The Stuff of Sentiment

I need and use it every day, and more than once if I’m lucky. It provides me with power, peace, and security. It is plain, seldom clean, usually dusty, and has taken some pretty rough treatment. It has moving parts, but in 35 years it has never needed a single repair. Its color has changed over the years, but not its beauty to do the job. It can transform me, calm me, and help me concentrate. Of all the household objects that I have at my disposal, I rely on my bedroom door the most. I just don’t know what I’d do without it.
Joan Rands
Boise, Idaho

Even more than depending on it to show me the time of day, I rely on the ticktock of my 30-year-old steeple clock and its faithful chiming for comfort. To me, nothing exudes the peace and tranquility of home like my steeple clock.
Linda Pierce
Germantown, Tennessee

The stereo system is my housework companion, my workout motivator, and the perfect mood maker for a peaceful dinner. Its best use is for family fun time: When anyone gets crabby or a little low, we just pop in a CD and have a dance-off. Our current favorites are the Grease sound track and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. My sons may think I’m the biggest nerd, but we’re all dancing and lip-synching and laughing hysterically. It bridges our age gap and lets them know that, once upon a time, Mom was cool.
Tarynn Heichel
Santa Cruz, California

There are a pair of pliers in my kitchen. I don’t use them daily, but they’re handy for opening recalcitrant bottles or pulling the plastic strip on frozen-juice containers. Almost anything else in the kitchen could be replaced — not these. They have darkened with age, and the joint is loose, but they were my dad’s. Although he passed away 45 years ago, each time I use them, I can still see his hands holding them.
Susan Gabbay
Warrenton, Virginia

The big, blue rocking chair in my son’s nursery has made learning how to breast-feed a little more comfortable and made those long, restless nights a little more bearable. It’s our special spot to eat, read, babble, sleep, laugh, and just be.
Kristin Goldmacher
Hightstown, New Jersey

Great Multitaskers

My orange-handled Fiskars kitchen scissors are used on a daily basis to open food containers, assist in cooking, and cut coupons. They also come in handy for flower arrangements and are very helpful in my garden to cut twine, herbs, and flowers. The orange handles make them easy to find in the garden dirt or in my kitchen-utensil jar. A must-have in every household.
Laura Stott
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Paper towels are my miracle disposable housemaid. They work for everything and everywhere around the house. I use them when I am cooking, gardening, washing, cleaning, painting, eating, or romping with my cats outside. They also come in handy at picnics and cookouts and while camping.
Naida Raugh
Heidelberg, Germany

I work full-time and I’m also in grad school, so housekeeping is about multitasking. That’s why I rely on my Roomba robotic vacuum most. There’s nothing better than watching it take care of business while I’m reading Plato. It is one of the best investments I’ve made and worth five times its weight in gold.
Shelby Gordon
Brea, California

I can’t do without my stepladder. It allows me to remove and replace dishes from the top shelves of my cabinets, use the top shelves of my pantry and closets, change the direction of the fans seasonally, change lightbulbs in the chandelier, replace filters for the furnace, and replace batteries in the smoke detectors. I’m sure there are more things that I am forgetting, but I truly could not live without that ladder.
Helen Hardy
Haymarket, Virginia

Appliances come and go, but the telephone lives forever. I mean, what would life be like without it? My telephone is my connection to the world. When I’m down, I call a friend. When I have a decision to make, the phone provides me with the resources to help make that decision. I love to stay close with family and friends, and my phone makes it possible to keep those lines of communication open.
Pat Strong
Forest, Mississippi

Our computer allows us to keep in touch with family and friends. It’s a calendar, an address book, and an assistant. I have birthday reminders for family and friends sent to me so I have time to buy a card and send it. My husband does our taxes on our computer and submits our return electronically, and I use it for online banking. It’s a fabulous research tool; anytime I have a question on something, I Google it. I order things online and can have them sent to my home or to someone else. I organize my pictures from our digital camera and share them with others. I keep my recipes in a file on the Internet. For entertainment, we can watch DVDs on it, play CDs and games, and read books, newspapers, and magazines. I have to say that, in conjunction with the Internet, the computer is the most amazing and useful tool to come along in the last 100 years.
Eileen Ferguson
Ann Arbor, Michigan

My digital camera is invaluable to me. I use it not only as a way to record memories of my children but also as a reference tool for myself. For example, when I unplug the TV, cable box, or DVD and VCR players, I take a photo of how the wires are connected. This way, I can refer to it when reconnecting. I take photos of my perennials so I can see the spots where I need to plant bulbs next year. I’ve even used it to take photos of a closet to aid the salesperson when I was purchasing a closet-organizing system. I’d really be lost without my camera.
Gretchen O’Shea
Cranford, New Jersey

I use Post-it notes to keep track of everything — phone messages, mini to-do lists, correspondence to write, creative ideas for future art projects, and, of course, those all-important love notes. I have them in a wide array of cheerful colors so they’re hard to miss.
Kristina Kellermann
Sacramento, California

A day doesn’t go by that I don’t use a Ziploc bag. I use them for everything. When I travel, I use them for dirty clothes or to store toiletries in case they leak. They’re with me when I take my dog for a walk. I can’t wait to try the new Ziploc bags that allow you to store clothes.
Irene Philips
Manhasset, New York

I use my radio every day, almost all day long. When I’m working on my writing, it creates a soothing background. When I’m cleaning, it keeps me uplifted. When I’m cooking, it adds a dash of merriment. When I’m working out, it gives me motivation. And when I have a party, it sets the mood.
Kristyn Lak Miller
Rochester, New Hampshire

And of Course…

Believe it or not, the household items I cannot do without are my Real Simple magazines and Real Simple books. There are signs of this throughout my home: I tear out pages and tape them throughout the house. The cleaning tips are in the laundry-room cabinets, cooking and food tips in the pantry, and the quote cards are in closets and drawers so my family will see them when they start their day. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. And after I tear out what I need, I stack them on shelves so that you can read the great quotes on the spine. See, I can’t even do without that! I think I’m a Real Simple junkie.
Dixie Bagley
Rome, Georgia