Swedish Death Cleaning My Mom's House | 30 Years of Shopping Led to This

Comments · 67

• GO

  @GoingZeroWaste · 5 months ago · pinned

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• JF

  @JFlower7 · 3 months ago

  My parents did this before it was a thing. &nbsp;What a gift to us when they passed.

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• SA

  @Sareaesque · 4 months ago

  When I discovered the concept of Swedish Death Cleaning it was a really big turnaround for me. I was going through a really bad period with my mental health that had me borderline suicidal, one of my rooms was unusable because it was being used as storage and I never had the time to sort it and I had stuff in boxes still from two house moves. I came across an article on Swedish Death Cleaning and it made me think about all the stuff I had and the burden it would put on my family if I did pass. I spent two years tackling it one box at a time, my mental health improved and the storage room is now my home office/atelier and my favourite room in the house.

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• MI

  @michellemccormack9671 · 5 months ago

  I guess you would say that my husband and I recently Swedish death cleaned, before we moved to our retirement community cottage. It was really time consuming, but as you said, a future gift to our children, now in their 30s, with their own families and homes.<br><br>I do not want them to be overwhelmed with rooms/closets/dressers/boxes full of random stuff, when we die. My husband and I had to deal with our parents’ homes, and it was absolutely frustrating. To me, it is so important our kids not be left feeling that way … grief from losing your parents is painful enough.

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• LI

  @LindaASJ · 2 months ago

  I needed this video. &nbsp;I have all my childhood k-12 journals and felt wrong about getting rid of them. &nbsp;I need to let them go. &nbsp;No one wants them. &nbsp;I don’t have kids. &nbsp;After listening to this, I’m ready

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• EN

  @enduringbird · 4 months ago

  As someone who has cleaned out a dead relative&apos;s house, one who lived through the depression and was a hoarder, and another who died tragically too young, I can say that it does take an emotional toll but it&apos;s meaningful. There are things that were just annoying like the boxes of incandescent light bulbs my grandmother hoarded because &quot;the government banned them!&quot; but other things I&apos;m really thankful that she didn&apos;t get rid of. Her parents&apos; marriage certificate, a pay stub from my mom&apos;s tuition, notes my grandfather wrote. And sitting with my niece as she read her mother&apos;s 3rd grade essays was so meaningful. Those kinds of things shouldn&apos;t be Swedish death cleaned. You&apos;re not saving your loved ones from things like that. You&apos;re robbing them of part of the grieving process.

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• OH

  @ohnoso · 5 months ago

  I read the book that was popular about it but I have already been through the process multiple times and read multiple decluttering books. <br>I think it’s very subjective and helpful that I feel a lot stronger about certain items over others. My grandmother used to make and sell silver jewelry and gave me some more sentimental pieces as a child and then left me a huge collection when she passed. Well I don’t have the same wrist at 5 year old me, so I used a less sentimental bracelet for parts to extend the bracelets I was attached to. Apologies to the other bracelet but I was able to use everything but the clasp pieces to make other pieces fit again. <br>I think it’s also important to consider what you’re willing to clean/clean around vs what will make you stressed. I know that I am willing to clean my silver jewelry periodically for the rest of my life, but I don’t think everyone would feel the same way.

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• LA

  @LaLadybug2011 · 4 months ago

  Anything you wrote or won would be a big deal to children or future children. &nbsp;It&apos;s fun!<br><br>To a sociologist or child psychologist, it could be a literal gold mine to see your diaries. &nbsp;Just letting you know. &nbsp;<br><br>You would be surprised what professionals would &nbsp;be interested. &nbsp;<br><br>I&apos;m super glad you had this room to have to clear while your mama had her entire home because NOW-maybe, just maybe-your generation will be a little easier on their moms and dads who are trying to downsize. &nbsp;I think this will make you even better - because you can triple how your mama is feeling because our children will ALWAYS be our babies-no matter how old we all get.<br><br>And those &quot;things&quot; bring back memories like it was yesterday.

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• KA

  @katie.m.2560 · 5 months ago (edited)

  I deeply related to this video. In the last six-to-nine months, I have helped my parents do the same process at my childhood home. I nudged them by watching the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning show on Peacock, which was absolutely delightful and tender. I also gave them the gift of helping to declutter, deep clean,and organize their closets. We made a lot of progress that I‘m really proud of. There is still so much more to work through, especially in my room. I hear the same comments about needing to keep something because a relative gave it to me as an infant. And I’m incredibly sentimental myself, so it‘s hard work. I find that it‘s important to give myself grace and make it a habit to revisit regularly. I am also grateful for resources like SCARCE that help my area repurpose or properly dispose of many materials.

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• MI

  @Mia_10193 · 5 months ago

  I digitalised my diaries, painting and drawings. That made it easier to throw the abalog stuff. If you like particularly some stuff from childhood, take pictures and save it.

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• JU

  @juliestrasburg9197 · 4 months ago

  You could donate costumes to local schools. They would be so grateful.

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• HA

  @halslibrary · 5 months ago

  I am slowly doing this at my parents house. I am bringing one or two boxes down from there attic every time I go home to go through because they also have 30 years of stuff in there house that they have forgotten about.

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