The Things We Keep: How Belongings Help Us Heal After Loss
By Anne Peters | 4 November 2025
Sorting through a loved one’s belongings can be one of life’s most emotionally challenging tasks. The Things We Keep: How Belongings Help Us Heal After Loss. Each object holds memories, stories, and feelings, love, grief, obligation, and sometimes relief. For many people, this process feels overwhelming, even paralysing.
Local Wynnum author and interior designer Anne Peters understands this deeply. On Sunday 23 November 2025, Anne will celebrate the launch of her new book Belongings, a compassionate and practical guide designed to gently support people navigating love, loss, and legacy.
A Gentle Guide for a Tender Time
Belongings is not simply a how-to book about decluttering. It is a quiet companion for those facing one of life’s most delicate transitions, whether weeks, months, or years after a loved one’s passing, or during the emotional process of moving someone into care.
With clear, thoughtful guidance, the book helps readers decide:
- What to keep
- What to release
- How to honour the memories attached to each item
It is ideal for anyone preparing a home for sale, supporting a grieving family member, or simply unsure where to begin with How Belongings Help Us Heal After Loss
Where Interior Design Meets Emotional Healing
Anne Peters brings more than 30 years of experience as an interior designer, Feng Shui practitioner, and space-clearing specialist. Over decades of working in private homes, hospitals, churches, and commercial spaces, she noticed something powerful.
“Every object tells a story. When clients shared the history behind a much-loved piece, their whole face would light up. But the items hidden away often carried sadness or obligation. When those were gently released, both the room and the person felt lighter.”
Through her work, Anne witnessed how sorting belongings can become an act of healing—restoring peace, clarity, and emotional balance.
Supporting Grief With Compassion and Care
Anne has also supported families through profound loss, including suicide bereavement, after losing her longtime friend and dance partner. She is a contributing expert with Postvention Australia, and Belongings emerged from her own healing journey as well as the wisdom gathered from years of helping others.
Mental health professionals have praised the book for its calm, grounded approach. Clinical psychologist and author Brenda M. Whitton describes it as:
“Logical, practical, and gentle—without fluff. More than a guide, it is a calming support tool that helps process grief in a healthy and meaningful way.”
Book Launch Event – Wynnum
Anne will officially launch Belongings at an intimate, invitation-only event in Wynnum, where she will share her story and insights from decades of practice.
Available Now
Belongings is available now in:
- Paperback (AUD $14.85)
- Kindle (AUD $4.50)
Available on Amazon and leading bookstores. Purchase here: https://tinyurl.com/5fx5ax2h
About Anne Peters
Anne Peters is an author, interior designer, and Feng Shui practitioner with over 50 years of experience. She graduated from the Shillito Design School and has dedicated her career to helping people create homes that feel supportive, balanced, and deeply personal.
Anne Peters brings over five decades of experience in interior design, Feng Shui, and holistic living to her work.
Her unique approach integrates elements from various disciplines, creating spaces that enhance well-being and a positive energy flow.
Anne’s journey began in 1973 with a focus on when she studied colour and interior design at Shillito Design School, Sydney, with Peter Travis OA. Anne designed private homes, hospitals, cemeteries, churches, commercial buildings, and then an intriguing project with a Malaysian client sparked her interest in Feng Shui.
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