from you, is a fabulous way to relive those travels and offer a final tribute as you send it off to a new home. 

Sometimes We Need a Little Help

Decluttering help can take many forms, depending on your circumstances. Here are some additional resources that might be just what you need. 

Artifcts Concierge. Register free today on Artifcts.com to give Artifcting a try! We are also highly experienced in the art of capturing the stories behind objects and paying attention to the details that matter for your future depending on the ‘why’ you have the objects and what you may want to do with them next. We can provide virtual or in-person Artifcting support to propel you forward in your decluttering! 

Keys Guild. Collectibles advisors trained through the Keys Guild can provide onsite services to identify items of value for resale and the optimal outlets (i.e. top dollar) for selling the items. To learn if there is a Key in your area, use this contact form

NAPO. The National Association of Productivity & Organizing has a large nationwide membership base ready to help you organize, declutter, and more. Find a NAPO professional in your area by zip code here

Archivists. These professionals may be less familiar to you, but they are often working for or collaborating with institutions of all sizes and types that take donations. Consider original works of fiction or non-fiction; war memorabilia; scrapbooks, journals, letters, and diaries; and media (photographs, slides, film, even websites too). You can learn more and locate an archival consultant at The Society of American Archivists

Auction houses. Valuable items and collections may be a good fit for auction. Auction houses vary, some with broad specialties, others niche. Many now offer online auctions, not just traditional raise your paddle affairs. Their appraisal services for single objects and entire estates can also help inform which of your items will go up for auction or sale in any venue (e.g. auction house, 1st Dibs, Ebay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace) and which maybe have more sentimental value. 

Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff.” If you’re in more of a “Let me think on it,” or do-it-yourself mindset, we recommend this book. Matt Paxton joined the Artifcts board recently but long before we even met him, we were fans of his book because of its practical advice, engaging stories, and litany of self-starter tips and resources.  

Happy Artifcting!

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© 2022 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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What's New at Artifcts
What is Deinfluencing? A New Word for Well-Known Good Habits.

We wrote today’s ARTIcles story months ago to save for a rainy day or lightning bolt of inspiration that would say now is when the Arti Community needs it most. As we now watch the mayhem of all things trade tariffs unfold, and we wonder about the future cost of our favorite electronics, sneakers, cars, toys, and 1000s of other products, we seem to have arrived at the perfect moment to take a hard look at our buying habits and reconsider how we spend those hard earned dollars. We hope this exploration of the concept of deinfluencing inspires you.

_______________

Last weekend my husband trekked to IKEA of his own volition to buy an abundance of clear plastic bins with lids to use in our garage. As far as “love languages” go, this is one of his love languages in action.

Our garage is a mishmash of random bins of various materials and colors, cardboard boxes—a no-no in Texas because the many evil bugs here like to eat them—and uncontained stuff overflowing onto shelves. Being in our garage for more than a few minutes causes me something akin to physical pain, and it’s not just because it feels like it’s a 120-degree sauna 9 months of the year. The visual chaos overwhelms me.

Why Buy Storage Bins Instead of Getting Rid of Stuff?

Storage bins are a consumer product phenomenon of concern for many who worry that the more bins we buy, the more stuff we give ourselves permission to keep. And maybe with these bins we even lessen our need to routinely declutter if items are “out of sight, out of mind.” Arguably there’s less social pressure to declutter, too, if visitors to your home won’t even notice. Right?

Maybe. Maybe not. 

My husband certainly trimmed down and cleaned out his stuff as he filled the bins. And the clear bins he bought will happily end the visual chaos that bothers me. Plus, in this case, they are extremely practical. My husband spends a lot of time in the garage building his bikes—road, mountain, and cyclocross—as well as tinkering with his golf clubs and more. He even has as t-shirt, "I'll be in the garage." Knowing what he has in his inventory and easily spotting things he needs matters. 

