Maintaining a clutter-free home
by Debbie Bowden of Organize Now
Let’s say you get your house organized. You’ve worked hard, probably with a knot in your stomach, but you are rewarded with no junk, no clutter, no extraneous stuff. Good job. Now you can move on to the real secret of being organized – maintenance.
Maintenance isn’t nearly as time consuming as initially organizing, but it does call for diligence. This step in the process of being completely organized calls for a change in habit. Like any habit we change it means doing things differently and establishing a new pattern.
Here’s a tip that is a tremendous help with maintenance, and only takes 5 to 10 minutes a day. Go through your entire house and pick up stuff. It doesn’t matter what time of day as long as it is around the SAME time each day (I do this when I get home from work because I am NOT a morning person). To start this new habit, literally walk through every room. Look for stuff that is out of place and put it back in its spot. Remove items that don’t belong and put them where they do belong. Most importantly, finish the room before moving on to the next.
Let me repeat that – finish the room before moving on to the next. It is too easy to get distracted by trying to tackle multiple rooms all at once. Distraction is probably the number one culprit of not having a good maintenance routine.
When you first start a maintenance routine it may take you longer than 10 minutes. But each day the time you dedicate to maintaining will shorten. Before you know it, your house is consistently organized, and that is a habit you can definitely live with.
“Portraits and Figures” - New Art Show in Cambridge
DCA ANNOUNCES AUGUST GALLERY SHOW
The Dorchester Center for the Arts will present “Portraits and Figures” in their gallery in August. The works of Margaret Dyer, Hans Guerin, Katie Cassidy and Linda Roy Walls will be featured. The show is sponsored by Nichols Lawn and Landscape, L.L.C.
Margaret Dyer is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America. Her work has been featured in “Pure Color: The Best of Pastels 100 Ways to Paint People & Figures, Volumes 1 and 2; The Pastel Journal International Artist Magazine, American Artist and much more.
Hans Paul Guerin was born in Frankfort and is the sixth generation of artists in his family. His maternal grandparents founded the Schuler School of Fine Arts, and after obtaining his degree from Salisbury University, he graduated from the Schuler facility in 2005. He has conducted workshops and held gallery shows throughout the United States.
Katie Cassidy is a pastel artist from Easton who has taught adult classes, special workshops and children’s programs throughout the Eastern Shore for several years. She is well-known for her portraits and landscapes and has a strong following of students and clients. Cassidy, a graduate of the University of Maryland, has also studied classical drawing and painting with Italian Master Primo Conti in Florence Italy, and at the Academia Di Bella Arti, Perguia, Italy.
Linda Roy Walls is an Eastern Shore of Maryland photographer specializing in subjects on canvas featuring natural life and light. Linda focuses on weather, wildlife, and water and admits an added fascination for photographing local people, especially those who “live in the moment and look like it.”
The show will run August 5-28 and will be celebrated at an Artists’ Reception on Saturday, August 14. There will be music and light refreshments at this free event. For more information, call 410-228-7782.
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