Need to downsize, Tampa Bay? This method could help.

Having watched many of my friends sift through the estates of their late parents, I have fully embraced the lessons from Margareta Magnusson’s book, “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter.” For the past several years, I have been slowly eliminating things I haven’t used in a while, including clothing, small appliances and even a couple of wedding gifts from 1991.

My friend Alexandra Stoddard, an author and lifestyle expert, wrote in her monthly newsletter recently how the book had impacted her life. “I woke up,” she said. “By shedding an accumulated excess of material possessions, I illuminated the objects that feed my soul. By discerning what I can’t let go of, I’ve refined my collections. I’m able to fully savor (the) things that speak to me. My life is up to date (and I have a) greater lightness of being.”

I want that.

Recently, when my husband and I decided to sell our home, which has over 4,800 square feet, I started the downsizing process. I re-read Magnusson’s book and watched all eight episodes of “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” on Peacock. The series, which was inspired by the book, is narrated by actress Amy Poehler. In each episode, three experts from Sweden – an organizer, a therapist and a decorator – help homeowners rid their lives of physical and mental clutter.

Downsizing sounded easy enough, but emotional connections to things can run deep. For example, even though I’d never taken some lovely vases out of their boxes, I held onto them because they were wedding gifts. I also wanted to pass along my china to my daughter and future daughter-in-law, but as anyone who has adult children these days knows, they don’t want your china.

A rule about Swedish death cleaning: Forget the guilt. Appreciate that you have enjoyed something and let it go to someone else who can appreciate it.

So, the holiday china went to a niece and the items I didn’t use went to a local charity. After 20-plus years of entertaining in my home, I had accumulated hundreds of clear glass dining and dessert plates. I called a friend who still hosts plenty of parties and she was happy to take them off my hands.

My friend Jan Fazio shared with me recently that she sold some of her family heirlooms when she moved from a 3,300-square-foot home in Michigan to a 1,500-square-foot condominium in downtown St. Petersburg.

“We sold my mother’s silver because my children (didn’t) want it and I don’t entertain like that anymore. We have no regrets,” Fazio said. “It’s so life-changing to get rid of your stuff.”

The Swedes, in their decluttering advice, also suggest we find ways to cherish memories without holding on to stuff.

With the help of a very crafty friend, I recently took special pieces of my costume jewelry, along with some items from my mother and my late mother-in-law, and made a collage of sorts for my daughter that I had framed. She won’t wear the jewelry, but she can still enjoy our old treasures and cherish their sentimental value.

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Sarah Suits, who moved from a large home in the Crescent Heights neighborhood of St. Petersburg to a smaller one in the same area, had a hard time figuring out what to bring to the new house. She came up with two creative solutions. First, the family bought a recreational camper.

“The exercise of camping gives you a perspective (on) what you need and what you can live without,” she said. It made it easier to pare down.

She also had to convince her husband to part with a toy collection he had kept from his childhood.

“We had tons of ‘Star Wars’ characters from 1976 and other toys,” she said. She hired a professional photographer to make high-quality prints of the toys. She framed them and hung them in prominent locations in their new home so that her husband could always enjoy the childhood memories.

“(It) was enough for him to see them every day,” she said. “Now, if we store things, it’s only because we use them.”

In an online YouTube interview with her daughter, Swedish film director Jane Magnusson, Margareta Magnusson showed viewers her storage room. It was empty except for her bicycle.

“One day when you are not around anymore, your family will have to take care of all that stuff and I don’t think that’s fair, really,” she told her daughter. “Generally, people have too many things in their homes. I think it’s a good thing to get rid of things you don’t need.”

Sometimes, though, holding on might be OK, too.

After purging a truckload of clothing, knickknacks, pots and pans, baking dishes and books – 17 boxes of books – I came across the very first book I ever bought for myself, a hard copy of “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott. I used my allowance to pay for the book in 1971 and have read it numerous times. I also found the four-leaf clovers I pressed in the book after I found them in a field near our home that same year. I am keeping it. Maybe I’ll have a grandchild one day who might enjoy it. Or maybe my daughter will.