Continue reading as we explore our reliance on bins from a different point of view: “deinfluencing.” Have you heard of it? Deinfluencers are out there in the social media sphere and want you to buy less stuff and put less pressure on the planet when you change your mind, forget you even bought it, or trends fade. While it may be a popular social media hashtag and buzzword we think it has valuable lessons to offer as we all take a fresh look at what we collect, accumulate, and inherit. Before you store it in those bins, before you even buy it, ask yourself: What is it, why does it matter, and what will I do with it next?

Deinfluencing Defined

The general idea of deinfluencing is to consciously choose to buy less and to better educate ourselves on the products we purchase. For many, this might include an eye toward more sustainable and ethical supply chains. For others it could be about product testing and safety above all else. Priorities vary.

The deinfluencing concept has apparently been dictionary-worthy for at least 5 years and may be just what saves you from your own worst buying habits. Or that’s the promise of it, I suppose.

Dictionary definition of deinfluencing

The deinfluencing concept only went viral in early 2023, with an especially large presence in all things beauty and lifestyle.

According to a December 2023 article by Vogue, “TikTok content creator  @sadgrlswag  helped to catapult the term into virality in January 2023, posting a video in which she railed against a long list of trendy accessories, devices, and even books. ‘I’m here to deinfluence you. Do not get the Ugg minis. Do not get the Dyson Airwrap. Do not get the Charlotte Tilbury Wand. Do not get the Stanley cup. Do not get Colleen Hoover’s books. Do not get the AirPods Pro Max.’”

Even mainstream media like Vogue, Time, NPR, The Today Show, and Business Insider picked it up from TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and elsewhere and broadcast to the likes of me, who tends to shun social media.

As I pondered this deinfluencing concept and the dilemma of plastic bins and my own buying habits, I asked my 14-year-old daughter, “Have you heard of deinfluencing?” And I got an immediate, “Yeah. You mean videos like, ‘Deinfluencing a Girl’s Favorite Products?’”

Yup, that’s EXACTLY what I mean.

Deinfluencing is Just a New Word for Well-Known Smart Habits

Deinfluencing is a concept that should transcend generations and sociodemographics, because it fits right in with a lot of smart habits as well as new year “new you” type goals:

      • Want to avoid overspending and/or stick to your budget? 
      • Find it challenging to control impulse buying?  
      • Feeling guilty about your own consumerism? 
      • Seeking to become a more conscious consumer?  
      • Skeptical of influencers, which added up to be a $16B industry in 2022, and perhaps think everything about influencers is artificial?

These are the underpinnings for the “deinfluencing.”

Ready to “Deinfluence” Yourself? Check Your Vulnerabilities First!

Try to deinfluence yourself by being more aware of what drives you to buy new bins, new stuff, or even hold onto the old stuff. And if any of the following resonates with you, grab a sticky note, and pop a note onto your laptop, tablet, or other obvious spot in your workspace, to help remind you of what traps you’d need to avoid when making your next purchase.

AESTHETICS SWAY YOU

You follow a certain well known interior designer, organizer, or other lifestyle guru, and love the fresh look they achieve with just a few new products. If you are going for a certain look, and this means swapping out old for new or just adding more, you’ve likely fallen into a consumer trap.

Now, as mentioned, sometimes containers are not doing their job well and create risks. In other cases, like the pain you might feel like I do when I’m in my garage, some sprucing up may make the space more usable and is well worth the conscious, well-considered choice you make to update or upgrade. 

COMFORT IN INVENTORY

How much inventory of anything do you actually need? We all got spooked by COVID and its disruption of usual supply chains but move back to thinking more practically. Maybe you only need one at a time and can replace it when it’s gone. Inventory can also be risky if the item has a limited shelf life. This risk factor applies to everything from plastic components of bikes to cosmetics. Even my 3M hooks are now trash because the sticky foam lost its stickiness before I used the whole pack. 

DRAWN TO "COLLECTIBLE" AND "LIMITED EDITION"

Watch out for those special editions and collector sets, brilliant marketing strategies because they work. Just ask Taylor Swift and her many iterations on the releases of her albums, some of which if combined create art for your wall. But if you’re trying to control spending on ‘stuff’ you really don’t need, claims from companies that something is an instant collectible or must-have limited edition may lead you astray. Make both no-gos or at least see a flashing yellow light in your mind to slow down and think again before purchasing.

