Paperless, shmaperless.
For those of you who know me well, you can picture my desk. For those of you who don’t, I’m a piler people. My paper situation is a heap of organized chaos with a dash of crazy. I live in a very paper heavy world. Drawings, brochures, faxes, proposals, invoices, revisions and it goes on and on and on. It’s not an ideal situation, or a very green one for that matter.
I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of companies going paperless, albeit a little skeptical. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a fantastic idea. I’m just trying to grasp concept versus reality – at least in my world. But do you know the average office employee uses approximately 10000 sheets of paper per year? I saw a figure that equaled out to around $3600 per person per year for the life cycle costs. That’s a lot of money!
Even if a company can’t go “paperless” there are still many ways to decrease actual paper consumption. Get some good ideas from Waukesha County Wisconsin – they have had great success during their paper reduction initiative. See some of their tips and tools:
So, in the spirit of a new year – resolutions and all. I’m testing a couple ways I can implement more digital files and less paper usage. I think it’s mostly going to be a discipline thing on my part, habits are hard to break you know!
Peace + Love + Furniture (and paper)
Courtnay
It’s not business, it’s personal.
In the past week I’ve met with approximately 30 people – a mix of both vendors and clients. When meeting or greeting these 30 or so people, I gave or received a hug from 11 of them. Now, I know that’s a strange thing to keep track of and I usually wouldn’t tally up a hug list (cause that’s weird), but clearly this hugging phenomenon triggered a response because here I am blogging about it.
I’ve been pondering this all weekend in anticipation of today’s post but find what I’m trying to say hard to put into words. Maybe all the warm and fuzzy feelings have gone to my head and I’m reading too much into it, but those hugs represent the way I want to do business. I’m not saying we all need to replace handshakes with hugs so don’t start running the other way! 
I am saying my company and the way I do business are defined by the relationships built. In my opinion, the people I genuinely like to greet with a hug are certainly people I want to continue doing business with both as client and provider. These people are or are becoming good friends. I mean how much fun is it to work with all your friends every single day?
Am I being too much of a romantic? I don’t think so. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the old saying that people do business with people they know, like and trust. Isn’t a hug a good indication of all that? I know I wouldn’t spend my time and money with people I don’t enjoy working with.
So really business isn’t always just business. It’s people and it’s very personal.
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
Hello Art…
When I was a teenager, all I wanted to do was move to a big city like Chicago or New York. I dreamed of becoming a famous fashion designer and thought Kansas City was way too boring for what I had planned. I’m 34 now, and while I still harbor a nagging desire to be a fashion designer, I have accepted the reality that I will only ever design for myself. I’m ok with that. I now channel my creative energy to my grown up dream Square One Interiors and helping local artists achieve their dreams.
Something I’ve learned since I was a bored bratty teenager is what an amazing city we live in. Not only do we have great jazz, barbeque, a hoppin’ new entertainment district and a world-renowned performing arts center rising out of the ground, but Kansas City is nationally ranked as one of the top cities for artists!
Nestled right in the middle of the Crossroads Art District is a new organization I am excited to be a founding member of. Hello Art was created and sponsored by the Arts Incubator as a way to enhance and expand the Kansas City Arts scene. (That’s right, we have an art scene.)
Hello Art provides a connection network for artists, galleries, collectors and even the curious beginner enthusiast (me). Through year-round local events such as First Friday’s, Hello Exhibitions and special viewings, Hello Art introduces new and experienced art collectors and emerging and established artists to one another. It’s my goal to help promote as many new artists as I can so don’t be surprised to see featured work in this blog and art on display in our future showroom.
Learn more about Hello Art at www.helloart.org and while your there become a member supporting the creative side of our great city and be part of building Kansas City as a world-class arts center!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
Save the task chairs…
Whoa. It’s one thing to read about excess furniture – but to see old task chairs being rolled down an alley and tossed into a dumpster to make way for new ones was a little mind blowing! No kidding, here in our fine city (9th & Walnut) I stumbled across this mass grave of office chairs.
I know old office furniture is not sexy and can sometimes be a major hassle to manage – especially when companies are in a position of upgrading, but a dumpster? Really? At first I wondered if the previous owners were going out of business, not an off the wall idea in this economy. Nope, they were getting new chairs and these old ones were taking up space! Ahh!
With minimal planning, these chairs could have been diverted to non-profit organizations, schools, churches, start-up businesses etc. There are tons of free resources to post excess furniture on:
NonProfit Connect (formerly the Council on Philanthropy) is an organization specifically designed to connect, support and offer resources to non-profits and volunteers. They have a fantastic classifieds section to advertise for free.
Idle Asset is an online facility warehouse that has pre-owned furniture for sale or a free section for non-profits and schools. Working through office furniture dealers, Idle Asset has a national audience and is best utilized when you have large quantities and a little time to move the furniture.
Craigslist can even be a great tool. Advertise free furniture and you are sure to have some takers!
Want some more ideas?? Email us for a list of resources and creative ways to keep furniture out of the landfill. So please, the next time your company is stuck with furniture you don’t need, just say NO to trashing it. Give it a fabulous new home. Need help? Call us, we love to rescue!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
And so it begins…
I have been fretting for WEEKS (really months but that sounds really long) over how to get this blog started. I am a people person, not really the shy type, but it’s still a little intimidating to cast myself out there into the great abyss of cyberspace. I don’t want to bore anyone to tears, and seriously, what am I going to write about every week that will be of value to anyone but me????? I finally decided to get over myself and just get to writing! If anything this will be a journal (therapy) documenting the evolution of Square One Interiors!
I am using this first post to set the tone and perhaps lower expectations for future blogging. I plan on keeping things very laid back, if only to keep my stress levels manageable! The goal is to offer this blog as a tool for clients, prospective clients, friends, business partners, and anyone else interested, to learn more about who we are, how we operate, and what we do. There won’t be any fancy writing. I will try to throw some witty prose in when I can, but make no promises! This is simply me sharing our experiences and perspective on office environments, business ownership, furniture trends, client projects, issues companies are facing and our thoughts on solutions! Hopefully you will find a valuable nugget somewhere in the mix!
Check back often – new posts will appear on Monday’s (uh oh, now I have gone and committed myself), but in the meantime friend: Facebook, connect: LinkedIn and follow us: Twitter! We love social media!
Peace + Love + Furniture
Courtnay
squareoneinteriorsllc
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