“NEW!" IS ENTICING

I recently met a woman who told me that in her family, they have made buying secondhand as well as clever upcycling into a game. It’s a challenge. There’s no pride to be had in simply going online and buying it new. They scour locally at estate sales, consignment shops, and vintage stores as well as online in common marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, and Facebook Marketplace.

And here, I feel them. I recently bought salvaged industrial signs from a shop on Etsy and genuinely loved my purchase and felt happy that those signs didn’t just go into a landfill.

When In Doubt, Check Your Clutter

If you’re doubtful you fall into these clutter trappings, common fashion and beauty targets of influencers are not your thing, here’s one final strategy that might work for you: Scan your home to see what’s literally taking up space. And do not skip over the storage bins tucked in a closet or sideboard or out in the open on display on an overflowing shelf.

Let’s pick on candles. Popular enough that some people buy them like candy. And shops know it. You can now find small candles in under $5 sections as well as in the traditional candy section of checkout lanes. Being small, consumable, and available at a relatively low price point, candles are an easy add-on to your tab. Suddenly your collection is 20, 30, 40 strong, you never get to the bottom of any of those soy-based, take you back to Hawaii, feel-the-calm candles, and collectively they take up a lot of space!

Don’t scoff if you think your collections are somehow more valuable, less frivolous than candles. At least they help you get your om on! Last week at the airport, we overheard a man on a call saying, “I have a Redskins jersey. That’s going to be worth some money someday.” How many of you collect random stuff with this idea that one day it might be worth money?

Check your clutter, check your collections. All of it stands to be sneaky and consumes space and money.

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Ready to rethink your space and what's taking up room in it? We think these ARTIcles by Artifcts can help.

108 Objects to Declutter From Your Home

Collections of Dubious Value

So Much 'Stuff:' How They Suck Us In and How We Can Resist!

© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Use #Hashtags to Organize Your Artifcts. Use @ to Connect the Moments and Collections.

Last week, we received a fabulous compliment: 

“Artifcts is so easy to use. And every time I think, “Oh, I wish it could do {this}, then suddenly I SEE that I can, because now that I’m looking for it, I realize that feature is real. Other products are so cluttered with buttons and widgets, I never know where I’m supposed to look. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

This glowing feedback was about something seemingly so small and inconsequential: the hashtag (#).  

Hashtags are used everywhere online, so us including it at Artifcts as an option to help you stay organized seemed intuitive. And yet when people use the hashtag and see it simplifies their Artifcting, they are grateful. We’re grateful, too. We’re grateful to all members of the Artifcts for their continuous feedback and accolades. 

If you’re wondering what you’ve missed, why hashtags as well as our @ feature are so valuable, keep reading!

 
 
Want to skip ahead with a short video showing how to use #hashtags and the @ feature at Artifcts?
 
 
Watch our short video.

Embrace the #Hashtag

Every object, every story, every moment you capture at Artifcts is instantly organized by design. Your #hashtags can be 100% custom to you, or you can select from a drop down of the most popular to-date among Artifcts community members. And by tapping on any #hashtag, you can view all other Artifcts with the same tag.

The Artifcts mobile app with Artifcts searched with #decor

You can learn a lot about yourself and your life as you start seeing these tags accumulate, too. 

Our co-founder Heather’s top three most used #hashtags are:  

      1. #ThatsMyGirl, for all things created by her daughter 
      2. #MomsEstate, for the items she kept from her mom’s estate 
      3. #FavoriteRecipes, because she hates flipping through dozens of cookbooks to find THAT recipe.

Our co-founder Ellen’s top three tags are:  

      1. #Violet, her daughter  
      2. #ArtifctsVideo, which is added automatically to any Artifct that includes a video 
      3. #décor, because her 'stuff' has stories! (#MoreThanAnObject would be a great tag, too.)

drop down menu on Artifcts showing top tags used

 
 
Check out your top tags, and all other tags you’ve used, from your homepage.

Artifcts “Categories” Work like #Hashtags

Categories are required for each Artifct because they are important for structure and sorting as well as for providing ideas for what you may want to Artifct next.  

We started building and blending our unique categories list with the types of items you’d see at auction or in collectors groups. We then customized our categories further to include all of the life stuff we tend to collect and/or accumulate around our homes, in our workshops, and with the passing of loved ones, too. No auction house has the need for a category of “Life’s Moments,” with items like cards and letters, awards, memorabilia, and photographs. But you certainly have need for this category at Artifcts. 

Fall in Love With the @ Feature 

Whether you’re writing a text, email, or social media post, typing @ unlocks the ability to link to other people and groups. It’s an efficient way to loop in and alert others. 

An Artifcted self-portrait of a young red-headed girl 

Our @ feature respects your privacy, too. If you use @ in your story/description to link to another Artifct that is private, no one will see even so much as the title of that Artifct unless you’ve shared it with them. They can click to request access, which you can review and accept or decline.

At Artifcts, we evolved the @ feature a step further to meet our community's needs. We wanted @ to help us all to weave others into the stories we tell about the objects that pass through our lives. We also wanted to be able to link one Artifct to another. Maybe the Artifcts are part of a collection or one is simply part of a much bigger story. 

“The @ feature is hands down my favorite boost for any Artifct I create. I love being able to lead people down the rabbit hole from one part of a story to another without having to write an essay,” said Artifcts co-founder Ellen Goodwin. “And it saves me time, too. If I use @person then the Artifct is automatically shared with them. Done and done!”

And with these tips in mind, we wish you happy Artifcting!

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Did you know we publish short tips videos on YouTube? Subscribe to our channel and dive into our Tips Playlist.

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© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Wall Calendars: Should They Still Win a Spot on Your Wall?

As ubiquitous as it has become to gift someone a candle, back in the day of trudging a mile uphill in the snow to and from school, it was just as common to gift someone a wall calendar, especially during the winter holidays. Wall calendars were fun to pick out and available practically everywhere you shopped. They could feature stunning art, humorous scenes and quotes, or shots from nature. Some even provided fundraising dollars for causes you valued.  

But how often do you see a physical calendar on a wall in someone’s home anymore? And do wall calendars even have a place in the digital era? What does a wall calendar offer that its desktop or virtual version does not?  

Well, for one thing, the wall calendar never moves on you. It is a reliable source of ground truth as to what is going on and when in your household. Wall calendars also have a number of other advantages you’ll read about in our story today. 

As our focus for Around the House, With Artifcts this month shifts to everything that goes on your walls, we took a look around to gather some perspective on the value of wall calendars in modern times. We found some interesting and relatable perspectives that may just shift your own. Enjoy!

What Do You Want From a Wall Calendar?

As with nearly everything in life, when it comes to a calendar for your home life, you have to understand your own habits and needs first, and from that starting point you can choose that right calendar. What could you want from a wall calendar? Glad you asked: 

      • Memory boost. The physical task of writing something down has been shown to help us recall the things we’ve written more effectively than when we type them, according to Scientific American. Maybe this is why Post-it notes and now writable tablets are so popular, too. Writing activates a broader field of activity in our brains. 
      • Mood boost, too. If you love the art or subject of the calendar—majestic mountains or cute kittens, anyone? —every time you walk by you get a little boost. 
      • Design infusion. If your space needs a pop of color or additional visual interest, you can surely find a calendar theme and size that will fit your style. 
      • The BIG picture. Your life is hectic, and you want to ensure everyone is marching to the same beat with a visual and accessible master calendar. Monitor multiple schedules, coordinate major events, and keep track of important dates, holidays, and horizon moments—like family trips—with one giant calendar, a.k.a. your lifeline. 
      • Accountability. For some, the wall calendar helps with accountability as you tick off dates and you accomplish certain tasks and work through to-do lists.

What else might you want from your wall calendar?  

Millennials, being nearly tech native from their earliest years, can offer an interesting perspective on this throw back from a simpler, non-digital time when wall calendars hung in every home. We ‘listened’ to some millennials sound off via a few reddit threads and found these additional perspectives on the wall calendar: 

There’s too much going on already on our mobile phones, so a lot of that noise gets ignored. It’s harder to ignore a wall calendar.  

      • A way to see the passage of time, especially during COVID 
      • Finding enjoyment in the process of updating the new calendar with birthdays and anniversaries 
      • Remembering loved ones, human and pet, through the images chosen for personalized calendars 
      • When you work on a computer all day, it’s nice to step back from your laptop or mobile when possible.  
      • When you have young children, a physical calendar helps them learn about time. 
      • Somehow physical calendars and planners feel cozy.  

We then flipped that on its head and asked a few boomers in our lives about their affinity for wall calendars. Here were a few responses we received: 

      • Using a wall calendar ensures caregivers going in and out of our home have the same information. 
      • My kids laugh, but I still keep track of big things in their lives and our grandkids’ lives, too, so I need a big wall calendar. 
      • This isn’t about my age, but about my job as a farmer. It’s helpful to see our schedule laid out in a large format so I can visualize cycles for the crops and animals. 
      • We’ve always had one, we always will. And we still have decades worth in the closet if you want to see them. Some years there’s no white space left. Life was busier then. Editor’s note: Artifct those old calendars! They can be treasure-troves of events and memories past. Keep reading for tips on how to Artifct your calendars.

Could You Go Digital With Your Wall Calendar? 

You could go digital for your wall calendar, even pocket sized on your mobile, but is it right for you? 

Digital offers several advantages. The primary benefit is probably obvious: accessibility from anywhere. You’re at the grocery store, you’re at an event, whatever it is, you need information that is tucked inside the squares of that wall calendar. If you don’t get that information, it’s a deferred decision or another to-do added to your life. 

You might also lean on a digital calendar for the benefit of reminders. You can set them by default (one month, week, day, hour). Technology is also evolving to offer smart reminders. For example, it’s likely that before long if you add a trip overseas to your calendar, the calendar will ping you well in advance to make sure your passport gets renewed, if necessary, on time. That’s efficiency and less stress all in one. It can also remind you about prescription refills and more. 

Where can you find a digital wall calendar? We only know of one so far with size and features options that we’re eager to explore, and it’s from a well-known manufacturer of digital photo frames called SkyLight, a very logical product expansion from frame to calendar. If you have experience with the Skylight wall calendar or another digital wall calendar, we’d love to hear from you!

Traditional Wall Calendars: Before You Save that Old Wall Calendar, Consider Your "Why"

In an amusing thread on reddit, a discussion unfolded when a poster shared a website that would tell you when the dates on your calendar would align again in a future year. One commentor passed on that idea, claiming they would end up at the dentist office on the wrong day. Ha! Another felt this was a stretch too far to upcycle and leaned toward hoarding behavior. (But does it? Learn more about hoarding disorder.)  

Historically, many people have treated calendars like journals, the ephemera of life, a record easily shared with others to remember what consumed our days, big and small, “back then.”  

Some calendars these days are designed to be upcycled based on the beautiful, high-quality printed images on each month, which are easy to slice out and frame or even affix to cardstock to create a greeting card. Some large wall calendars like those created by School House (and pictured in the banner at the top of this story), are designed to be flipped over to enjoy the design on the back when the year is over.

Clock, calendar, and stepping stool, situation in a home

 
 
Wall calendars work hard! They fill space, keep everyone walking by informed, and give you a sense of time and structure for your year.

Artifct those calendars!

Now that we can simply take digital photos of the calendars and/or digitize them, we suggest going back through that particular collection and considering whether it’s time to ditch the hardcopy. Consider Artifcting the calendar before you recycle to keep the memories and for reference back to potentially important dates. If it’s a monthly calendar, choose a month or two or three for the photos to feature in your Artifct and attach a scanned copy of the complete calendar in the documentation of your Artifct. Done!

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